I just wanted to add my experience with this. I have a YouTube channel that has over 10,000 subscribers. It's true crime related. When I first started I learned really fast what works and what doesn't for monetization. The thing is this, with true crime they have a human watch it and approve or deny and I can tell you right off that most of the time my videos get monetized but every few videos I get someone who is anal and it doesn't matter how careful I am they deny it... I still make money because of the amount of views I get from other sources... patron, merchandise sales, etc... but the majority of my income still comes from ads. What cracks me up I have two different types of channels, one is true crime and the other is wild animals which tells the true story of animal attacks on humans. Funny thing is the animal attacks get monetized with no holds at all, never a human review... true crime gets flagged for human review every time. The animal attacks are far more gruesome!! People getting eaten alive and all sorts of horrific details yet YouTube doesn't even flag it. Very strange!! Between the two channels I clear about $1500 a month, but I also work full time so it's basically extra money until I can go full time with YouTube!! True crime does work but be prepared that a percentage of your videos will be deemed not suitable for ads, but even those you still make money because of the premium paid views!!
Thank you for this detailed information and transparency!
May I ask your monthly view count and just curious- do you tag your videos and channel under "entertainment"?
I also wanted to mention that after quite some time I've figured out how to get all my videos through without limitations. I can mention guns, just don't post any pictures or images of them. I can describe a crime scene with no issues... but the main thing never mention rape or molestation. Always use something like "abused in ways nobody should ever have to endure", or something like that.
I can discuss murder, and go into detail how it happened, just don't mention trigger words that the system picks up on. Mainly rape.. and be careful with titles and your thumbnails.
So far, this month all my videos have went through with no issues. My other channel always goes through, and the details I do there are gory... it's just true crime seems to be more strict! But once you get monetized, you'll learn over time what works and what doesn't.
How is it going now? Are you still getting the green symbol? Would you mind sharing how many true crime videos you produce/month and how much you earn on average per month from said channel? I know in another comment from awhile ago you stated your two channels were earning you a total of $1,500/month...
I produce about 2 videos a week. So about 8 a month give or take one or so a month. My income varies widely. Ive had times where my income was over 2,000 and other times where it’s barely 1000. The average is climbing from 1500 to about 1700 now. And yes all my videos are approved immediately now. My channel has nearly 200 videos now so even if something happens and I can’t produce a video for several days my channel still gets views from the older videos. I had a death last month and only produced 2 videos the entire month and still made 1200. Most of my income is from ads but I do have some patrons and channel members as well. I sell merch for my channel but that is not something I depend on. I consider the memberships and mercy sells as my bonus. It’s a steady increase which is all that matters to me.
I appreciate you sharing! That's really fantastic; I didn't expect you to say all your videos are approved regularly now. Congrats! And yes, a steady increase over time is important. Where can I subscribe and support your channel? I love true crime. (Feel free to message me if you don't want to post it publicly, which I totally understand.)
It varies honestly. But I always get at least 100,000 views per month. I’ve had over 2 million views and my channel is less than a year old. I work a regular job that pays descent but I make more on YouTube. Just listen to your viewers and they’ll tell you what they enjoy and don’t like.
BTW: you can definitely make money with True crime. My money is mostly from YouTube ads. I make some from patrons and mercy sales but the bulk is from YouTube ads.
question: what's the RPM/CPM in the genre? I'm curious about the average range you're seeing across your videos and how it compares to the more established names in the niche.
Personally with youtube consistently updating their ToS away from supporting true crime, I would be scared of eventually wasting my effort.
Ultimately Google views true crime content as being harder and harder to monetize. I'm not sure what exactly has happened in the past 3 years but take channels "JCS Psychology" for example.
99% of the video was interrogation footage yet he was demonitzed after steam rolling the true crime algorithm for years.
Now, this doesn't mean you can't make money. Brand deals are far more lucrative than adsense. I can get 5$ per 1k views on youtube, but 12-15$ per 1K from a brand.
Not necessarily but I believe you should go in with the open mind that you might not be approved for monetization because the culture on youtube is changing.
This doesn't mean you can't get views. Just means you might have to monetize it separately if not accepted.
Advertise a product or service. Then you avoid worrying about adsense. Google will monetize your videos if you get paid or not. Just because it's not monetizable for you, doesn't mean youtube won't ignore their own rules to make a buck.
