Interested in optimizing the money you earn from your music? Learn your rights as a copyright holder and protect your music and videos through YouTube’s Content ID.
Content ID allows you to monetize YouTube videos that contain your content – even if it is uploaded by another user. When advertisements play on videos that contain a sound recording, composition, or music video you hold the copyrights to, YouTube will give you a portion of the ad revenue that those videos generate. So if your song ends up in the background of a viral video, you get paid from the ads shown on this video. Here at Vydia, we administer your rights on your behalf and make sure you get the money you are entitled to.
How does it work?
Vydia is a YouTube certified digital rights administrator that serves as an intermediary between you and YouTube. We provide YouTube with audio recordings of your music (called reference files), which are then stored in YouTube’s Content ID database. When a user uploads a video, it is compared against these reference files, and, if a match is found, your policy to monetize is put into effect. We then collect your ad revenue on your behalf and pay you your cut!
Why do I need it?
If you do not set up Content ID, you are leaving ad revenue you are entitled to on the table. As an artist who owns? copyrights, you want to collect money every time someone else uses your material in their video, thus generating you even more revenue.
Doesn’t my performance rights organization (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, etc.) already do this for me?
No. Your PRO collects your performance rights, which is separate from the synchronization rights Vydia collects. In order to collect all of the money you are entitled to, you need to properly set up your material through a YouTube certified company, like Vydia.
How do I get paid?
All earnings can be seen and withdrawn from your Vydia dashboard at Dashboard.Vydia.com/Account/Earnings. We receive statements at the end of every month and will be reflected in your account within 60 days.
I just signed up for Content ID. Can I get earnings on previous plays?
No, hence why it is so important to setup Content ID as soon as possible. We suggest setting it up prior to the release of a song to make sure everything is properly registered.
I haven’t released my song yet. Can I work with Vydia?
Yes. Even if you have not officially released your song yet, you still own the rights to use your music and is in your best interest to setup Content ID before your release so you don’t miss out on potential revenue.
I previously released my song through an independent distributor (Tunecore, CD Baby, The Orchard, etc.). Can I still work with Vydia?
Yes. Remember that if you already used a distributor to release your song, you already have an audio ISRC assigned to your sound recording. Please remember to provide us with your original ISRC so that we do not create a duplicate ISRC for the same recording.
What’s an ISRC and why do I need one?
An ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) is used as a unique identifier for a single audio recording or music video recording. Only one ISRC should be issued to a track, and an ISRC can never represent more than one unique recording. If you have not previously released your music, we will provide you with both a Video ISRC and Audio ISRC for your content free of charge. If you have already released your music through a digital distributor (Tunecore, CD Baby, etc.), your distributor has already assigned you an ISRC for your sound recording. Please be sure to use the code already assigned to you.
Do I still own my music and video?
You still own 100% of your rights; you are simply granting Vydia the right to collect ad revenue from YouTube on your behalf. The ownership of these copyrights is not affected.
My video on my channel says it’s being claimed by Vydia, but I own the rights. What do I do?
If you receive a notice from YouTube that says Vydia is claiming your video on your personal channel, don’t be alarmed. It does not mean that we own your copyrights. This is Content ID’s algorithm finding your content that we are representing on YouTube on your personal channel. Unfortunately, there’s no way for Content ID to tell the difference between your channel and another user. If you receive a notice like this, please know that you still own your copyrights. We will collect your channel’s earnings on your behalf and the earnings will appear in the Vydia Dashboard 1-2 months after the views are accumulated
Vydia is claiming ownership of my content, but I did not authorize this. What’s going on?
Vydia only administers content that it is given permission to administer. When a claim like this occurs, It is usually because another rights holder (songwriter, video director, etc.) who also owns a portion of your content uploaded it to us without you knowing. If you did not authorize Vydia to administer your content, please fill out this form, and we can confirm who uploaded your content to us.