Can this concept get monetized?

I keep seeing mixed messages on a youtube channel I'd like to start. I won't say the niche but some similarities would be YouTubers like Todd in the Shadows and movie reviewers. I heard one guy who does music video reactions not able to monetize his channel- which shocked me because he has a ton of views and a solid subscriber base. And then there are endless pages of music video reactions- surely they are doing it for the ad revenue? But Todd in the Shadows has been doing his thing for YEARS now.

I guess I was just going to "go for it" and see for myself. But curious if anyone had any insight on this. It's a bit confusing.

Maybe link the channel?

I didn't know whether or not we could link- but here's an example:

Todd in the shadows is a proper youtuber ... but doesn't show his face. He puts a lot of work on each video, and makes brief documentaries. It is not a "reaction" channel. Also, he plays the music he reviews. So, there is real added value on each video.

LearningForever said:

Todd in the shadows is a proper youtuber ... but doesn't show his face. He puts a lot of work on each video, and makes brief documentaries. It is not a "reaction" channel. Also, he plays the music he reviews. So, there is real added value on each video.

Click to expand...

I'm not wanting to do reaction videos but a deeper (symbolic) analysis of music videos. My question is how these youtube channels, whether they are like Todd in the Shadows or a reaction video. I think I understand how they do this with copyright laws but it seems like a thin line to establish yourself to be able to have music video clips in your own videos.

I noticed a channel that does film reviews, and they put a small text overlay on the film, so maybe you could do something like that?

(C) Warner music

Have the copyright information right there. Though initially YouTube will flag it anyway.

lentilmental said:

I'm not wanting to do reaction videos but a deeper (symbolic) analysis of music videos. My question is how these youtube channels, whether they are like Todd in the Shadows or a reaction video. I think I understand how they do this with copyright laws but it seems like a thin line to establish yourself to be able to have music video clips in your own videos.

Click to expand...

Two more channels (in spanish) that do exactly that, are monetized and has millions of subscribers:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqDkaR-FEerytN_LpiQkumAhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa3DVlGH2_QhvwuWlPa6MDQ
It can be done. Perhaps you can write to them and ask how do they cope with that ...