An Official Artist Channel puts everything you have on YouTube in one place: your own uploads, the automatic topic channel that holds your distributed songs, and your subscribers. It is the music note next to your name. It is not a badge you buy or apply for directly; YouTube grants it when a channel meets its published criteria and the request comes from the right place.
The four requirements
| Requirement | What YouTube says |
|---|---|
| One artist, one channel | You own and operate a single artist's or band's channel that is focused on that artist's music. |
| At least one official release | At least one official music release on YouTube, delivered and distributed by a music distributor or label. |
| A clean channel | The channel complies with all YouTube policies, including the Community Guidelines and copyright rules. |
| A partner connection | At least one of: a YouTube Partner Manager, the YouTube Partner Program, a label network that works with a Partner Manager, or music distributed by a partner listed in the YouTube Services Directory. |
Who asks for it
Not you. YouTube's instruction is to contact your label or distributor and ask them to request the Official Artist Channel. Artists without either can have it requested by a music service partner as part of delivering their music to YouTube.
What gets merged
Subscribers from your topic channel, your Vevo channel if you have one, and your existing channel are combined into the Official Artist Channel. The subscribe button and the subscriber count disappear from the old channel and the topic channel, so all growth lands in one place.
The one thing that takes it away
A Community Guidelines strike, or content with limited features, suspends the Official Artist Channel and turns it back into a standard channel. It returns automatically once there are no active strikes and the channel meets the other criteria again. That is why re-uploading songs you do not control is the fastest way to lose it.
Before you ask
- Make sure your songs are live on YouTube Music through a distributor, and that your artist name is spelled exactly the same on every release.
- Pick the one channel you want to keep, and use it only for your own music.
- Remove anything you do not have the rights to.
- Then send the channel link to your distributor and ask for the Official Artist Channel request.
With Mazufa
Releasing with Mazufa is free: no upload fee, no subscription and no per-release fee, with the revenue share set out in your written agreement. Once your release is live on YouTube and your channel meets the criteria above, contact us with your channel link. Apply at mazufa.com/apply.
Sources
- YouTube Help, Official Artist Channels — https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7336634
On the limits of this guide. It restates YouTube's published criteria. YouTube decides every request and can change the rules; check the source page before you ask.