YouTube Creator Awards
YouTube Creator Awards | |
---|---|
![]() A 100,000 subscriber award gifted to MixMorris | |
Awarded for | Achieving a subscriber milestone on YouTube |
Country | Worldwide |
Presented by | YouTube |
First awarded | June 28, 2012 |
Website | www |
YouTube Creator Awards, commonly known as YouTube Play Buttons or YouTube Plaques, are a series of awards from the American video platform YouTube that aim to recognize its most popular channels. They are based on a channel's subscriber count but are offered at the sole discretion of YouTube. Each channel is reviewed before an award is issued, to ensure that the channel follows the YouTube community guidelines.[1] YouTube reserves the right to refuse to hand out a Creator Award, which it has done for channels featuring horror or extremist political content.[2][3]
Awards
When a YouTube channel reaches a specific milestone and is deemed eligible for a YouTube Creator Reward,[1] they are awarded a relatively flat trophy in a metal casing with a YouTube play button symbol. The trophies are of different sizes: each button and plaque gets progressively bigger with the channel's subscriber count.[4] The Gold Creator Award was introduced at VidCon 2012,[5] alongside the Silver Creator Award at VidCon 2013[6] and the Diamond Creator Award at VidCon 2015.[7] The Creator Awards are made by the New York firm Society Awards.[8]
Prior to March 2021, YouTube featured three additional benefit levels. These are not eligible for Creator Rewards, but they do offer several preliminary benefits:
- Graphite was for channels with 1 to 999 subscribers.[9]
- Opal was for channels with 1,000 to 9,999 subscribers.[10] This is the minimum subscriber count required for the YouTube Partner Program, which also requires a minimum of 4,000 total viewer watch hours in the past 12 months, plus a manual review of the channel's content to determine compliance with the program guidelines.[11]
- Bronze was for channels with 10,000 to 99,999 subscribers.[12] The YouTube NextUp program is exclusive to channels meeting this threshold and other program criteria. This is also the minimum subscriber count required for a Spreadshop[13] or Teespring merchandise shelf.[14]
There are currently three regular Creator Awards tiers,[1] plus a fourth and fifth that have been awarded a few times:
-
Example of a Silver Creator Award
-
Left: Jan Zimmermann, Silver award
Right: Tim Lehmann, Gold award -
Salvadoran YouTuber Fernanfloo holding his Diamond Creator Award
Silver Creator Award
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/YouTube_Silver_Play_Button_2.svg/175px-YouTube_Silver_Play_Button_2.svg.png)
Awarded to the channels that reach or surpass 100,000 subscribers. The old version was made of nickel-plated cupronickel alloy.[15] The new version (as of March 1, 2017) is 92% nickel, 5% carbon and 2.5% zinc, with traces of other metals.[16] In March 2018, the look of the Silver Play Button was updated from a metal button housed within a window box with the channel's name printed on the front glass pane to a cleaner-looking flat designed metal plaque award featuring the channel's name embossed on it.[17][18] Channels at this level are also eligible to apply for a digital verification badge.[19]
Gold Creator Award
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/YouTube_Gold_Play_Button_2.svg/175px-YouTube_Gold_Play_Button_2.svg.png)
Awarded to the channels that reach or surpass 1,000,000 subscribers. It is made of gold plated brass.[15] In March 2018, the look of the Gold Play Button was updated from a metal button housed within a window box with the channel's name printed on the front glass pane to a cleaner-looking flat designed metal plaque award featuring the channel's name embossed on it.[17][20][21]
Diamond Creator Award
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/YouTube_Diamond_Play_Button.svg/175px-YouTube_Diamond_Play_Button.svg.png)
Awarded to channels that reach or surpass 10 million subscribers. It is made of silver-plated metal inset with a large piece of colorless crystal in the shape of a play button triangle.[22][23] When introduced during VidCon 2015, 35 channels qualified for the award.[24] As of March 23, 2024, there are 995 channels that have reached this level.[25]
Custom Creator Award
![]() | This section needs to be updated.(August 2023) |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/YouTube_Ruby_Play_Button_2.svg/175px-YouTube_Ruby_Play_Button_2.svg.png)
Formerly awarded to channels that reach or surpass 50 million subscribers. Since September 1, 2020, it is the sole award to be missing from the Creator Awards FAQ.[26] However, it continued to be granted at YouTube's discretion after this date. PewDiePie gave the nickname of Ruby Creator Award to this award, as he received a ruby-colored award in the shape of his channel's logo. The color can vary per creator, however: for example, T-Series received a colorless award, while Blackpink received a black award on top of a pink base. Channels with a hash tag (#) symbol have presented their Custom Creator Award to the public. As of January 4, 2021[update], 17 channels have reached this level:[25]
- PewDiePie# (December 8, 2016)[27][28]
- T-Series# (June 27, 2018)[29]
- 5-Minute Crafts (February 21, 2019)
- Cocomelon (June 7, 2019)
- SET India (June 20, 2019)
- Canal Kondzilla# (June 21, 2019)[30]
- WWE (October 24, 2019)
- Justin Bieber (February 3, 2020)
- Zee Music Company (February 7, 2020)
- Like Nastya Vlog (March 13, 2020)
- Dude Perfect# (March 24, 2020)[31]
- Kids Diana Show (March 30, 2020)
- Vlad and Niki (August 18, 2020)
- Zee TV (September 2, 2020)
- Blackpink# (October 4, 2020)[32][unreliable source?]
