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Home / What Happens When You Join a Youtube Channel

What Happens When You Join a Youtube Channel

Become a channel member on YouTube

Channel memberships on the main YouTube site and app allow you to purchase public badges, emoji, and access to creator perks offered by the channel.

Memberships may be priced differently depending on your country, and the platform you use.

Join, change levels, or cancel a membership

Become a channel member

Join a participating channel membership on the main YouTube site and app.

  1. Visit youtube.com or open the YouTube app.
  2. Go to the channel of, or a video uploaded by, the creator you'd like to support and see if they've enabled memberships on their channel.
  3. Click Join.
  4. Follow the prompts to enter your payment information.
  5. Click Buy.

You'll see a welcome announcement once your transaction is complete.

Purchase a non-recurring limited-time membership

Some channels may offer a non-recurring limited-time membership as part of an experiment.

To purchase a non-recurring limited time membership:

  1. Visit youtube.com or open the YouTube app.
  2. Go to the channel or video of which you'd like to become a member of.
  3. Check if they've activated a non-recurring limited-time memberships on their channel.
  4. Select Join.
  5. Follow the messages to enter your payment info.
  6. Select Buy.

Note: If you purchase a non-recurring limited-time membership, you can't change levels.

You'll see a 'welcome' announcement once your transaction is complete.

Change your membership level

To upgrade

  1. Go to the channel homepage of the membership you want to change and clickSee perks.
  2. Select the level you want to join and thenChange level.
  3. SelectUpgrade.
  4. You'll immediately get access to the upgraded level upon purchase.
    1. Pricing note: You'll only be charged the difference in price in levels, at an adjusted price for the days remaining in your then-current billing cycle.
    2. Example: If you're paying $4.99 and you upgrade to the $9.99 level with half a month left until your next payment, you'll be charged ($9.99-$4.99) X (0.5)= $2.50 for the remainder of the month.
  5. Your monthly billing date will not change due to a level upgrade.

To downgrade

  1. Go to the channel homepage of the membership you want to change and click See perks.
  2. Select the level you want to join and thenChange level.

Billing and access details for downgrades

  • Your monthly billing date will not change due to a level downgrade.
  • You'll get access to your original level until your next billing date.
  • You'll be charged the new lower price at your next billing date.
  • You'll retain any accumulated loyalty reflected in your badge if offered by the creator.

You'll retain any accumulated loyalty reflected in your badge if offered by the creator.

Cancel a channel membership

Open the membership management screen by clicking See perks on a channel homepage and then selectand then click End membership & perks.

You can also cancel your membership at any time by following the steps below on a computer:

  1. Sign in to YouTube.
  2. Go to youtube.com/paid_memberships.
  3. Find the channel membership you'd like to cancel and click Manage membership.
  4. Select DEACTIVATE.
  5. Select END MEMBERSHIP.
  6. You'll see a cancellation confirmation screen.

If you're having trouble cancelling your membership, learn more here.

Payment and billing information

Billing information

New and existing members

When you have an active paid membership, you'll automatically be charged at the start of each monthly billing cycle.

Canceled memberships

When you cancel a paid channel membership, you will not be charged again unless you reactivate it. You'll continue to receive membership perks until the end of that billing period.

Reactivated memberships

You can reactivate your membership at any time. If you reactivate during the same billing cycle as you canceled, you will not be charged until that current billing cycle ends.

Update your payment info

You can change the credit card used for a paid membership in the My subscriptions section of your Google Account. Note that you may need to add a new card to your Google Account first.

When you have an active paid membership, you'll be automatically charged at the start of each monthly billing cycle. You can view your next billing date and manage your membership at youtube.com/paid_memberships.

How paused channel memberships impact your payments

"Paused mode" explained

Sometimes, channel memberships are put in "paused mode." This may happen if a channel changes MCNs, sets their channel as made for kids, or is unable to monetize. When "paused mode" happens, it means the channel cannot monetize with memberships -- this is often a temporary state. If a channel is in "paused mode" it means they cannot deliver perks and other benefits.

Payment details

If you're an active paid member of a channel in "paused mode," your monthly recurring payment, billing cycle, and access to memberships will also be paused.

If membership is resumed by the channel, paid members who were active prior to the pause will resume receiving membership perks and their monthly recurring payment will also be resumed.

Memberships can remain paused on a channel for a maximum of 90 days; after that point, memberships and members' monthly recurring payments will be canceled.

How terminated channel memberships impact your payment

If a channel terminates or loses access to the memberships feature (e.g., if it's no longer part of the YouTube Partner Program), all memberships monthly recurring payments, and access to all membership perks will be terminated immediately. Viewers who were members at the time of termination will be sent a termination email with info on requesting a refund.

Channel membership refunds

You may cancel your paid channel membership at any time. Once you cancel, you won't be charged again. You'll be able to use the badge and have access to creator perks until the end of the billing cycle. Note that you won't be refunded for the period of time between when you cancel and when your channel membership officially ends.

