YouTube Music, Content ID, and Official Artist Channels

ONCE continues to deliver new releases to YouTube Music for every eligible account. YouTube Music is the streaming service: delivery makes your release available to listeners in YouTube Music and usually creates an auto-generated Art Track on an artist Topic channel. You can keep earning royalties from those streams.

Two other YouTube services are separate from that delivery:

• YouTube Content ID scans videos across regular YouTube for matching audio and can place monetization claims.
• An Official Artist Channel (OAC) combines eligible artist surfaces under an artist-owned YouTube channel and adds the music note badge. It does not deliver a release or combine an Art Track with an official music video.

New Content ID enrollment through ONCE is available only to approved ONCE distribution partners. New OAC requests are available to ONCE Insiders and approved distribution partners. These services require manual rights and channel review, claim support, and one-at-a-time processing with YouTube. Limiting new access lets us support them reliably and protect artists and channels from incorrect claims or associations.

This change does not remove music from YouTube Music. Existing Art Tracks, OACs, and Content ID coverage are not being taken down. A release does not need Content ID or an OAC to remain available on YouTube Music.

The YouTube Toolkit at beta.once.app/youtube continues to show existing OAC requests, channel whitelisting, Content ID status, and YouTube Music links, organized per artist. If you release under more than one artist name, use the artist tabs at the top of the page to focus on one artist at a time.

Official Artist Channel (OAC) Requests

An Official Artist Channel merges your own YouTube channel with the auto-generated “topic” channel that holds your distributed music, and adds the music note badge to your channel.

New OAC requests are available to ONCE Insiders and approved ONCE distribution partners. Partner access is arranged directly with ONCE; Insiders get OAC access as part of the membership at beta.once.app/insider. Existing OACs remain active, and requests already on file remain available to complete, correct, and track through review for every account. This does not affect delivery to YouTube Music.

Eligibility requirements

YouTube only grants an OAC when all of these minimum requirements are met. Requests that do not meet them are rejected, so check before you submit:

• At least one official music release on YouTube delivered by a distributor or label (minimum 1, 3 or more recommended)
• Your own YouTube channel contains at least one music video with a matching audio release available on your Topic channel (minimum 1, 3 or more recommended)
• A single artist or band YouTube channel that you own and operate, focused on your music
• Full compliance with YouTube’s Community Guidelines, Terms of Service, and copyright policies

For the full detail straight from YouTube, see YouTube’s OAC documentation.

What you’ll need to submit

• Your own channel’s full URL including the 24-character code that starts with UC, not a vanity URL like youtube.com/@artist (or your 24-character channel ID, from YouTube Studio under Settings → Channel → Advanced settings)
• Your artist Topic channel URL, also as the full URL with the 24-character code. Important: the OAC request itself is made for your own, exclusive channel. YouTube will not process an OAC request against a Topic channel, so double-check you haven’t swapped the two
• Your Vevo channel ID, if you have one
• Your artist country as the full country name
• Screenshots showing your channel banner, description, and recent uploads

How the process works

Eligible accounts (ONCE Insiders and approved partners) start an OAC request from a distributed release page: open More Tools on the status bar, then YouTube OAC (see YouTube OAC Action). Accounts without access still see the tool there, greyed out, with a note explaining the Insider requirement. Accounts with an existing request can still open it, finish a saved draft, correct a rejected request, and follow its status. The toolkit tracks each request through its full lifecycle:

1. Draft: you’ve started a request but haven’t submitted it yet
2. Submitted: your request is with the ONCE team
3. In review: we’ve submitted it to YouTube and it’s in YouTube’s review queue
4. Approved or Rejected: the outcome, with a note from our team when there’s something you should know

OAC requests must be filed with YouTube one at a time, with no bulk submission, so requests are handled in the order they come in. While a request is submitted or in review, its card shows your live position in the review queue.

When your request moves to In review, we email you to confirm it was submitted to YouTube. Important: this does not mean your channel is live yet. Approval is entirely at YouTube’s discretion, YouTube’s review can take anywhere from several weeks to a few months, and submitting doesn’t guarantee approval. ONCE files the request and follows up where possible, but we don’t control YouTube’s decision or timeline. There’s nothing you need to do; we’ll follow up when there’s an update. (These emails follow your App Alert email preference.)

Each request card shows a status timeline, the channel you submitted, the releases it covers, and any notes from ONCE. If a request is rejected, either because it does not meet the eligibility requirements above or because YouTube declined it, we email you and the note on the card explains why. The request unlocks automatically so you can update the details on the release page and resubmit.

