---
title: 'YouTube BrandConnect: Watch This Before You Use It'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=KNLC0pjXE9E'
video_id: 'KNLC0pjXE9E'
date: 2026-08-04
duration_sec: 1165
---

# YouTube BrandConnect: Watch This Before You Use It

> Source: [YouTube BrandConnect: Watch This Before You Use It](https://youtube.com/watch?v=KNLC0pjXE9E)

## Summary

This video provides a comprehensive walkthrough of YouTube BrandConnect, a platform that connects creators with advertisers for brand deals. The creator highlights the importance of understanding the terms and conditions, particularly around content licensing, rights, and payments, to avoid pitfalls that could lead to channel loss or financial issues. The video also covers how to set up BrandConnect, use the media kit, and price your content effectively.

### Key Points

- **Risks of Brand Deals** [00:13] — Brand deals can be lucrative but risky; creators can lose their entire YouTube channels if they don't understand the terms they're agreeing to.
- **BrandConnect Simplifies** [01:08] — YouTube BrandConnect removes some complications, but it's still important to read the fine print, especially section five on licensing.
- **Section 5: Licensing** [01:22] — Creators grant advertisers rights to use content as per the campaign agreement, including sharing raw files, but extra uses usually require additional fees.
- **Third-Party IP** [02:18] — Creators must have rights to all third-party intellectual property in their content, including music and sound recordings, and are responsible for any infringement.
- **Music Rights** [03:46] — Creators need rights for both musical composition and sound recordings; using royalty-free music from services like YouTube Audio Library may not cover commercial use.
- **Commercial Licenses** [04:28] — If a brand downloads and uses your video on their platforms, you need a commercial plan from music services; otherwise, you risk legal issues.
- **Payments and Taxes** [05:49] — Payments are made through AdSense once content is live, but creators are responsible for extra taxes on BrandConnect income.
- **Termination Payment** [06:30] — If a campaign is canceled after content is submitted, Google may still pay a termination price, which is a standup move by Google.
- **Content Retention** [07:23] — Creators must keep content up for a certain period; failure to do so may result in chargebacks or offsets from Google.
- **Removal from Platform** [08:34] — Google can remove creators from BrandConnect at its discretion, especially if content is rejected in three or more campaigns or if creators fail to respond to communications.
- **Professionalism Required** [10:11] — Creators must respond on time and deliver quality content; it's a professional service, and responsiveness is key to staying compliant.
- **Setting Minimum Pricing** [11:04] — Creators can set minimum pricing for long-form and short-form videos; the creator's minimum is $2,000 for a short, but it varies based on experience and audience.
- **Six-Month Usage** [11:43] — BrandConnect deals include six months of content usage rights, which is important because it affects how your content can be used and your risk.
- **Pricing Strategy** [12:39] — Start with a blank minimum and adjust based on your worth; consider long-term revenue from affiliate marketing and brand association.
- **Affiliate Marketing Value** [13:32] — Videos with affiliate links can drive more long-term revenue than the upfront brand deal amount, so factor that into pricing.
- **Brand Association** [14:12] — Brand deals are not just about money; association and awareness can build trust with your audience, making future recommendations more powerful.
- **Personal Value** [15:25] — Consider what an extra $200-$300 a month means to you; pricing should reflect your personal financial situation and goals.
- **Long-Term Content Value** [16:38] — Old videos can continue to generate revenue through affiliate marketing, so don't undervalue your content's long-term potential.
- **Setting Up BrandConnect** [17:06] — In Creator Studio, click on BrandConnect in the top navigation, set minimum pricing or leave blank, and click Done.
- **Media Kit Tips** [17:46] — Ensure your media kit has a strong intro sentence, featured videos that showcase your style, and updated audience interests and shopping interests.
- **Contact Email** [18:43] — Double-check the contact email in your media kit to avoid shady outreach; you can add or change it as needed.

