This page contains help for current partners and those wanting to become one. Look here first before contacting support or asking in the chat and you'll save yourself a lot of time.
New Partner Questions
1. I applied. How long before I hear back?
Normally we try to answer within one California USA BUSINESS day (that means don't count weekends or holidays). Worse case scenario we'll get back to you within a week.2. I signed the contract. Am I a partner?
No not yet. After you sign within a few business days (see above) we'll counter sign the contract as well. After this we'll introduce you to our CMS team which will guide you through the rest of the process. After signing the contract on average it takes about a week to bring you in but can take longer (or shorter) depending on your situation.3. I got rejected for copyrighted content. I don't have any strikes!!
Just because you don't have a strike doesn't mean you're not violating copyright. Just like you might be able to steal a candy bar from the store w/o being caught violating copyright and not getting a strike doesn't make it any less illegal. Here are some common misconceptions.A) "uncopyrighted music" is not a thing. If you use music from an "uncopyrighted" music channel you need to go to the artist yourself and make sure they give permission. Anyone can create a channel with such a name and upload music, it doesn't mean the artist really gave permission.
B) If you DO use music make certain you are crediting its source and how you have permission from the author. We recommend sticking to artists who license their work under creative commons and easily make this known on their website. Check out incompetech.com and joshwoodward.com for examples. Make sure in the video description when applying you provide a) how you have permission b) a link to a screen shot or license on a website proving such and c) a link to download the song from the website so we can validate it came from there.
C) Even if you use just a few seconds of copyrighted music, in most cases its still a copyright violation. This is true noteably when its used for an intro. If its background music that pops up it could be fair use as long as its not playing long.
D) If you're uploading video game content it needs to have some sort of commentary over it unless you have been given permission from the game creator (this is uncommon) to upload it w/o this. Best bet is to mute the audio of the game and just talk over it.
For further information I highly recommend you watch this entire video on fair use and also visit YouTube's copyright school page.
Copyright violations are a serious thing. Knowingly violating copyright and not acting about it holds SERIOUS fines. We have to be very cautious about accepting channels into the network so we are over protective here. It should be noted too if you do join and have copyright violations afterwards we are forced to remove you too. Please clean up your channel following the guidelines provided and if you are certain you've done so completely feel free to apply again. If you are sure we made a mistake open a ticket with all proof of anything we might have misevaluated (such as you were actually given permission by the artist (show a screenshot of proof)) and we'll forward it over to the person who reviewed your account.
If you're already a Social Blade partner welcome aboard! Here are some useful videos showing some of the partner features you have access to in action
Current Partner FAQs
4. How do I add a banner?
5. How do I claim my videos?
6. How do I make custom thumbnails?
7. How do I schedule uploads?
8. How do payments work?
The way payments work is as follows. Say you joined and were fully monetized in our system January 5th. You'll earn for your videos for the rest of the month of January and can track your progress at YouTube Analytics under Estimated earnings (remember this is before the rev share split per your contract with us).At the end of the month YouTube (though you go through us they still serve the ads since its their website) closes out the month and starts counting earnings towards February. They take about 3 weeks to audit the results (this is why they are called estimated on youtube analytics, they can go up or down depending on what the audit finds) and by the end of February send us the earnings for January. We then turn around and normally on or around the first but by at least the 15th of March issue you payment for January.
So following this, Feb earnings get paid on or around April 1st, March on or around May 1st and so on. If you're paid by direct deposit (in the USA) or paypal (outside the USA) payments should be more or less instant. If you're paid via a paper check this is the date they are mailed on so give the postal system time to deliver it, especially if you are outside of the USA.
Please note that if your contract contains a minimum payout threshold (for example $50) you have to earn at least that before the payment gets sent. If in Jan for example you earn $40 and Feb you earn $40 again April's check would be for $80 and there would be no payment in March.
9. How do I change my payment information?
Submit a Support Ticket Here.10. How do I get live streaming?
If you're over 18 you should be able to live stream right now to your channel via Google Plus Hangouts on Air. Give this a shot as its the way YouTube is wanting people to stream. See this video for some info on how to do this.If you're looking for the non-hangout version of live streaming follow these steps to enable it.
A. Go to your YouTube account settings
B. On the "Overview" tab, under "Links" click on the link marked "Live Streaming".
C. You will be prompted to read and accept an agreement and then enable live.
D. Once enabled, you will have the Basic Live Features.
If you have further questions please reference the video above or open a support ticket here.