Channel Whitelisting

When you upload your own music to your own YouTube channel, Content ID can claim your videos, even though the music is yours. Whitelisting tells YouTube that your channel belongs to you, so your own uploads stop getting claimed while re-uploads by other people are still protected.

Whitelisting is available when Content ID is active, including for standard accounts with existing Content ID coverage from before the partner-only policy. To request whitelisting:

1. Open the YouTube Toolkit and find the Channel whitelisting section
2. Click Request whitelisting
3. Enter your YouTube channel URL (required)
4. Optionally add the artist name, your channel ID (starts with UC), a link to a claimed video, and a note
5. Submit. The ONCE team is notified immediately

Your request appears in the list with a status: Requested, In review, Completed, or Rejected. When our team leaves a note (for example, if we need more information), it shows up under the request. Like OAC requests, whitelist requests are filed with the distributor one at a time, with no bulk submission, so they are handled in the order they come in.

Whitelisting is account-wide. When a request is completed, the channel appears under Your whitelisted channels on the toolkit page and covers every current and future release automatically. There’s no need to re-request whitelisting for each new release.

Content ID Per Release

YouTube Content ID finds your music inside other people’s videos and collects royalties from matching uses. It is separate from YouTube Music distribution and is now available for new releases only through approved ONCE distribution partners. Releases submitted by standard artist accounts still go to YouTube Music, but they are not newly enrolled in Content ID.

Existing Content ID coverage is not being removed. The toolkit continues to show its status and lets an account opt a covered release out.

Regional availability

UGC monetization stores — YouTube Content ID and Facebook Rights Manager — are not available for releases associated with India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil, or Turkey. This is determined from the release’s metadata language (for example Hindi, Urdu, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Portuguese, or Turkish) and/or the location your account is used from.

If your release or account matches, UGC stores are removed from your store selection automatically, and selecting them directly shows a message explaining why. This is a distribution policy for these regions and cannot be overridden. Everything else is unaffected: your release still goes to every other store you selected, including YouTube Music.

The section includes an expandable explainer, “Content ID claimed a video on my own channel. Is that a problem?” The short answer: no, and it’s expected. Content ID scans every YouTube upload, including yours, so when you post your own song the system claims it just like anyone else’s re-upload. The claim routes that video’s music revenue to you; it is not a strike and does not harm your channel. If you’d rather your own uploads carry no claims at all, request channel whitelisting (see above): it exempts your channel while keeping claims active for everyone else.

The Content ID per release section lists each of your distributed releases with:

• Content ID status: Active, Opted out, or Ineligible
• A link to the release on YouTube Music when it’s live
• Any eligibility notes: for example, releases with non-exclusive samples or loops can be flagged as ineligible for Content ID while remaining live on all stores

Opting a release out of Content ID

Some artists prefer not to have their music claimed in other people’s videos (for example, if you actively encourage re-uploads or remixes). You can opt any release out of Content ID with the Opt out button.

Before opting out, know that:

• You stop earning royalties when other people use that music in their videos
• Re-uploads of your music on YouTube will no longer be claimed automatically
• The release stays live on YouTube Music and every other store
• The change can take a few days to fully process on YouTube’s side
• Opting back in requires a redelivery; ask ONCE Support or contact hey@once.app to re-enable it

FAQ

Do I need an OAC before requesting whitelisting? No. Whitelisting and OAC are independent, although new OAC requests are limited to ONCE Insiders and approved distribution partners. Whitelisting is only relevant when Content ID is active.

Will my new release still go to YouTube? Yes. ONCE continues to deliver new releases to YouTube Music. Your release can appear in the YouTube Music app and as an Art Track on an artist Topic channel, and it can earn streaming royalties there. The access change applies to new Content ID enrollment (partner-only) and new OAC requests (ONCE Insiders and partners), not YouTube Music delivery.

Does an OAC combine my Art Track with my official music video? No. An Art Track and an official music video are separate videos. An OAC organizes eligible artist surfaces under one artist-owned channel, but it does not merge two videos, transfer views, or replace one upload with another.

Why is my release “Ineligible” for Content ID? Content ID requires exclusive rights to the audio. If your release contains non-exclusive samples or loops (for example, from a sample pack that other artists also use), it can’t be fingerprinted for claims. It still distributes normally to all stores.

How long does whitelisting take? Whitelist requests go straight to the ONCE team and are typically handled within a few business days. You’ll see the status change in the toolkit as it progresses.