Publish your music video on YouTube: approve, upload and check

Keep three different release jobs separate

A finished music video, an audio release delivered to YouTube Music and a request for an Official Artist Channel are separate jobs. Start by naming the actual output you want. Uploading a video to an artist-controlled channel does not by itself deliver an audio catalogue or establish Content ID eligibility. For those questions, use the YouTube Music delivery guide.

This guide covers a video uploaded by the authorised channel team in YouTube Studio. It does not confirm that DistroBolt offers a video-delivery service to every destination. Agree any editing, delivery or rights-management work separately before commissioning it.

Build a publication record before opening Studio

Give the approved video an unambiguous filename and version. Match its audio to the approved recording, and keep the title, artist spelling, featured credits and intended release together. If the audio differs from the distributed master, record what changed rather than quietly substituting it.

• Video: approved export, duration, version and person who approved it.
• Rights: recording, composition, footage, performers and any licensed material; note the intended territories and advertising use.
• Public information: title, description, accurate credits, thumbnail, captions and one current listening destination.
• Account: correct channel, authorised publisher and person responsible for launch-day checking.
• Timing: intended date, time, time zone and fallback if processing or permission issues remain.

Use the video-brief guide for the shoot and editing handover. Publication approval should identify the actual export, not just say that an earlier rough cut looked good.

Upload, review and choose visibility

In YouTube Studio, select Create and Upload videos, choose the approved file and complete its details. Review the processing and Checks stages. A copyright check is a warning tool, not final rights clearance; later claims can still occur. Read a restriction before deciding what to do, and dispute only when you have a valid basis.

Choose the visibility intentionally. For a later launch, use Schedule and verify its date, time and time zone. Do not confuse importing a file with making it public. YouTube notes that its watch-page publication date uses Pacific time and may differ from the date shown in Studio elsewhere.

Record the resulting video URL in your publication sheet. Check the thumbnail, captions, spelling, audio start and end, description links and the exact channel before announcing the link. Use the visual-use rights checklist when a permission is uncertain.

Use a two-person launch check

For example, a fictional duo agrees that one member uploads the approved video and another checks the preview against a one-page approval record. They discover an old streaming link in the description and correct it before the announcement. This illustrates version control, not a promise that an upload or campaign succeeds.

• The uploaded export is the approved audio/video version.
• Credits, thumbnail, captions and destination links have been checked.
• Visibility and the displayed time zone match the intended launch.
• Any current processing issue or restriction has been reviewed.
• A named person will check the public URL when publication is expected.

Working checklist only. Ticks are not saved or sent to DistroBolt.

If the video is not public when expected, inspect its current visibility, schedule and notices before uploading a duplicate. Keep the original URL and a factual description of the issue for the authorised support route. There is no universal processing deadline.

Common questions