I really dislike Youtube for content creation

Over the last few years, Youtube has become the standard for content creation, with people making interesting, entertaining, and informative videos on a wide variety of subjects.

I've been trying to create some informative ham radio and weather-related content but my choice in using intro/outro music is a problem for Youtube. I've been creating videos off and on for Youtube since 2006 and these issues just get worse.

I have been using bensound.com for music that's ROYALTY-FREE for a few years when I made my drone videos and other content. One song in particular ("Dreams" by Benjamin Tissot) was one song I enjoyed and more or le made it my "theme" as it set a good tone for the video and a positive vibe.

However, nowadays when I use it...and remember, it's allegedly ROYALTY-FREE to use...I get copyright-struck by Youtube despite playing by both Youtube's and bensound's rules!

First off, I'm officially and technically monetized now with Youtube, but I have not employed any of the features to monetize. It's a headache and hassle for me and my content is not exactly setting records for views, likes, and subscribes. Second, if I actually earned any money, it would probably cost more for the stamp than whatever amount is on the check! My dozens of views aren't paying the bills!

I do these videos to pass the time, make things fun, or interesting (to me) content that others might enjoy. I don't have a common theme, it's whatever I'm in the mood to discuss, from drone videos of snow, to doing Simplex Saturdays in the mountains, to discussing radio quirks, and reporting This Week in Amateur Radio podcasts via RSS feed. 

For the last God-knows how many years, Youtube's algorithm has been finding and striking videos for music no matter how brief and how awful sounding it is...if you make an hours-long video, and use 5 seconds of intro music, they will de-monetize the 99.9% of the content YOU create because you chose to use someone else's content for "mood".

I understand if someone used music for background effect across an entire video. I've done it on my drone videos. It helps to add a dramatic effect to a video. And I can understand profit-sharing for that aspect. If it's my video and someone else's audio, split the monetization 50/50. If I use 5 seconds of an intro song for a 60-minute video with no other music, then profit-share those 5 seconds and be done with it.

But Youtube and the music industry don't work that way.

In my latest video, I used about 30 seconds of ROYALTY-FREE music (10 seconds at the front, 20 at the end credits) and once again, the 33 minutes of content I worked on can now be demonetized should the copyright holder deem it so. So the (as of this writing) 200 views could be demonetized for <1% of music. Royalty...free.......music....

And to beat all, I play by their rules. I now have to download and use a different attribution license code for every video I use the music in, and give credit and attribution in the description of the video and even in the video itself I credit the site. I try to cover all my bases. And yet still I deal with headaches like this.

I contacted bensound and simply asked what I could do to permanently use the music and not have to dispute every time I want to use it. I offered to pay them a one-time fee to use it and whitelist my channel. And their response was to dispute the claim with the attribution info. But the disputes don't happen immediately. When uploading the videos, Youtube checks to see that all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed. It always passes the copyright check on the initial upload. But sometime later, it hits. And I have to file a dispute, and go through the headache of filling out the dispute form. 

So now I am in search of other music, despite my REALLY wanting to use "Dreams" but it's becoming a nightmare to deal with.

This certainly isn't the first time I've had headache's with Youtube. Many years ago my daughter was doing a karate demonstration and the group played "Eye of the Tiger" over the gym's PA system. It got hundreds of views (mostly from parents of other kids I assume) and did particularly well. Then, 3 weeks later, Youtube strikes it. Basically saying "You're using music that is owned by these people and they don't like it so F*** YOU!". 

I dispute it under fair use, and background music, I cannot control what other people play over a loudspeaker. If I were at a hockey game, and a fight happens, I cannot control the DJ using "Hit me with your best shot" by Pat Benatar...and even with that argument, it got struck, I got a mark against me, and if any money were to be made, it goes to everyone but. So I hid the video. It's private and no one can see it except me. Because I refuse to let Youtube and the copyright claimants have a shot at whatever little money they could get. Youtube would run ads (for non-Premium members) and the copyright holders get their share. Not on my watch. So piss off Frank Sullivan, Survivor, and "Rude Music".

I made a video to vent my frustrations, it's listed above.