If you’ve logged into YouTube lately, you’ve probably noticed a banner detailing changes to content “Made For Kids” and that you need to comply. These changes are affecting everyone on the platform, and all content needs to be marked as Made For Kids or Not Made For Kids by January 1st, 2020 to avoid potential penalties. Read below to better understand what Made For Kids means on YouTube, and how you can comply with these policies.
Content categorized as “Made For Kids” is specifically intended for children to watch, not all-ages content that happens to be appropriate for children. Every new video you upload to YouTube will now prompt you to designate as Made For Kids or Not Made For Kids. You will not be able to publish a video without setting a designation. This designation is only available in the new YouTube Studio, and if you’re using the uploader in YouTube Classic, you will be prompted to go to YouTube Studio to set it.
When it comes to Art Tracks, YouTube will use the genres assigned to audio products to automatically designate Art Tracks as Made For Kids or Not Made For Kids. ‘Children’s’ and associated subgenres will be Made For Kids, so please make sure you’re assigning the appropriate children’s genres to audio content to ensure YouTube can correctly designate your Art Tracks.
For content that is already uploaded to your channel, you can either designate each video in the YouTube Studio “Video” Tab, or designate your entire channel by going to Settings → Channel → Advanced Settings. There is also a banner at the top of Studio prompting you to set this channel designation. Made For Kids should only be used as a channel-wide designation for a channel 100% dedicated to children’s content. If you are an artist or label who makes music for a general audience, you should set your channel as Not Made For Kids. Individual video designation can be utilized by labels or artists who make a mix of children’s and all-audiences content, or if you need to change the designation on a specific video. If you have any questions about your channel’s content or designations, visit YouTube’s help center.