- Marshmello (November 22, 2020)
- MrBeast (January 4, 2021)[33][a]
Red Diamond Creator Award
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/YouTube_Red_Diamond_Play_Button.svg/175px-YouTube_Red_Diamond_Play_Button.svg.png)
Awarded to channels that reach or surpass 100 million subscribers. Inspired by the Diamond Creator Award, it features a play button triangle with a large dark red crystal. It was added to the Creator Awards FAQ by September 1, 2020.[26] There are currently ten channels that have reached this level:
- T-Series (May 29, 2019)[34][35]
- PewDiePie (August 25, 2019)[36][37][35]
- Cocomelon (December 12, 2020)[38]
- SET India (March 28, 2021)[39]
- MrBeast (July 28, 2022)[40]
- Kids Diana Show (August 16, 2022)
- Like Nastya (August 25, 2022)
- Vlad and Niki (August 13, 2023)
- Zee Music Company (September 24, 2023)
- WWE (March 8, 2024)
Notes
- ^ While MrBeast's Custom Creator Award has not been verified to have come from YouTube directly, it is listed on the Society Awards website.
References
- ^ a b c "YouTube Creator Rewards". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2017-08-25. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
- ^ Weiss, Geoff (February 6, 2018). "YouTube On 'Play Button' Awards: "Not All Creators Who Apply Will Receive Awards"". Tubefilter.com. Archived from the original on 2018-06-13. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- ^ Alexander, Julia (February 2, 2018). "YouTube says 'not all creators who apply' for Creator Awards will receive them". Polygon.com. Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- ^ "YouTube Creator Hub". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2017-02-01. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
- ^ Jcohen, Joshua (June 29, 2012). "YouTube Gives 24-Karat Gold 'Play Button' to Channels with 1M+ Subs". Tubefilter.com. Archived from the original on 2021-02-03. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
- ^ Storbeck, Devon; Wang, Christine (September 3, 2013). "VidCon Round-Up: What's New". YouTube Official Blog. Archived from the original on 2021-08-26. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
- ^ "YouTube Gives New Diamond Play Button To Channels With 10 Million Subscribers". Tubefilter.com. July 24, 2015. Archived from the original on 2019-04-10. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
- ^ Watts, James D. Jr. (July 10, 2020). "Some of the most famous trophies in the entertainment world get their finishing touches in Grove". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on 2022-08-01. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
- ^ "Graphite". YouTube Creators. October 30, 2018. Archived from the original on 2021-02-04. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
- ^ "Opal". YouTube Creators. October 30, 2018. Archived from the original on 2021-02-04. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
- ^ "Channel memberships eligibility, policies, & guidelines". YouTube Help. Archived from the original on 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
- ^ "Bronze". YouTube Creators. October 30, 2018. Archived from the original on 2021-02-04. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
- ^ "Spreadshop Partners with YouTube to Grow Merchandise Sales Globally". Business Wire. Greensburg, Pennsylvania. November 12, 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-08-01. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
- ^ Alexander, Julia (June 21, 2018). "YouTube partners with Teespring to help creators sell official merchandise". Polygon. Archived from the original on 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
- ^ a b "What is the Gold Play Button REALLY Made Of?". YouTube. December 3, 2016. Archived from the original on 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
- ^ "What is the NEW Silver Play Button REALLY made of?!". YouTube. March 2017. Archived from the original on 2019-09-04. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
- ^ "YouTube's Silver and Gold play Button Awards Get Redesigned". Youtubermag.com. April 2018. Archived from the original on 2020-06-16. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
- ^ McPhie, Jonathan (September 19, 2019). "Updates to YouTube's verification program". YouTube Creator Blog. Archived from the original on 2019-09-20. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