### Conclusion

BrandConnect offers a streamlined way to secure brand deals, but creators must carefully read the terms to protect their channels and income. Understanding licensing, rights, and pricing is essential to making the most of the platform.

## Transcript

inviting content creators to join BrandConnect, for helping content creators make more money I've received a handful of requests of people asking me
We're gonna talk about some things you need to keep in mind that will help prevent you the terms you're agreeing to,
how to connect to YouTube BrandConnect, on how to use the built-in media kit once you get connected. one of the ways that you can make a lot of money over time
but they can be risky. and they lose their entire YouTube channels in the process of thinking they were getting a brand deal.
or messed with from time to time But when it comes to YouTube BrandConnect, and they've also removed some of the complication
This is a good thing, Some are good and some are not so good. to get into BrandConnect in section five,
It says if you grant an advertiser rights pursuant to the campaign agreement, implement, or disable any product features,
necessary to permit advertiser to utilize the content agreed to by you and the advertiser.
to share the content including a raw file of the content or this just hasn't been brought to your attention,
using your content for other purposes there's usually an extra fee involved with that where you're already getting a good deal.
From that same section, the licenses granted by you in this section five with respect to any
and all third-party intellectual property included in the content, including, without limitation, and any rights, including public performance rights,
and/or sound recordings in, synchronized with or that is otherwise part of the content. but it's also not very clear,
that they are pretty good at being not very clear. what that meant. which is kind of what I thought it meant,
means that when you, as a creator, you are confirming related to any third-party intellectual property
If your content features performances Music and sound. you need to have the rights to use them in your content.
This includes rights for both the musical composition Essentially, it's saying that you're responsible to use everything in your content.
to use this third-party content as part of your video. that you work with the opportunity and use it in other ways as long as you agree,
and you gotta listen to this. or any other service like that, on the entry level tier.
because you are just publishing content to YouTube The license you have from these services or sound effects,
but it gives you the right However, if a third party, if they download your video
and they use it on their social media platforms you need to have the commercial plan which allows you to publish content for clients,
So if you do one of those deals just make sure that you have the right rights Or as a shameless plug,
and Dee and I created for you called Creator Mix. You can use it in this case without any worries. that you did not create that you have the license to.
if that place that you're getting it from without paying a higher fee But again, to be safe, you need to have commercial rights
just to cover yourself. which is fees, payments, and taxes. There's just a little bit that you need to know about here,
and that question is, where do I get paid for this? through your AdSense account once the content has been live You are also responsible for any extra taxes
that you're gonna make from BrandConnect. like they do in some cases when it comes to ads, They say that if the campaign agreement
or the creator campaign is canceled on the platform but after content is submitted, unless the content or applicable revisions
in the applicable campaign agreement with the policy agreement set out in section nine below, And as part of this, they state that the termination price
I think this is a pretty standup move by Google that if you get to a certain part in the deal, and then for whatever reason the brand's being difficult
they're still going to pay you something for you to know is this. or fail to keep content up
Google may charge back or offset amounts paid or payable to you. and provides details about how you can appeal
This is important because if you don't keep the content and take that money back from you. but the whole thing with this
how long you need to leave the content on the platform for. so therefore it's your obligation to make sure or to make sure that if you work with somebody
or anything like that that they don't delete it. of course, why wouldn't I just leave it on the channel? Sometimes a video underperforms
with the direction that they wanna take the channel in but those are just a couple of examples. Most of this is normal stuff and nothing to worry about,
Just in case you're breezing through the terms at its sole discretion. or more offers from advertisers to participate in campaigns
they'll do the same if the content a creator has made for a campaign has been rejected in three or more campaigns. because a lot of the people
And as part of that, may or may not be in perfect alignment which could then cause somebody to get booted off
on why they're getting booted outside of the branches to give any type of feedback then that's not that big of a deal.
that people can get booted "Hey, you didn't put us in the best light possible," so we're just not gonna do it, or whatever the thing is."
