Copyright claims and audience growth are biggest challenges faced by YouTube creators

With 58% of YouTube creators admitting to being hit by a copyright claim, and the adoption of Article 13 (now 17) – European legislation designed to limit certain types of content shared online – the fight for viewers and the ability to generate revenue through social video is becoming even more challenging.

Research released today, commissioned by claims-free commercial music licensing company Lickd, has looked at the challenges that YouTube creators face in monetizing their content and growing their user base, with 70% already stating that reaching a big enough audience is a huge problem for them.

If you consider Article 13 as an additional barrier – with 49% of video creators calling it out as something that will cause them further challenges – and 97% claiming that their creation time is impacted through spending up to nine hours a week searching for music - the opportunities for creators to succeed in this space are becoming more and more limited.

But it’s not just creators. Prohibiting certain types of content is also having a negative effect on the 1.9 billion consumers who use YouTube each month, with a percentage of the 5 billion videos per day not reaching their intended audience*. 

Paul Sampson, CEO of Lickd, commented: “Despite Article 13 being called out as a potential win for the industry - because it requires platforms that host creative works uploaded by their users to fairly share the income they generate with creators - it is very clear that those very creators do not share that view.

“Combine this with the risks associated with using unlicensed music, then suddenly the potential to generate revenue through content at risk for Creators and the music industry. We are constantly challenging the music industry to make sure that no party, including creators, lose out. Providing claims-free commercial tracks is one of the solutions.”

About Lickd:

Lickd is the world’s leading service for accessing claims-free commercial music. Providing commercial music from real labels, its ground-breaking VOUCH software enables online video creators to licence music without losing their ad revenue to a copyright claim. Based in London and operational since 2016, the company services digital creators from all over the world.