YouTube Content ID Terminology

Allowlisting

An allowlist is a list of approved accounts that can use your content for services like SoundCloud or YouTube, you may need to allowlist your own account so that you can publish your own content. When Content ID has been activated on your account automated Content ID claims are issued to accounts that try to post your content that are not allowlisted, preventing them from using your content.

What if I’m not Allowlisted?

If you are using Content ID and your own account is not allowlisted you may receive a DMCA claim and takedown of your music from ANS Music in error, if this is the case then please submit a ticket and request that your account be allowlisted.

Matched Third Party Content

If you are the maker of a musical work and it says Matched Third Party Content, this is a normal aspect of the YouTube Content ID service. We manage the catalogs of various record labels and artists on YouTube.  That means we upload material directly supplied to us and then ingest it into YouTube’s Content ID system. What that does is that with the audio created, it creates a sort of, digital fingerprint that will scan all of YouTube for any files (audio and/or video) that matches what’s been uploaded.

Sometimes, it can even come up if you as an artist or record label created the content and thus it will say Matched Third Party Content.

We ask anyone that receives that to simply not dispute it because it shows proof that the system and strategy is working. We manage the catalogs for the purpose of gaining additional revenue for content creators and that includes even off your channel. By not disputing and letting us claim the audio of your work it means your royalties will be properly accounted for on the statement you receive from us.

This doesn’t mean we don’t want you to upload your song and/or video but by simply allowing the claim to go through, you now have a source and outlet to be able to receive royalties straight from us as a digital distributor.

NOTE: this does not mean your account is suffering from copyright infringement. Your account will not be affected on YouTube if it says “Matched Third Party Content”

Art Track (Topic Track)

An Art Track is an automatically generated YouTube version of a sound recording. An Art Track consists of the sound recording, the album art, and metadata about the recording, such as its title and artist name.

The purpose of Art Tracks is to provide a single official, label-sanctioned YouTube version of every sound recording. Currently, official music videos are available for recordings only when a label or artist invests (non-trivial) time and resources into producing one. Art Tracks automate the creation of versions for recordings that don’t have a produced music video.

Every track that is submitted to YouTube Music is posted as an art track and available in the territories that YouTube Music is assigned in.

Art Tracks fill in the gaps to ensure that YouTube has a complete music catalog. They appear in the same places as produced music videos, such as on the YouTube topic channel for the main artist, in album playlists, and in search results, including watch cards for the artist. YouTube uses the produced music video for recordings that have one; when you upload a music video for a sound recording, the Art Track for that recording becomes unlisted and no longer discover-able.

Through ANS Music, these tracks are created automatically when you select YouTube Music in the dashboard.  For a more detailed view of YouTube Music Art Tracks, click here.

More on this from YouTube here.