One day, while I was watching videos on YouTube, I wondered how videos are uploaded to YouTube. I searched for how to upload videos on YouTube and learned from a video, but at that time, I didn’t know that you could make money from YouTube. One day, while scrolling through YouTube, I came across a video by Manoj Day with the title "How to Earn Money from YouTube." I watched the video and discovered that you could indeed make money from YouTube, but there were certain criteria to meet. Since then, I started uploading videos on YouTube.
At that time, I didn’t know anything about copyright. I would just upload whatever I could find. Initially, I was translating Hindi poetry into our Santali language and uploading those videos with voiceovers, or creating videos of various programs. Soon, my channel received a copyright claim because I had uploaded a stage dance video that included someone else’s song. That’s when I learned about copyright claims.
While I was in college, there was a Santali music video shoot happening near our college one day. I went to watch it and then uploaded that video to YouTube. Initially, it didn’t get much response, but after 5 or 6 months, the video went viral. This video brought in the watch time and subscribers I needed. I was so thrilled that I dreamt my channel was monetized. I woke up suddenly and checked my email, and indeed, my channel had been monetized around 2-3 AM. The joy I felt at that moment was beyond words.
After that, I started uploading videos of cultural programs from our culture and occasionally Santali album-making videos. However, the income was very low, and payments were made only after reaching a minimum of $100.
One day, while editing a video, I accidentally added a video to the wrong track. When I played it, the video matched the song perfectly. This gave me an idea: I decided to create similar videos, matching video footage with songs. When I uploaded this type of video to YouTube, it received a good response, went viral, and I started getting great comments. I decided to keep making and uploading such videos.
After doing this for a while, my channel received a strike because the owners of the song I used in a video complained and threatened to strike if I didn’t delete the video. I didn’t delete it, so they gave me a strike. That’s when I understood what a copyright strike was.
I began to worry about using new songs and getting strikes, but then I came up with an idea: to use old songs that had been uploaded by the original owner and then removed, leaving no rights. I searched for such songs, edited the videos, and started uploading them. My videos began to get millions of views and I started earning money monthly. I saved some money for personal expenses and put the rest in fixed deposits.
With the money I earned from YouTube, I bought a laptop worth 72,000 rupees and a mobile for 40,000 rupees. I made a music video costing 62,000 rupees and created 5 studio version songs, costing 35,000 rupees. Thanks to YouTube, my dream of becoming a producer also came true. I was able to buy what I wanted, travel where I wanted, and all this was made possible because of YouTube. Thank you very much, YouTube.
I never felt a shortage of money because, before starting YouTube, my father used to provide for me, and after starting YouTube, it provided for me.
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