Opening the door to find a package from YouTube containing the coveted YouTube Play button is the dream of every YouTuber.
How to Get a YouTube Play Button? This a tempting question every YouTuber thinks. YouTube awards its creators with different play buttons for every new milestone in their creator journey. The YouTube Creator Award is a token of appreciation and prestige for every YT creator. Any level of monetary success is less than the feeling creators experience when receiving this appreciation award from YouTube.
It’s YouTube’s way of recognizing the creator’s hard work and motivating them to continue creating content for the platform.
To get a YouTube plaque, you need to have a specific number of subscribers on your YouTube channel. But whether to award a creator or to withhold the play button, it’s entirely up to YT.
Let’s discuss how to Get a YouTube Play Button, but first, let’s go through all the different types of YouTube Play Button.
What are different types of YouTube PlayButtons?
Depending on the number of subscribers, YouTube has 5 different Play Button plaques:
- YouTube Silver Play Button – 100k subscribers
- YouTube Gold Play Button – 1M subscribers
- YouTube Diamond Play Button – 10M subscribers
- YouTube Custom Play Button – 50M subscribers.
- YouTube Red Diamond Play Button – 100M subscribers.
The Silver and Gold Play buttons were first presented in 2012 at the VidCon video conference. At the time, Reaching 1M subscribers was a far-fetched dream, but as the audience grew, so did the milestone bar. As a result, YouTube adapted and introduced the Diamond Play Button in 2015. YouTube star Pewdiepie was the first to win the revered Button.
So far, only 4 YouTube channels have been awarded all the YouTube Play Buttons. They are T-Series, PewDiePie, Cocomelon, and SET India. The creators’ awards or plaques are a gift from YouTube that helps build brand awareness and stimulates the creators to work harder and achieve more tremendous success.
How do you get a YouTube Play button?
To get a YouTube play button, a creator has to achieve a specific number of subscribers on their channel. After hitting a certain number, YouTube awards different play buttons. For example, a silver button for 100,000 subscribers or a gold play button for 1 million subscribers.
To redeem the YouTube play button, the channel should be consistently active, produce original content, and comply with the terms of services and community guidelines.
After the channel is verified for the YouTube play button. The creator receives the award within one or one and a half months.
YouTube Silver Play Button?
The YouTube Silver Play Button is the most special one out of all the YT Creator Awards as it’s the first recognition award that the creators receive from the video streaming platform. A creator needs 100k subscribers to be eligible to receive the YouTube Silver Play Button.
YouTube Gold Play Button?
The next in line is the coveted Gold Play Button awarded to YouTubers with 1M subscribers. Early on, 1M subscribers was a rare milestone, but over time more and more creators passed this milestone as reaching newer audiences became easier and quicker with the help of YouTube promotion and ads. In addition, platforms like VeeFly made it easier for YouTubers to run promotional campaigns and reach these desirable milestones.
If you are wondering if the YouTube Gold Play Button is made of real gold, I’m sorry to break your bubble, but it’s created from gilded brass.
YouTube Diamond Play Button?
Winning the Diamond Play Button is a tremendous milestone. You need a whopping 10M subscribers to get the Diamond Play Button. When the award was introduced in 2015, only 35 channels were eligible for this prestigious award.
YT Custom Play Button?
This is a remarkable milestone, so the award to commemorate such a milestone is super special. When a YT channel crosses the colossal milestone of 50M subscribers, YT sends them a Custom Play Button. As the name suggests, the plaque is custom-made. In addition, the YouTube channel’s logo and other features are highlighted in the award.
The custom Play Button receiver Pewdiepie received a red plaque in the shape of a fist as his 50M milestone plaque. Check out his unboxing video as he goes crazy with excitement:
YouTube Red Diamond Play Button?
The most extraordinary of all the Play Buttons, the Red Diamond Play Button, is given to YouTubers with 100M subscribers. Thats more than the population of Germany. It’s not an easy feat to conquer, and thus, only 5 YouTube channels have conquered this unbelievable milestone.
Now that we are well acquainted with all the Play Buttons let me tell you about the additional benefits that YouTube provides its creators. These are not eligible for Creator Rewards, but they do offer several primary advantages:
- Graphite
This is for channels with 1 to 999 subscribers. YouTube Channels with 100 subscribers or more can apply for a custom URL.
