YouTube Adds New AI Music Elements, New ID Confirmation Options

YouTube’s expanding its generative AI soundtrack tools, while it’s also adding new beat matching for Shorts, and a new ID verification process for monetizing creators.

First off, YouTube’s expanding access to its AI music creation features within “Creator Music”, which will now enable you to generate custom songs in-stream.

Creator Music, which YouTube began testing back in 2023, is still being rolled out to all users, so you may not have access as yet. But if you do (within YouTube Studio), you can now also create your own AI tracks in the app.

As per YouTube:

“For those who have access to Creator Music, we're gradually rolling out a feature that allows you to create custom instrumentals for your videos with the help of AI. You can access this feature in a new “Music Assistant” tab in Creator Music.”

As you can see in the above example, within this tab, you can now enter a description of the music you want for your video, and YouTube’s AI music generation tool will provide an audio clip for you, based on that explainer.

Which is probably horrendous news for the stock music industry, and session musicians who make money from jingles. But it’s a positive for creators who are short on cash, and maybe you’ll be able to come up with just the right music for your clips via this process.

YouTube says that you can download any of the generated tracks to add them to your video, with no concerns about copyright claims.

On a related front, YouTube’s also testing out beat matching for audio tracks on Shorts, so you can more easily match your video with the soundtrack.

YouTube says that by automatically matching your audio and video elements, that may help to reduce editing complexity, while you can also use this for video or photo collections.

“When you select multiple photos and video clips from your phone's gallery, you'll now have the option to automatically create a short video synced to music. Just choose the media, pick a song, and it’ll arrange your clips to match the beat.”

YouTube says that it’s currently testing this feature with a small number of creators.

On another front, YouTube’s also looking to clarify the purpose of its “Subscribe” and “Join” buttons.

“We've seen some viewer confusion around the difference between the “Subscribe” and “Join” buttons that are available on some channels for memberships. To simplify how viewers discover and access channel memberships, we're testing a new “Subscribe+” button for a small set of viewers on mobile desktop and TV.”

YouTube says that it’s hoping the updated display will make it clearer what each button means.

Finally, YouTube’s also testing out a new way to verify the identity of YouTube creators that are seeking to monetize their channel, without the need for a physically mailed PIN.

At present, in order to monetize on YouTube, creators need to verify their details via a six-digit code that’s sent, via physical mail, to their address. But that’s not always ideal, and it can also take a long time for the PIN to be sent via mail so that you can enter it into the system.

To improve this, YouTube’s now testing out a new option using online verification provider Persona, which involves verifying your government-issued ID, and completing a facial scan.

Which also has its own flaws and concerns, but given that the process takes around 10 minutes, versus potentially weeks via physical mail, it could be another option to consider.

Some handy updates in YouTube’s latest release, which will have specific value to different creators.