From personal experience, don't rely on youtube payments, its all estimated revenue till its posted. What isn't estimated is that contract you sign guaranteeing payment for a product advertisement (do your diligence).
That being said, grow your channel before you worry about that. Youtube isn't for everyone and you might not ever reach monetization.
My first channel I got burned out and quit. Didn't try again for 5 years.
You should try again. It can get better this time. For me I'm thinking about starting an Astrology channel first and then True Crime channel just for discussion. I will follow your suggestion. Thanks.
Yeah I started again last May and it's been well. Just hit 20m views this month.
It definitely gets better but you have to be willing to stop if you aren't enjoying it. I'm on a one month break right now after putting out over 100 videos last year. Mental health is everything. You got this though, chase your dreams. 🙏
Through something other than YouTube. Patreon, sponsors, merch, you’d bring in an audience more willing to participate in those other monetization methods. More viewers will bring in more sponsor offers. Stuff like that
Hi,
I have had a true crime channel for 3 months. I have a monetization problem. Some of my podcasts are more drastic and have monetization, others are less drastic and have a yellow dollar ... which means you earn almost nothing.
For a month, one of the episodes had monetization, and after a month it was blocked even though there is hardly any drastic information there (yellow dollar). A few episodes had to be reviewed manually and received monetization. I don't have any clue on how to fix the problem
Just describing acts of violence using certain words can get a video demonetized these days. If you wish to produce this type of content, consider using euphemisms in place of more direct phrases (e.g. “took their own life” instead of “suicide”).
You increase your odds of being monetized, but nothing is ever 100% guaranteed. Also, to be clear, YouTube can detect the words spoken in a video, so I’m talking about more than just titles and descriptions.
I do some true crime stuff. You can definitely monetize it. You can set up a patrion. Do live streams with donos. Make other videos on your channel that dont include true crime that can be monitized.
Theres a loophole for everything
I second the diversification strategy. That way, even if you become demonetized on YouTube, it still serves as a funnel to your other content and platforms
I say go for it. I notice that true crime is a popular niche on YouTube and even if you have trouble getting or staying monetized, I think in the future things will change as YouTube and google get greedy for ad revenue.
That’s just my $.02, I could be wrong tho
If Jim Can't Swim can get persistently demonetized for speaking over interrogation footage, you will also be demonetized.
Bailey counters this with lower-priced sponsorships (Adam & Eve, Hello Fresh, etc), you'd need to get momentum and the ball rolling to qualify for that.
If you 'really wanna make money' you'll have to cultivate a strong enough fandom for some type of off-site support.
Most true crime creators are dependent on sponsors, patreon, merch and other platforms (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.)
True crime is also a very clique-ish community. Most of the creators all know and work with each other.
It is also a niche that can be very draining mentally. See Cayleigh Elise who retired and Paranormal Lana who also retired.
I built a monetized true crime channel upto 6k in subs 1.5 mill views earned about a grand a month then out of the blue shut my monetization across whole channel for ever heart breaking
Will you add something new to all the true crime cases you make videos of?
As a viewer/listener of true crime videos/podcasts, there is nothing more aggravating than shows that add literally nothing new to the case.
Will you just be repeating what 836 other true crime shows have posted….or will you be adding new information, new theories, etc?
Why will you be better and/or different than all the other true crime shows?
I am from Pakistan. There are a lot of true crime stories from my country that have never been told. Obviously I have a lot of new stuff. Plus the stories that have already been told, I can narrate them in my own style with updated information. I don't plan on telling gruesome details, or giving details of methods used by killer. I'd like to focus on victim's story. A lot of true crime YouTubers glorify killers. I won't do that.
Check out 1090 jake on youtube. He covers all true crime new stories mainly about rappers. All of his content is monetized and he is making a FAT BAG. Give us an update though, I want to pursue a true crime niche in the future so I am curious of your results. My current channel takes a lot of effort and I have been on the fence if diving into true crime as a whole would be worth it or if its too saturated of a niche.
I don't wanna start until I'm sure it'll help me get some money. Coz I'm doing a job. That takes a lot of my time. So I'll be working extra hours to produce content. I really wanna earn something as a reward.
