What to do when your tracks appear on the wrong Topic channel or Official Artist Channel
Sometimes YouTube places an Art Track on the wrong channel. Your track may end up on the Topic channel of another artist, or on the wrong Official Artist Channel (OAC). This article explains why that happens and what information we need from you to get it fixed.
In short E-mail the details to our support team (support@the-source.eu). Only the distributor that delivered your track can ask YouTube to move it, therefore the correction request has to be be submitted by us. |
Why does this happen?
YouTube automatically links each Art Track to an artist channel based on the artist name in the release information. This usually goes well, but not always. The most common causes are:
- Identical or similar artist names: YouTube cannot tell two artists apart and puts their tracks on the same Topic channel.
- Several main artists on one release: the track can end up on the "Various Artists" Topic channel. This happens when the release information lists more than one Recording Artist Contributor.
- No Topic channel for the artist yet: the tracks can then end up on another artist's channel.
- Art Tracks not linked to your OAC: your tracks stay on the Topic channel instead of appearing on your Official Artist Channel.
Figure 1. A track on the wrong Topic channel is moved to the right one.
How to report a wrong placement
Figure 2. How a correction request travels from you to YouTube.
Send an email to support with the subject "Incorrect Art Track placement". Please include the following:
- Your name.
- Your artist name, if it is different from your own name.
- Your email address.
- The ReportingCodes of the tracks that are in the wrong place.
- Links to those tracks on YouTube.
- A link to the wrong channel: the Topic channel or OAC the tracks should be removed from.
- A link to the correct channel: your own Topic channel, or your OAC if you have one.
Use links with the channel ID
Channel links must contain the channel ID: a code of letters and numbers that always starts with UC. Links that use the channel name (for example youtube.com/@artistname) are not enough, because channel names are exactly what causes the confusion.
Figure 3. A channel link with the channel ID.
To find a channel ID, open the channel on YouTube, go to the About section, select Share channel and then Copy channel ID.
Add this in special cases
Situation | What to add to your email |
You share your name with another artist | Say that the artist names are identical or very similar, and that the two artists should be split into two separate Topic channels. |
You cannot find a correct Topic channel | Say that there is no Topic channel for the artist (or that you cannot find it) and ask for a new Topic channel for the affected tracks. |
Your Art Tracks are missing from your OAC | Include the link to your OAC with its channel ID, and the link to the Topic channel where the tracks are now. |
What happens next?
We forward your correction request to YouTube and then YouTube reviews the request and decides whether to move the tracks. This can take some time, and we cannot help to speed it up.
Please do not contact YouTube yourself YouTube only accepts corrections to Art Tracks from the label or distributor that delivered them. Contacting YouTube directly will not solve the problem. Contact us instead. |
Consider getting an Official Artist Channel
If you do not have an OAC yet, consider applying for one. An OAC brings all your music together on one official channel, which makes placement problems like these quicker and easier to solve. See How to get an Official Artist Channel on YouTube.
For more background on Art Tracks and Topic channels, see our article Art Tracks and Topic channels on YouTube.
More information