Short with music fails to upload on a commercial channel: what to do

You made a Short for your business or a paid partnership, added music from the Shorts library, and the upload fails. YouTube acknowledges this can happen on channels with commercial purposes, because of agreements with some music partners. Here is when it applies, which alternatives YouTube offers and how to choose music you can use before uploading again.

Check whether your Short fits YouTube’s documented restriction

According to YouTube’s upload error guidance, channels that upload videos for commercial purposes, including Shorts with branded content, may see errors when uploading Shorts with sounds from the Shorts Audio Library. The cause is agreements with some music partners that restrict that music to personal, non-commercial uses. The guidance describes possible errors: not every commercial upload fails.

Under YouTube’s branded content policy, a video includes branded content when you show or promote a brand’s products or services in exchange for payment, free products or another benefit, and this includes Shorts. In that case, YouTube asks you to disclose the paid promotion in your video details. The disclosure tells viewers about the commercial relationship, but it doesn’t clear the music rights.

Choose how to upload your Short again

The commercial-use section gives you three alternatives:

• Leave out that music: prepare another version without the track added from the Shorts library, then upload it again.
• Keep music you have permission to use: add it outside the Shorts creation tools. Clear all necessary rights with the copyright owners before publishing. Without those rights, YouTube warns of possible copyright takedowns and other legal action.
• Switch to royalty-free music: find the tracks YouTube identifies within the Shorts library using the check below.

Choose based on what you need to keep and the rights you hold. If you add a song with another video editor, you still need its permissions before publishing.

Find an identified track in the Shorts Audio Library

1. Open the Shorts Audio Library and search for YouTube Audio Library. YouTube recommends this English search even when your interface uses another language.
2. Check for green album artwork displaying that name and the YouTube logo.
3. Select a track with both signs and prepare the new upload. If either sign is missing, the track may not be cleared for your use.

According to the same guidance, results that meet these criteria don’t require you to clear rights beforehand. That applies to those tracks, not to the rest of the Shorts library.

Download music from YouTube Studio

If you are editing the file outside Shorts, you can also find music in Studio’s Audio Library:

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio and open Audio library from the left menu. In Music, search by title, artist or keyword.
2. Preview a track. To get its MP3, hover over the date and click DOWNLOAD.
3. Check License type. For a Creative Commons track, open its icon, click Copy and paste the credit into your description. Use Attribution not required to find tracks that do not need credit.

Review the next upload’s outcome

Check that you uploaded the new version and read any notice that appears. If the Short still won’t finish uploading or processing for another reason, follow the YouTube upload troubleshooting guide. To review possible claims before publishing, see YouTube copyright checks.