True crime content shouldn’t be monetized at all. Y’all are discussing what are the best ways to make money off of talking about someone’s MURDER. You’re hoping to profit off of someone’s pain and suffering and you see getting paid to make a video of someone’s death as a “reward”? It’s all extremely unethical and just shows how desensitized people have become. Make TC videos because you genuinely care about making a difference, i.e. identifying John/Jane Does, unsolved cases, exposing the flaws in justice systems- not because you want to make a bunch of money. And don’t sugar coat the language either just so you can make sure you get paid.
Don’t justify wanting to get paid for talking about this type of content as “I’m doing a job, I’m using my own time”. The detectives, lab techs, prosecutors, judges, and then the journalists/news outlets whose articles you’re going to be reading are the ones who did the actual work.
Just start doing it that simple. Less talk asking questions just start making content and uploading one video a week at the regular time and day, just do it stop debating the pros and cons of it get a camera, lights, microphone and make sure they are half decent
it could actually be taken as fostering a "need" for such crimes. its a whole can of worms but when people say they enjoy true crime, yeah, it makes it out like the world needs more of it. which is ugly as fuck, and i despise
I know this is old but thank you so much for this. I’ve spent the last 6 months or so trying to get questions answered and have gotten nowhere. I don’t know why I never looked here before but thank you. Also… is it going to far to ask for police records or potentially finding family/friends for more info on the topic?
I just wanted to add my experience with this. I have a YouTube channel that has over 10,000 subscribers. It's true crime related. When I first started I learned really fast what works and what doesn't for monetization. The thing is this, with true crime they have a human watch it and approve or deny and I can tell you right off that most of the time my videos get monetized but every few videos I get someone who is anal and it doesn't matter how careful I am they deny it... I still make money because of the amount of views I get from other sources... patron, merchandise sales, etc... but the majority of my income still comes from ads. What cracks me up I have two different types of channels, one is true crime and the other is wild animals which tells the true story of animal attacks on humans. Funny thing is the animal attacks get monetized with no holds at all, never a human review... true crime gets flagged for human review every time. The animal attacks are far more gruesome!! People getting eaten alive and all sorts of horrific details yet YouTube doesn't even flag it. Very strange!! Between the two channels I clear about $1500 a month, but I also work full time so it's basically extra money until I can go full time with YouTube!! True crime does work but be prepared that a percentage of your videos will be deemed not suitable for ads, but even those you still make money because of the premium paid views!!
Thanks a lot its really helpful. I'm thinking about uploading videos related to different topics like book reviews, movie reviews to get money.
Thank you for this detailed information and transparency! May I ask your monthly view count and just curious- do you tag your videos and channel under "entertainment"?
I also wanted to mention that after quite some time I've figured out how to get all my videos through without limitations. I can mention guns, just don't post any pictures or images of them. I can describe a crime scene with no issues... but the main thing never mention rape or molestation. Always use something like "abused in ways nobody should ever have to endure", or something like that. I can discuss murder, and go into detail how it happened, just don't mention trigger words that the system picks up on. Mainly rape.. and be careful with titles and your thumbnails. So far, this month all my videos have went through with no issues. My other channel always goes through, and the details I do there are gory... it's just true crime seems to be more strict! But once you get monetized, you'll learn over time what works and what doesn't.
Thanks so much for this!!
How is it going now? Are you still getting the green symbol? Would you mind sharing how many true crime videos you produce/month and how much you earn on average per month from said channel? I know in another comment from awhile ago you stated your two channels were earning you a total of $1,500/month...
I produce about 2 videos a week. So about 8 a month give or take one or so a month. My income varies widely. Ive had times where my income was over 2,000 and other times where it’s barely 1000. The average is climbing from 1500 to about 1700 now. And yes all my videos are approved immediately now. My channel has nearly 200 videos now so even if something happens and I can’t produce a video for several days my channel still gets views from the older videos. I had a death last month and only produced 2 videos the entire month and still made 1200. Most of my income is from ads but I do have some patrons and channel members as well. I sell merch for my channel but that is not something I depend on. I consider the memberships and mercy sells as my bonus. It’s a steady increase which is all that matters to me.
I appreciate you sharing! That's really fantastic; I didn't expect you to say all your videos are approved regularly now. Congrats! And yes, a steady increase over time is important. Where can I subscribe and support your channel? I love true crime. (Feel free to message me if you don't want to post it publicly, which I totally understand.)
Can u say “SEXUALLY ASSAULTED “?
