YouTube's new policy is bad news for animators
Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Breakthrough hits as varied as The Amazing Digital Circus and Skibidi Toilet have shown us that YouTube can be…
Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Breakthrough hits as varied as The Amazing Digital Circus and Skibidi Toilet have shown us that YouTube can be an important platform for new, original animation. Big studios are also on the hunt for creators with viral potential to bring to streaming or the big screen (although, not always the gems, as we saw with the Amazon Gen AI Creators' Fund).It's worrying, then, that YouTube has decided to double the numbers of views that new channels need to achieve to be able to monetise their content. The Amazing Digital Circus (Image credit: Glitch Productions)From 1 February 1, 2027, creators who apply to join the YouTube Partner Program to monetise their channels will need 8,000 qualified watch hours over the previous year. For YouTube Shorts, creators will need to achieve 20 million qualified views within three months. Both figures are double the current requirement (4,000 watch hours or 10 million Shorts views).Latest Videos FromCreative BloqWatch full video here: The change won't affect existing members of the programme or the thresholds for Fan Funding and shopping products. YouTube argues that the change is needed because of the platform's growth and says it will help fund new creator incentives. It also says that it expects creators to earn more overall because of an expansion of its Premium Lite subscription tier to more countries.But although YouTube's framing the changes as "new opportunities", they could make things more difficult for new independent animators. It doesn't pull the ladder up completely, but it removes a few of the lower rungs.Creators who are already monetising their content may earn more if YouTube's expectations pan out, but new creators need to get a lot more views before they can start earning anything.For animators that can be even harder than for creators in other field because of the sheer amount of time and work involved in creating a single short piece. This can make it more difficult to keep up a frequent flow of new content to feed the platform's algorithm and get picked up by the recommendation system.Get the Creative Bloq NewsletterSign up to Creative Bloq's daily newsletter, which brings you the latest news and inspiration from the worlds of art, design and technology.If not YouTube, where else can animators break through? (and don't say Disney's TikTok for Disney+ progromme).Meanwhile, some animators are also expressing frustration with YouTube's review process. Adam Mickiewicz, the animator and co-creator of the Bridge Kids, complains that the show's latest episode will be set as "for kids" despite it being an adult animation with swearing.One might presume that "for kids" would be a more restrictive category for safe content, but it seems not.The geniuses at @YouTube have decided that our latest episode of Bridge Kids will only be set as "for kids" and that their decision is final. They claim a real human reviewed the video and made this decision too!Here is what a real human at YT thinks a video for kids looks like pic.twitter.com/uz1nmxzqdiAugust 11, 2026Are you an animator that relies on YouTube to share your work? Let us know how you think the new policy will affect you or what other platforms you would recommend new animators try. TOPICS Joe FoleyFreelance journalist and editorJoe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango. View More You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Logout LATEST ARTICLES 1 Apple's iPhone 18 line up is looking like a radical departure in more ways than one 2 I just found a daily doodle website that's the most joyful middle finger to AI art 3 This 3D artist depicts characters like Super Mario and Sonic as you've never seen them before using Unreal Engine and 3ds Max 4 The viral cursed milk cat has been turned into a hilarious animation using Blender 5 Jaguar doubles down on its controversial rebrand with a (literally) divisive interior designSource: Creative Bloq AI Art — Published — Category: Image AI