to where you can at least get that feedback The next one is that they can remove you which is more than fair and/or fails to respond
to two or more communications from Google and/or advertiser And then they say, for clarity, you are not obligated and are free to decline any offer.
and things that need to be in there in order to make sure and that they can do whatever it is that they need and also to make sure that creators
they are running a professional service here. that creators will respond on time and they will deliver quality content
and it's our job to make sure that we're handling But once you sign up, you'll get an email when it comes to the expected timeline to stay compliant.
to let the brand know you're interested. It's just professional courtesy. and therefore, it is your job or part of your job
to make sure that you're responding to them As you're setting up your account, To be transparent, my minimum in this system
and $2,000 for a short. is because I've been making videos for nine years I've done a lot of affiliate marketing, things like that,
that a video can have on YouTube. and bringing awareness to things that people I'm gonna show you how to do that
It's important to note that there is a box that pops up and it gives you information on your minimum pricing, BrandConnect deals include six month content usage
So all that stuff I was saying before because the content licensing, because if they can take your content
essentially for six months: then one, because they don't have to pay somebody to make the content. But it puts you at risk
Because if you hand it off to them guess who that's gonna ripple back down to? So again, be careful about the assets that you're using
Now if you look farther down in that box, So if you have no idea where to start, start with it blank and then decide on if that's too little or too high
or you can set it in advance for what you feel it's worth The reason it's important to make sure
what it's worth for you to make it doing a $10,000 minimum on a long form video, Other people are gonna look at that
Why is he letting it go for such a small price?" that I might not ever work with again. I just encourage you
First, it's important to know just in case you don't, for your audience using affiliate marketing In some cases, those videos will drive you
a lot more revenue long term compared to the amount of money I have a video explaining this concept in detail. But if you already promote things on your channel,
or your driving people into like crowdfunding for every video that you publish for someone else, When pricing, you also wanna consider
and you don't have a strong brand yet, Because brand deals are not always In some cases, it's about association or awareness.
your recommendations carry weight. and/or recommending a product also carries a lot of weight. and I've recommended something to you,
because of that, next time that I recommend something, because you know that I recommend good stuff. but let's say that down the road,
In that particular case, you know that I use Because of that, if you decide to start live streaming and interacting with my content.
that you're gonna go to their website and check it out these associations over time can be very powerful is what's it worth to you?
being able to add an extra 200 or $300 a month and would make a significant impact on your life. you might not even notice if an extra $1,000 or $500
That's why it's important to think about regardless of all of the things about what you should do. that we have as being content creators,
and then start figuring it out from there what it is that they think what you're doing is worth because of course they're trying to win in that situation.
Or you could use that as information and not do the deal, to your minimum pricing. that you are promoting is a good fit for the people
so that they can get the most out of it, and hopefully get to work with those brands again. with brand deals attached to them,
This video here was published in 2014 over the last 365 days eight years later.
of what it is that you're creating or yourself as a creator. to these videos as well over time. I'm gonna show you really quickly how to set up BrandConnect
about the media kit that YouTube is going to show So it's important that you stick around for that part. in your Creator Studio,
then click on BrandConnect in the top navigation. and company name, if you have one, Next, choose your minimum pricing or leave it blank.
about this part and then click Done. where you'll see a few blue boxes pop up Next, click on View Media Kit.
I'm not sure if brands and BrandConnect here's some things to keep in mind. Make sure that you have a sentence at the top
Next, if you don't have any sponsored videos But if you do, put some videos here that you think In the featured videos, if possible,
so they can see an example of how you might talk about them. and choose information about your audience's interests Further down under shopping interests, you can do the same,
For example, mine was supposed to be updated So on that note, before you come into this area make sure that the info is still as you set it
And double check the PDF once you download it. Just in case someone shady is reaching out to you, that is connected to your YouTube account.
You can add or change this email address Now you're good to go in your media kit. And one of those that I mentioned earlier in this video
to see exactly how affiliate marketing works Go ahead and click on that now The next one maybe, I was in a hurry.
All right.