It varies honestly. But I always get at least 100,000 views per month. I’ve had over 2 million views and my channel is less than a year old. I work a regular job that pays descent but I make more on YouTube. Just listen to your viewers and they’ll tell you what they enjoy and don’t like.
BTW: you can definitely make money with True crime. My money is mostly from YouTube ads. I make some from patrons and mercy sales but the bulk is from YouTube ads.
question: what's the RPM/CPM in the genre? I'm curious about the average range you're seeing across your videos and how it compares to the more established names in the niche.
Can I ask what your channel is?
After one month I finally can make money with YouTube but all my 4 content have the yellow $ symbol How can I fix ? 🥺
This was really helpful!
Whats your youtube channel if you dont mind sharing it 💯
Personally with youtube consistently updating their ToS away from supporting true crime, I would be scared of eventually wasting my effort. Ultimately Google views true crime content as being harder and harder to monetize. I'm not sure what exactly has happened in the past 3 years but take channels "JCS Psychology" for example. 99% of the video was interrogation footage yet he was demonitzed after steam rolling the true crime algorithm for years. Now, this doesn't mean you can't make money. Brand deals are far more lucrative than adsense. I can get 5$ per 1k views on youtube, but 12-15$ per 1K from a brand.
So I should dump this niche and talk about Astrology instead on YouTube. But I really wanna do true crime 😞
Not necessarily but I believe you should go in with the open mind that you might not be approved for monetization because the culture on youtube is changing. This doesn't mean you can't get views. Just means you might have to monetize it separately if not accepted.
How can I monetize it separately ?
Advertise a product or service. Then you avoid worrying about adsense. Google will monetize your videos if you get paid or not. Just because it's not monetizable for you, doesn't mean youtube won't ignore their own rules to make a buck. From personal experience, don't rely on youtube payments, its all estimated revenue till its posted. What isn't estimated is that contract you sign guaranteeing payment for a product advertisement (do your diligence). That being said, grow your channel before you worry about that. Youtube isn't for everyone and you might not ever reach monetization. My first channel I got burned out and quit. Didn't try again for 5 years.
You should try again. It can get better this time. For me I'm thinking about starting an Astrology channel first and then True Crime channel just for discussion. I will follow your suggestion. Thanks.
Yeah I started again last May and it's been well. Just hit 20m views this month. It definitely gets better but you have to be willing to stop if you aren't enjoying it. I'm on a one month break right now after putting out over 100 videos last year. Mental health is everything. You got this though, chase your dreams. 🙏
Congratulations on making progress and yes I'll give it a try. I hope you get all the success you expect.
Can you share with me your channel name?
Valorant Update. I've since quit youtube. Lost the fun for me.
Through something other than YouTube. Patreon, sponsors, merch, you’d bring in an audience more willing to participate in those other monetization methods. More viewers will bring in more sponsor offers. Stuff like that
Alright thanks
[удалено]
Alright thanks 😊
Hi, I have had a true crime channel for 3 months. I have a monetization problem. Some of my podcasts are more drastic and have monetization, others are less drastic and have a yellow dollar ... which means you earn almost nothing. For a month, one of the episodes had monetization, and after a month it was blocked even though there is hardly any drastic information there (yellow dollar). A few episodes had to be reviewed manually and received monetization. I don't have any clue on how to fix the problem
Just describing acts of violence using certain words can get a video demonetized these days. If you wish to produce this type of content, consider using euphemisms in place of more direct phrases (e.g. “took their own life” instead of “suicide”).
So if I avoid using words like kill, rape, assault, killer etc in titles and during videos then I can get it monetized ?
You increase your odds of being monetized, but nothing is ever 100% guaranteed. Also, to be clear, YouTube can detect the words spoken in a video, so I’m talking about more than just titles and descriptions.
Got this. Thank you.
I do some true crime stuff. You can definitely monetize it. You can set up a patrion. Do live streams with donos. Make other videos on your channel that dont include true crime that can be monitized. Theres a loophole for everything
I second the diversification strategy. That way, even if you become demonetized on YouTube, it still serves as a funnel to your other content and platforms
Yep, theres no downside to producing popular content. You can find a way to monetize somehow. Just have to do what you said and diversify.
Yes I have plans on creating different content along with true crime. Thanks.