- Opal
This one is for channels with 1,000 to 9,999 subscribers. Once you reach Opal, you are eligible for the YouTube Partner Program, which also requires 4000 watch hours in the last 12 months, along with a manual review of the channel’s content in compliance with the YouTube content guidelines.
- Bronze
This is for channels with 10,000 to 99,999 subscribers. The YouTube NextUp program is exclusive to channels meeting this milestone and other program criteria.
Eligibility To Get YouTube Creators’ Awards:
Now that we have covered all the milestones and how to get the Creator awards, let’s discuss what not to do to ensure winning the coveted different YT Play buttons. YouTube inspects the channel to meet specific criteria before issuing a reward.
YouTubers who do not meet the following criteria will not be able to claim the Creator’s award:
- Your channel must not violate the YouTube Community Guidelines
- The account must not have any warnings about copyright infringement.
- The channel must have a clean reputation.
- The account must comply with YouTube’s Terms of Service
- Your content must be original.
Tips on How to Get a YouTube Play Button
Getting a YouTube play button is a long process. A creator must upload content that consistently enhances channel engagement. Although it requires a commitment, we have given some tips to achieve the goals sooner.
Create quality content:
Obvious as it may sound, it is difficult to achieve. To capture the audience’s attention quickly, try producing high-quality content. You don’t have to invest thousands of dollars, but the content should educate, solve a problem, or entertain the viewer.
Content for the target audience:
Create content for specific audiences. Generic content will not have a returning audience. Choose a niche for your content and create it according to your audience. This will result in building a loyal community.
Optimize the channel:
Use attractive niche-specific titles, in-depth descriptions, relevant tags, and eye-catching thumbnails. Try to optimize the channel with the latest practices that bring engagement.
Promote the channel:
Divert audience from other platforms to your YouTube channel. Try promoting your content on social media platforms such as X or Instagram. Embed videos on the website or collaborate with different channels to acquire an audience
What Could Prevent You from Getting Your YouTube Creator Award?
YouTube’s play buttons are no longer issued to creators automatically when they hit subscriber milestones. Instead, YouTube will assess each channel before awarding the prize. So, how will you get the YouTube play button:
As a result, creators who do not match the following criteria may not get their YouTube Play button.
- There should be no copyright infringements on the account.
- The YouTube Terms of Service must be followed by all YouTube accounts.
- Original material must be generated by channels.
- The account has to follow YouTube’s Community Guidelines.
- The account must be in “good standing” on YouTube.
Over and above at YouTube’s discretion, YouTubers creating horror, negative or far-right commentaries are reportedly not receiving their Play buttons. This is due to the nature of the content produced by some YouTubers.
If it’s been more than three weeks after you hit a subscriber milestone and you haven’t gotten a message on your creator dashboard, YouTube recommends contacting their creator support team.
In some cases, even if all the above conditions are met, YouTube may still refuse to present the award to the channel. As the YouTube Creator Award is a way to recognize creators valuable to the platform, it’s within YouTube’s prerogative to deny a specific channel the award if it deems it unworthy.
Conclusion
The only way to get the different YouTube Play Buttons is to reach the specified number of subscribers. However, you can speed up the process by promoting your YouTube videos and getting thousands of views quickly.
You must follow all the YouTube rules and regulations to receive all the YT Play Buttons.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q.1 Does it cost money to get a YT Play Button?
No, the YouTube Play Button is completely free. YouTube gives this award to creators who have achieved a specific subscriber milestone.
Q.2 Will I get the play button for 1000 subscribers?
No, you will not get a play button for 1000 subscribers. The awards start from the Silver Play button, which the channel gets after 100,000 subscribers.
Q.3 Can I buy a YT Play button?
When it comes to the original award, the answer is no, except when the owners of the buttons themselves put them up for sale. Even then, every button has the name of the creator it’s awarded to, so it’s of no use to you.
Q.4 Can I get the YT play button without monetization?
Yes, you can get a play button even if your channel is not monetized. The requirement for the play button is different than the YouTube partner program.