Rule 1: set songs for children as "made for kids"
YouTube asks every creator to say whether a video is made for kids, as part of its agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission under COPPA. Its help page is clear that this is your call and your legal responsibility, not YouTube's. In the US, a "kid" is anyone under 13.
The factors YouTube lists include songs, stories or poems for children, simple songs and games, early education, and language meant for children to understand. A channel of preschool songs will almost always be made for kids. YouTube also says its own systems may miss content the authorities would consider made for kids, so set it yourself.
What changes when you do: YouTube lists features that are turned off on made-for-kids videos, including comments, the notification bell, cards and end screens, the miniplayer, saving to playlists or Watch Later, channel memberships, Super Chat, merch and personalized ads. Contextual ads (based on the video being watched, the search and a general location) can still run. YouTube says losing personalized ads may reduce revenue for some creators.
Rule 2: disclose AI-generated music
YouTube asks creators to disclose realistic content made or altered with AI. Its list of examples that need disclosure names AI-generated music, and music that is the main focus of a video. You do this during upload: in the Attributes section, find "AI use" and select Yes. For AI music, YouTube says the label can show on the video player.
Two points from the same page are worth knowing. Disclosure on its own does not limit a video's audience or its monetization eligibility. But creators who consistently fail to disclose can face penalties, which YouTube says may include removal or suspension from the YouTube Partner Program. Our songs are made with AI, so tick Yes every time.
Rule 3: no mass-produced or repetitive videos
YouTube's channel monetization policies were updated on 15 July 2025: what used to be called "repetitious content" is now "inauthentic content". It covers videos that look template-made or feel interchangeable, such as image slideshows or scrolling text with little story, commentary or teaching value. The page names AI content made from generic templates that gives the impression of mass production.
The same page says AI tools are fine when the result shows your own original perspective, and that a series is fine when each video has a distinct storyline, focus or concept. A separate "reused content" rule says compilations of other people's songs are not eligible, even with permission. YouTube reviewers decide, and they can withhold earnings or switch monetization off for a whole channel.
What our song rights allow, and what they do not
Songs you make here can be used on your own social and video channels, including monetized ones. You may not resell the song files themselves, use them to advertise a product, or claim a person wrote or sang them. That last point fits YouTube's AI label: say it is AI music, because it is.
Whether your channel earns anything is YouTube's decision under the policies above, not ours. We cannot promise views, approval for the Partner Program or income, and nobody honest can.
How to plan a channel that is more than a song feed
- Pick a teaching spine. A season of 20 songs on one idea each (colors, counting to ten, washing hands, feelings) is easier to plan and gives every video its own focus.
- Write the details like a teacher. Put the exact words, facts and actions you want in the form. Read the lyrics, change any word, check every fact.
- Add what only you can add. Your own animation, a presenter doing the actions, signs, a short spoken intro that explains the idea. That is the original perspective YouTube describes.
- Keep the length honest. Each song is about two minutes. Do not stitch one song into an hour loop.
- Set the audience and the AI label on every upload, and keep children's surnames, schools and towns out of titles and descriptions.
Our guide to uploading a kids song to YouTube walks through the upload screens step by step.
How making a song works here
Describe what the song should teach. You read and edit the AI-written lyrics, then an AI music model sings them in a warm adult voice; keep your favorite of up to 3 versions as an MP3. Packs of 5 and 20 bring the price per song down and never expire, so you can make a season's songs as you script them. See pricing.
Example lyrics
Made with Still Morning for a made-up class, from these details: "For a toddler channel episode about the color red. Things that really are red: a fire truck, a strawberry, a ladybug, an apple. After each one, children point and say "red!". A slow clap in the chorus so a presenter can lead the actions on camera.". Lyrics as the writer drafted them, before any edits.
[Verse 1] A fire truck goes by It flashes and it glows Point your finger high Say the word you know [Chorus] Red, red, red all around Clap your hands to the sound Red, red, point and say Red is here today [Verse 2] A strawberry so sweet A ladybug so small An apple good to eat Red is best of all [Chorus] Red, red, red all around Clap your hands to the sound Red, red, point and say Red is here today [Bridge] Look up, look down Red is in our town [Chorus] Red, red, red all around Clap your hands to the sound Red, red, point and say Red is here today
What it cannot do
We make the audio only: a song of about two minutes as an MP3. You bring the video, the visuals and the editing. We cannot make songs in a cartoon character's voice or in the style of a famous kids channel's songs, we cannot make children's voices, and we cannot get your channel monetized. If you need a long-running catalogue with registered rights and publishing, a human composer or a music library with that service is a better fit.
Questions parents ask
Can I monetize AI songs for kids on YouTube?
Our rights allow monetized use on your own channel. Whether YouTube monetizes it is YouTube's decision: it reviews channels against its monetization policies, including the inauthentic content rule. Distinct, well-made videos with your own visuals and teaching are what that policy asks for.
Do I have to label AI-generated music on YouTube?
Yes. YouTube's disclosure page lists AI-generated music as an example that needs disclosure. Select Yes under "AI use" in the Attributes section when you upload.
Does "made for kids" stop a video earning?
Personalized ads are switched off, but YouTube says contextual ads can still run on made-for-kids content.
Can I say the songs are my own?
You can say you made the videos and wrote or chose the lyrics you typed. Do not say a person sang or composed the music: it was made with AI, and our terms do not allow claiming otherwise.
Sources
- YouTube Help, Determining if your content is "made for kids". Read 2026-10-17.
- YouTube Help, Set your channel or video's audience. Read 2026-10-17.
- YouTube Help, How ads work on YouTube for supervised accounts and content set as "made for kids". Read 2026-10-17.
- YouTube Help, Disclosing use of GenAI content. Read 2026-10-17.
- YouTube Help, YouTube channel monetization policies, 2025-07-15. Read 2026-10-17.
Updated 2026-10-17. Made with AI. The words come from an AI writer working from your details, and you approve them. The music and the voice come from an AI music model (not a human singer).