Hey everyone! I know it’s been a while since my last post, but I wanted to address a few questions I’ve been getting about YouTube monetization.
Monetization is a huge benefit, and it really encourages everyday creators to share interesting parts of their lives with the world.
Smooth Sailing for Video, Friction for Slideshows
Most of my YouTube uploads so far have been standard videos. I’ve had zero issues monetizing them—they get approved almost instantly.
However, I’ve run into a few roadblocks when creating photo slideshows.
To make slideshows more engaging, I add royalty-free background music. There are plenty of sites offering royalty-free tracks, both free and paid. One site I’ve found particularly helpful is Musopen (musopen.org).
The Copyright Review Bottleneck
The issue? Every single slideshow I’ve uploaded with background music has been flagged for manual review by YouTube.
Once flagged, YouTube sends an email requesting details about the track, where it was sourced, and a direct link to the usage license. As many other creators have pointed out, YouTube is notoriously slow when reviewing these flagged uploads.
I don’t completely blame YouTube. I understand they’re protecting both themselves and creators from potential copyright infringement lawsuits.
Still, there has to be a more efficient system.
Testing Stupeflix for Faster Approvals
A few days ago, a friend recommended Stupeflix (stupeflix.com).
It operates similarly to Windows Movie Maker, but offers built-in stock music tracks. It even features a cool robotic text-to-speech voice generator. While Stupeflix isn't owned by Google, they seem to have a business partnership or integration in place.
I assumed that using Stupeflix's licensed stock library would allow me to bypass YouTube’s monetization delays.
I was wrong.
While Stupeflix is user-friendly and fun to work with, my slideshow using their provided audio was still flagged for manual review. It has been a day, and the video remains pending.
This is especially frustrating because Stupeflix is a paid service. While it isn't expensive—starting at $5/month or $29/year—it feels redundant when Windows Movie Maker is completely free.
Looking Ahead
I’m not giving up on Stupeflix just yet; they might just be ironing out integration kinks.
I also expect YouTube to speed up its review process over time. The platform was undoubtedly overwhelmed with submissions when they opened monetization to everyone.
In the meantime, all we can do is submit our licensing documentation, wait, and hope for quick approvals!
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