If you notice an unauthorized channel memberships charge on your account, follow these steps to report the unauthorized charge. If creator perks or other features of your paid channel membership are defective, unavailable, or do not perform as stated, you may contact our support team to request a refund at any time. We do not provide refunds or credits for partially elapsed billing periods.

If you're a member who signed up via Apple, you'll need to contact Apple support to request a refund for your paid channel membership. Apple's refund policy will apply.

Channel membership revenue share with creators

Creators receive 70% of memberships revenue recognized by Google after local sales tax and other fees (depending on country and users' platform) are deducted. Payment processing fees (including credit card fees) are currently covered by YouTube.

Use and manage your memberships benefits

Channel membership benefits for all members

When you become a member, you'll gain access to certain benefits. You'll get different perks based on the different levels that you join at.

  • Member Milestone Chats: For each month you remain a member (starting from your 2nd consecutive month) you'll receive one Member Milestone Chat. Member Milestone Chats are special highlighted messages that can be used in live chat on live streams or Premieres. These special messages will highlight how long you've been a member of this channel in total and will be visible to all viewers.
  • Exclusive public-facing membership badge next to your channel name in all comments and live chats that you make on the channel you're a member of
    • On some channels, the badge will reflect how long you've been a member of a channel, either through different colored default badges or through different badges uploaded by the channel
  • If you become a channel member during a live stream on that channel, a bright green "New Member" message will be sent in live chat and your profile picture is pinned at the top of chat for 5 minutes
  • Access to members-only posts on the channel's Community tab (if offered by the channel)
  • Access to creator perks which may be offered by the channel and are subject to change
  • Exclusive access to members-only live chat (if offered by the channel)
  • Exclusive access to a channel's public-facing custom emoji in live chat (if offered by the channel)
  • "Slow mode" - which limits how frequently you can comment in live chat - does not apply to active paid members

By becoming a channel member, your exclusive membership badge will appear in all comments and live chats that you make on that channel.

Creator Perks for different levels

Each level has its own price point. Your perks stack as you go up each level. That means if you join at the most expensive level, you'll get access to perks at all the lower levels.

What do I get for each level and how do I join?

This varies from channel to channel. You can see the different perks when you click Join.

I'm already a member, so how do I see the different perks available?

Go to the channel homepage which you've already joined and then selectSee perks.

Subscribe to a channel you've joined

If you're not already subscribed to the channel you are a member of, then we'll subscribe you to that channel. This will allow you to see members-only creator posts in your Subscriptions feed. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Turn channel membership notifications on or off

When channels that you're a member of create members-only posts, you'll be notified about them in the Community tab and receive an email unless you've opted out of receiving emails from YouTube.

Turn off notifications

If you don't want to know about new members-only posts, you can:

  • Opt out of notifications for individual channels that you're a member of.
  • Turn off all notifications on your account.

See exclusive content in the community tab

Exclusive content is tagged as "Members-only" in the Community tab. This includes text posts, GIFs, polls, videos, and more.

Report inappropriate perks

If you see an offering that you believe is in breach of YouTube's Community Guidelines (including sexual, violent or hateful content, misleading offers, or spam), you can report it by clicking Report perks in the offer screen upon clicking the Join button (or See perks, if you're already a member).

Privacy information

Visible membership status

Once you join a channel, the following info will be publicly visible on YouTube and may be shared by the channel with 3rd-party companies:

  • Your channel URL
  • The name of your YouTube channel
  • A link to your profile picture
  • When you joined the channel as a member
  • The level you're a member of

Note: The channel may share this info with a small, select group of 3rd-party companies to provide the channel's perks.

How your information may be used

Your information above may be seen by other viewers in multiple ways. Some of which may depend on the channel you've joined. This list is not exhaustive:

  • All members have a visible badge that shows up next to your channel name in comments and chat.
  • If you become a channel member during a live stream on that channel, a bright green "New Member" message will be sent in live chat and your profile picture will be pinned at the top of live chat for 5 minutes which shows your channel name when hovered upon.
  • Some channels may add your information above to a list of "thank yous" in their videos.
  • Some channels may share your information above to provide a service (for example, member-only access to a chatroom hosted by a 3rd-party company).

Check & remove 3rd party site or app access

Remove 3rd-party site or app access

If you gave account access to a site or app you no longer trust, you can remove its access to your Google Account. The site or app won't be able to access any more info from your Google Account, but you may need to request that they delete the data they already have.

  1. Go to your Google Account.
  2. On the left navigation panel, select Security.
  3. On the Third-party apps with account access panel, select Manage third-party access.
  4. Select the site or app you want to remove.
  5. Select Remove Access.

Report a 3rd-party site or app

Follow these steps if you believe a site or app is misusing your data, like creating spam, impersonating you, or using your data in harmful ways.

  1. Go to the Apps with access to your account section of your Google Account. You might need to sign in.
  2. Select the app you want to report and thenReport this app.

Learn more about account access for 3rd-party sites and apps.

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What Happens When You Join a Youtube Channel

Source: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6304294?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop#:~:text=Channel%20memberships%20on%20the%20main,and%20the%20platform%20you%20use.