Hey Nacho,

I hope this e-mail finds you well!

Brace yourself - this e-mail is going to be a little long but I personally think we are facing a very important issue that I want to bring to your attention.

As your network has probably informed you, channels are now going through a process of categorization within their MCN’s (Multi-Channel Network) CMS (Content Management System) accounts to either “managed” or “affiliate”. This change will come with some fairly substantial consequences to you and your channel’s ability to monetize content effectively. Managed channels will have the ability to monetize their content immediately as if nothing has changed. On the other hand, affiliate channels will soon be subject to spot checks and/or manual approval on a per upload basis by YouTube.

What does this mean for affiliate channels? It means that in order to monetize your videos you will be required to show that you have the appropriate commercial rights to claim monetization over all content included in them. For any videos that are uploaded to your channel and perceived to have material displayed in them without permission, the likelihood of being approved for monetization will be low. We appreciate that YouTube is taking action to further protect rights holders but also believe that this negatively affects the ability for artists to receive exposure, release content in a timely matter and capitalize on time-sensitive material. As a result, channels that support lesser-known artists and brands may be denied the ability to monetize their videos as a result purely due to the speculative nature of the content ownership in an upload.

Monstercat is taking a firm stance on this matter and is trying to do everything in our power to make sure that our music does NOT affect your ability to be considered for a managed account within your network. In order to make sure of that, we are further building out our ability to provide you with more music and the ability to work closer with you - the content creators. It is our goal to make sure that no matter what your status and no matter which network you are with, we are able to support both you and our artists.

Over the next few months I will be introducing a project that Monstercat is very proud to be a part of. The project (in collaboration with edmDistrict) is designed to help content creators like yourself find new music for your videos at the level of quality that you have come to expect from Monstercat. edmDistrict is working with community members like MrSuicideSheep, Proximity, Tasty Network, Trap City and Liquicity to bring higher quality licensed music to the YouTube community. I highly recommend you check them out when you have a second and keep an eye out for what we will be launching in 2014.

As a blanket policy, Monstercat guarantees that we will NEVER strike a channel that provides proper credit for using our music. However, due to our artist agreements, we are subject to only whitelisting select approved channels. Whitelisted channels will not receive any Content ID matches from Monstercat. We have dedicated one of our employees full-time to further improve this whitelist system, which includes regularly inviting new whitelist partners. We hope this allows for channels to use our music while still allowing them to one day receive the “managed account” status. Channels who are not immediately approved for this Content ID whitelist will still have the ability to use any content from the Monstercat catalogue (with proper crediting) but will receive a Content ID match. This means that a % of the ad revenue from your video is given back to the original musician. This claim will in no way affect your channel’s status or your ability to monetize your other content.

We are committed to providing the highest quality catalogue of electronic music (over 500 songs, each with over 100,000 plays) to the YouTube community. The support of content creators has allowed us to grow to the size we have while developing new artists around the globe.

Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to growing with your channel.

Regards,

Mike Darlington (Monstercat Co-Founder)

If you have not received prior approval, apply for our Content ID Whitelist here: http://bit.ly/LicensingRequest