- ^ Acuna, Kirsten (July 19, 2012). "YouTube Is Rewarding Its Most Popular Users With Gold". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2016-04-21. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
- ^ Cohen, Joshua (June 29, 2012). "YouTube Gives 24-Karat Gold 'Play Button' to Channels with 1M+ Subs". Tubefilter.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-09. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
- ^ Brouwer, Bree (July 24, 2015). "YouTube Gives New Diamond Play Button To Channels With 10 Million Subscribers". Tubefilter.com. Archived from the original on 2019-04-10. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
- ^ Dillon, Poppy (August 3, 2015). "YouTube Announced Diamond Play Button". TenEighty. Archived from the original on 2019-01-17. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
- ^ "YouTube Announces Diamond Play Button". Archived from the original on 2019-01-17. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
- ^ a b "Top 5000 Subscribed YouTube Channels (Sorted by Subscriber Count)". Archived from the original on 2020-02-24. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
- ^ a b "Join the Creator Awards Program - YouTube Help". YouTube Help. September 1, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-09-01.
- ^ THE RUBY PLAYBUTTON / YouTube 50 Mil Sub Reward Unbox. PewDiePie. Archived from the original on 2019-04-07. Retrieved 2017-05-01 – via YouTube.
- ^ "YouTube Sends PewDiePie Custom Ruby Play Button To Commemorate 50 Million Subscribers". TubeFilter.com. December 19, 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-04-27. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
- ^ @KEEMSTAR (September 11, 2018). "YouTube awarded @TSeries with a 50 Million Play Button" (Tweet). Retrieved 2018-09-30 – via Twitter.
- ^ "KondZilla celebra os 50 milhões de inscritos" [KondZilla celebrates 50 million subscribers]. kondzilla.com (in Portuguese). July 17, 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-02-08. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
- ^ "Real Life Invisibility Shield OT 34". YouTube. December 1, 2020. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
- ^ "BLACKPINK Becomes The First Korean YouTube Channel To Receive The Ruby Play Button". koreaboo.com. December 1, 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-02-15. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
- ^ "MrBeast Surpassed Over 50 Million YouTube Subscribers". Business Insider India. January 3, 2021. Archived from the original on 2022-08-01. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
- ^ Leskin, Paige (May 31, 2019). "Bollywood music channel T-Series beat out PewDiePie after a months-long battle to become the first YouTube channel to reach 100 million subscribers". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2020-07-28. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- ^ a b Weiss, Geoff (September 9, 2019). "YouTube Forges New 'Red Diamond Creator Award' For Channels With 100 Million Subscribers". Tubefilter.com. Archived from the original on 2020-03-27. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- ^ @YouTube (August 25, 2019). "Married to @marziapie 💍Revived our love of Minecraft ⛏️ Reached 100 million subscribers on YouTube ✔️ What a month to celebrate and congratulate @PewDiePie 👊" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Alexander, Julia (August 26, 2019). "PewDiePie becomes the first individual YouTube creator to hit 100 million subscribers". The Verge. Archived from the original on 2019-08-26. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- ^ Bean, Travis (December 14, 2020). "100 Billion Views And Counting: 'CoComelon' Is Absolutely Dominating Netflix And YouTube". forbes.com. Archived from the original on 2022-07-31. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
- ^ "Sony Entertainment Television reaches 100 million global subscribers on YouTube". exchange4media.com. April 6, 2021. Archived from the original on 2022-07-31. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
- ^ Spangler, Todd (July 28, 2022). "MrBeast Tops 100 Million YouTube Subscribers: 'I Hope to Do YouTube Until the Day I Die'". variety.com. Archived from the original on 2022-07-29. Retrieved 2022-08-01.