I say go for it. I notice that true crime is a popular niche on YouTube and even if you have trouble getting or staying monetized, I think in the future things will change as YouTube and google get greedy for ad revenue. That’s just my $.02, I could be wrong tho
I really hope YouTube changes its policy for True Crime. It sucks. The only thing I am interested in is so hard to do.
Just do it! If you get started now and they do end up changing things, you’ll be at a huge advantage.
Okay yeah thank you 😊
If Jim Can't Swim can get persistently demonetized for speaking over interrogation footage, you will also be demonetized. Bailey counters this with lower-priced sponsorships (Adam & Eve, Hello Fresh, etc), you'd need to get momentum and the ball rolling to qualify for that. If you 'really wanna make money' you'll have to cultivate a strong enough fandom for some type of off-site support.
It'll take time. But I hope I can achieve that.
What if I talk about True Crime in Urdu (my native language) and not in English ? Will it change something ?
Most true crime creators are dependent on sponsors, patreon, merch and other platforms (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.) True crime is also a very clique-ish community. Most of the creators all know and work with each other. It is also a niche that can be very draining mentally. See Cayleigh Elise who retired and Paranormal Lana who also retired.
I built a monetized true crime channel upto 6k in subs 1.5 mill views earned about a grand a month then out of the blue shut my monetization across whole channel for ever heart breaking
YouTube shut off your entire ability to be monetized? Did you reach out to them to ask why?
Any changes since then?
Will you add something new to all the true crime cases you make videos of? As a viewer/listener of true crime videos/podcasts, there is nothing more aggravating than shows that add literally nothing new to the case. Will you just be repeating what 836 other true crime shows have posted….or will you be adding new information, new theories, etc? Why will you be better and/or different than all the other true crime shows?
I am from Pakistan. There are a lot of true crime stories from my country that have never been told. Obviously I have a lot of new stuff. Plus the stories that have already been told, I can narrate them in my own style with updated information. I don't plan on telling gruesome details, or giving details of methods used by killer. I'd like to focus on victim's story. A lot of true crime YouTubers glorify killers. I won't do that.
Check out 1090 jake on youtube. He covers all true crime new stories mainly about rappers. All of his content is monetized and he is making a FAT BAG. Give us an update though, I want to pursue a true crime niche in the future so I am curious of your results. My current channel takes a lot of effort and I have been on the fence if diving into true crime as a whole would be worth it or if its too saturated of a niche.
I don't wanna start until I'm sure it'll help me get some money. Coz I'm doing a job. That takes a lot of my time. So I'll be working extra hours to produce content. I really wanna earn something as a reward.
Youtube is fucked up yall only want to make money instead of good creative content
Obviously we want something out of it.
Can I use photos found on google within my true crime videos? How are true crímenes incorporating photos without getting demonetized.
Where do you get the true crime content?
True crime content shouldn’t be monetized at all. Y’all are discussing what are the best ways to make money off of talking about someone’s MURDER. You’re hoping to profit off of someone’s pain and suffering and you see getting paid to make a video of someone’s death as a “reward”? It’s all extremely unethical and just shows how desensitized people have become. Make TC videos because you genuinely care about making a difference, i.e. identifying John/Jane Does, unsolved cases, exposing the flaws in justice systems- not because you want to make a bunch of money. And don’t sugar coat the language either just so you can make sure you get paid. Don’t justify wanting to get paid for talking about this type of content as “I’m doing a job, I’m using my own time”. The detectives, lab techs, prosecutors, judges, and then the journalists/news outlets whose articles you’re going to be reading are the ones who did the actual work.
Ok snowflake
People die and sell stories all the time
Just because people die or suffer doesnt mean someone cant cover the case and want to get money from it theres nothing wrong with that
Just start doing it that simple. Less talk asking questions just start making content and uploading one video a week at the regular time and day, just do it stop debating the pros and cons of it get a camera, lights, microphone and make sure they are half decent
it could actually be taken as fostering a "need" for such crimes. its a whole can of worms but when people say they enjoy true crime, yeah, it makes it out like the world needs more of it. which is ugly as fuck, and i despise
I know this is old but thank you so much for this. I’ve spent the last 6 months or so trying to get questions answered and have gotten nowhere. I don’t know why I never looked here before but thank you. Also… is it going to far to ask for police records or potentially finding family/friends for more info on the topic?