Money
How much does YouTube Shorts pay per 1,000 views?
How Shorts revenue sharing works under the Creator Pool, how music use changes it, why Shorts RPM is far below long-form, and where Shorts creators actually make money.
Short answer
The short answer
YouTube pools Shorts feed ad revenue each month, sets part aside for music licensing, and splits the rest, the Creator Pool, by each creator's share of engaged views. Creators keep 45 percent of their allocation. Because of the pooling, Shorts RPM is usually a small fraction of long-form RPM; your Revenue tab in YouTube Studio shows yours.
How the YouTube Shorts Creator Pool actually works
If you expect YouTube Shorts to pay the same rates as standard long-form videos, you will be disappointed. On traditional videos, ads run directly before, during, or after your specific upload, and YouTube pays you 55 percent of the ad revenue generated on your video. YouTube Shorts operates on an entirely different system known as the Creator Pool.
In the Shorts feed, ads do not attach to individual videos. Instead, ads appear intermittently between Shorts as viewers swipe through their feeds. YouTube pools all advertising revenue generated across the Shorts feed in a specific country each month. This total pool is then used to reward monetizing creators and cover commercial music licensing costs.
According to YouTube's Help Center, if a Short uses no music, all of the revenue associated with its engaged views goes into the Creator Pool. With one music track, half goes to the pool and half covers music licensing; with two tracks, one third goes to the pool. The Creator Pool is then distributed to monetizing creators based on their share of total engaged views in each country, and creators keep 45 percent of their allocated revenue, whether or not they used music.
Long-form versus Shorts monetization: key differences
Compare the core economic mechanics between traditional long-form video and Shorts.
| Monetization Metric | Traditional Long-Form Video | YouTube Shorts Feed |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue Model | Direct ad placement on individual videos | Monthly collective Creator Pool distribution |
| Creator Revenue Share | 55% to creator (45% to YouTube) | 45% to creator (55% to YouTube) |
| Typical RPM | Varies widely by niche and country | Usually a small fraction of long-form RPM |
| Mid-Roll Ads Support | Yes (on videos 8 minutes or longer) | No (ads only run between feed swipes) |
| Music | Content ID claims can send a video's ad revenue to the rights holder | Set split: half to the pool with one track, one third with two |
| Primary Income Path | YouTube AdSense and mid-roll impressions | Sponsorships, product sales, and channel funnel |
How to calculate your Shorts earnings with a worked example
These numbers are made up to show the method, not to predict your earnings.
Three reasons Shorts RPM is so much lower than long-form
Understand why ad rates for vertical video sit at a fraction of traditional video earnings.
How smart creators actually make money from Shorts
Relying purely on Shorts AdSense leaves creators underpaid; top channels monetize through secondary channels.
The strategic verdict: are YouTube Shorts worth making?
If your sole goal is earning passive advertising income through AdSense, making YouTube Shorts is an inefficient path. Earning a living wage purely from Shorts ad revenue takes an enormous number of views, every month.
However, as an audience discovery engine, Shorts are unmatched. They allow small channels to reach hundreds of thousands of new viewers in weeks, helping them toward Partner Program eligibility.
Treat Shorts as your top-of-funnel marketing asset. Use them to hook new viewers, build brand awareness, and direct your most engaged audience members into your higher-paying long-form catalog, sponsorship deals, and merchandise stores.
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FAQ
Common questions
There's no fixed rate. It depends on your audience's countries, music use, and that month's ad revenue. Shorts RPM is usually a small fraction of long-form RPM, so 1 million Shorts views typically earns far less than 1 million long-form views. The Revenue tab in YouTube Studio shows your actual Shorts RPM.
Creators receive 45 percent of their allocated share from the Creator Pool. This differs from long-form videos, where creators receive 55 percent of net ad revenue.
Yes. When you use commercial music in a Short, half of the revenue associated with that Short's views goes to music licensing (two thirds with two tracks), reducing the amount that enters the Creator Pool.
To join the YouTube Partner Program via Shorts, your channel must have at least 1,000 subscribers and accumulate 10 million valid public Shorts views within the last 90 days (or 4,000 public watch hours on long-form videos in 12 months).
No. Shorts do not support mid-roll ads or individual pre-roll ads. All advertising revenue is generated from ads served between videos in the vertical swipe feed and pooled monthly.
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