YouTube Creator Music: who can use it

Who can use it

Creator Music lives in YouTube Studio. YouTube Help says it is "available to U.S. creators in the YouTube Partner Program" and that expansion outside the US is pending. If you are a new creator who is not yet in the Partner Program, or you are outside the US, you will not see it. Use the YouTube Audio Library instead, which is open to everyone.

The catch for Shorts

Creator Music is a long-form tool. YouTube Help says its licensed and revenue-share tracks "can only be used in long-form videos, not Shorts or live streams."

For a Short, the music options from YouTube are the Shorts sound picker and the Audio Library.

No-cost tracks

Some songs can be licensed at no cost. You use the music and "keep the video's full revenue share". To find them, open the Usage terms filter and select "No-cost music". Apart from Audio Library licences, each Creator Music licence covers one use in a single video.

YouTube used to sell paid licences here as well. Its page for rights holders says paid licences were phased out from August 2026, so Creator Music now offers free licences and revenue sharing only.

Revenue-share tracks

With a revenue-share track you split the video's ad revenue with the song's rights holders. YouTube's examples start from the standard 55% share. One revenue-share track halves it to 27.5%. Two revenue-share tracks plus one licensed track give you a third, 18.33%. YouTube then deducts up to 5% for extra music rights costs such as performing rights.

Two limits apply. You have to get the audio file somewhere else, because revenue-share tracks cannot be downloaded from Creator Music. And rights holders can change the terms later. YouTube warns that a rights holder "could later disable monetization for the track, which would disable monetization for your video."

AI instrumentals from Dream Track

On the Discover page, under Create Music, you type a prompt describing the instruments, the mood and the type of video. Dream Track then generates "four loopable instrumental options, each around 60 seconds in length". You download the one you like. Prompts must be in English and are limited to 85 characters.

YouTube Help does not state a price for these instrumentals or spell out separate usage terms for them, so check the terms shown in Studio before you rely on one.

Dream Track also exists as a separate Shorts creation tool. That version is available in most countries outside the European Economic Area when your device language is English, and the soundtrack carries a label saying it was made with Dream Track.