How to Get Your Music on YouTube & YouTube Music

The Secret: Distributing as "Art Tracks"

Uploading a music video to your own YouTube channel is great, but it does NOT create an official release of your song in the YouTube Music app. To get into their streaming service alongside major artists, a distributor or label must deliver your audio and album art to YouTube, which turns each song into an "Art Track" (your recording + your album art).

What they do:

• Deliver the music YouTube turns into Art Tracks for YouTube Music
• Get your music onto the "Topic" channel YouTube generates
• Collect your YouTube Music streaming royalties

Content ID benefits:

• Finds videos that use your music
• Places ads on those videos to pay YOU
• Lets rights owners block matching videos (DistroKid's service runs ads instead)

Why We Use DistroKid for YouTube

DistroKid delivers music to YouTube Music. With a single click during upload, you can opt into YouTube Music. More importantly, they offer YouTube Content ID through an optional paid add-on, the Social Media Pack, which adds your audio to YouTube's Content ID database and monetizes videos that use it (DistroKid keeps 20%).

What They Do Best

• Help you claim an Official Artist Channel (OAC)
• Content ID through their optional Social Media Pack
• Delivery to YouTube Music, plus the Shorts library with their paid Social Media Pack
• Pay 100% of all streaming royalties collected

When to look elsewhere

• Your music uses beats, loops or samples you didn't create (Content ID won't accept it)
• You only want to release royalty-free beats for vloggers
• You need heavy label services

The Reality Check: Official Artist Channels

Bring your channels together in one place.

When you first upload through a distributor, YouTube will usually place your music on an auto-generated "Topic Channel" (e.g., "Your Name - Topic"). This keeps your releases on a channel separate from your main one.

Ask yourself:

• Do I have a YouTube channel named after my artist name, with at least one video (not a Short)?
• Are my VEVO, Topic, and Personal channels currently separated?
• Am I creating Shorts with my official audio?

Our advice? Upgrade to an OAC as soon as you qualify.

DistroKid has a tool, included in every plan, that turns your personal YouTube channel into an Official Artist Channel linked to your Topic channel, giving you the music note icon next to your name and combining your subscribers into one place.

After upload, the real work begins.

How Do a Topic Channel and an Official Artist Channel Fit Together?

When a distributor delivers your release, YouTube builds an Art Track for each song (the recording plus the album art) and files it on a Topic channel named “Artist Name - Topic.” YouTube generates that channel, you can’t sign in to it or edit it, and comments are off on Art Tracks, though an Official Artist Channel can turn them on.

YouTube recommends that artists with a Topic channel set up an Official Artist Channel (OAC). It asks for:

• A channel you own and run, focused on one artist’s or band’s music
• At least 1 official release delivered to YouTube by a distributor or label
• A channel that follows YouTube’s policies, including the Community Guidelines

DistroKid adds that the channel name must match your artist name and the channel needs at least one regular video (Shorts don’t count). Approval can take up to 6 weeks, and a claim can’t be undone, so pick the right channel. Once approved, YouTube merges subscribers from your Topic channel, any Vevo channel and your own channel, and your Art Tracks show on the OAC too. The Topic channel stays as a separate channel.

Does Content ID Come With Distribution, and Will It Claim Your Own Videos?

Not automatically. DistroKid says music it sends to YouTube Music is not entered into Content ID unless you also buy its optional Social Media Pack: $4.95 per single or $14.95 per album per year as of November 2026, and DistroKid keeps 20% of the revenue. The pack also adds your songs to YouTube’s Shorts and Creator Music libraries.

Content ID scans every upload against files from rights owners, who can block, monetize or track matching videos. A release qualifies only if:

• You own 100% of the sounds, with no outside beats, loops, samples or sound effects
• It has no public domain recordings or audio from games, TV or film
• Nobody else, including another distributor, registers the same recording

Expect claims on your own uploads. A video on your channel that uses enrolled music will likely get a claim from “Interstreet Recordings,” the engine behind DistroKid’s Content ID feature, and the ad revenue is passed to you. To lift a claim, add that video to DistroKid’s YouTube Allowlist. It works one video at a time, after a claim appears; a whole channel can’t be allowlisted.

Can You Put AI-Generated Music on YouTube?

Yes. None of the YouTube policies we checked bans music made with AI tools, but these rules apply:

• Disclosure: creators must disclose realistic AI-generated or altered content, and YouTube’s examples include AI-generated music that is the main focus of a video. Disclosure alone doesn’t limit reach or earnings, but creators who keep skipping it risk penalties, including suspension from the YouTube Partner Program.
• Labels on releases: labels and distributors are asked to mark each track Fully, Partly or No Gen AI. Since October 14, 2026, YouTube Music shows a label on the player page for songs made primarily with generative AI. DistroKid collects this through “AI Credits” at upload.
• Impersonation: YouTube said in 2023 it would let people request removal of AI content that simulates their face or voice, and DistroKid forbids copying anyone’s voice, likeness or identity without permission.
• Earnings: AI content made with generic templates that looks mass-produced can’t be monetized.
• Content ID: YouTube’s eligibility rules don’t mention AI but require exclusive rights. The US Copyright Office said in January 2025 that AI output is protected only where a human author determined enough of its expressive elements; prompts alone don’t count.