What Is an MCN? How YouTube Networks Differ From Talent Management

An MCN, short for multi-channel network, is a company that partners with many YouTube channels at once. YouTube describes MCNs as third-party service providers that may offer audience development, content programming, creator collaborations, digital rights management, monetization and sales. In return, the network usually takes a percentage of each channel's YouTube revenue.

This guide covers how the money moves when you join a network, what MCNs offer, how they compare with talent management and how to leave one. The platform rules come from YouTube's own help pages.

How does an MCN work on YouTube?

An MCN links your channel to its own account inside YouTube's systems, and YouTube then pays your revenue to the network. The network takes its cut and pays you the rest.

YouTube's MCN overview for creators says that when you join, all your revenue flows through the MCN's AdSense for YouTube account, and the network gets access to your revenue data in YouTube Analytics. YouTube's partner earnings page adds that payments to affiliate channels come from the network, which YouTube pays first.

Networks hold 2 kinds of channels. Affiliate channels are managed at scale by the network, and owned and operated channels belong to the network itself, which runs them day to day.

Joining doesn't change the split between you and YouTube. Under the YouTube Partner Program, YouTube pays creators 55% of net ad revenue on long-form videos, 45% of the revenue allocated to their Shorts, and 70% of net revenue from channel memberships, Super Chat, Super Stickers and Super Thanks. YouTube says MCNs typically take a percentage of revenue from the creator's portion before paying them.

Say your long-form videos earn $10,000 in net ad revenue in a year. At YouTube's 55% share, your portion is $5,500. If a network's contract takes 20% of that portion, it keeps $1,100 and you receive $4,400.

What do MCNs offer creators?

YouTube lists the services MCNs may provide: audience development, content programming, creator collaborations, digital rights management, monetization and sales. Some networks also offer brand sponsorships or sales teams, and YouTube says those extras should be spelled out in the contract.

Rights management is where a network can help when something goes wrong with copyright. YouTube says a network can help you understand or resolve a claim, strike or takedown. It's clear on the limit, though: a network can't prevent strikes, and channels that break the rules get them whether or not they're in an MCN.

Networks were big business in the 2010s. In 2014, Disney agreed to buy Maker Studios, which it called the leading network of online video content on YouTube, for $500 million plus up to $450 million more if performance targets were met. Disney said at the time that Maker had more than 55,000 channels and 380 million subscribers.

YouTube's own advice today is more measured. Its MCN overview says some creators choose to partner with a network, and that you don't need to join an MCN to be successful on YouTube.

How is an MCN different from a talent manager?

An MCN is tied to your YouTube channel and paid out of your YouTube revenue. A talent manager works across your whole career, on every platform, and is paid a commission on the income your management contract covers.

You can have both. If you do, check that the same income isn't commissioned twice, since a network's share of your YouTube revenue and a manager's commission on platform payouts can stack on the same dollars. Our guide to how much influencer managers take covers how to read what a commission applies to.

YouTube Growth (long-form strategy, packaging, retention and channel structure) is 1 of the 10 disciplines on our services page, alongside talent management and brand partnerships. For the full picture of the manager's job, see what a talent manager does.

Should you join an MCN?

Join only if the network will add more than its percentage costs you, and the contract lets you leave cleanly. YouTube's own checklist is a good place to start.

Before you sign, YouTube's MCN overview tells creators to understand what services and results the network will deliver for its payment, when it pays you and what protection you have if it pays late or underpays. It also lists the contract terms to read:

• The fees the network charges
• The services and level of support your channel gets
• Your obligations to the network
• How long the contract runs
• How to end the agreement

YouTube adds that you may want to talk to your own lawyer. On top of its list, ask 3 questions of your own: does the percentage apply to Shorts, memberships and Super Chat as well as long-form ads, who controls claims on your videos if you leave, and will you see the same revenue reports the network sees?

For how YouTube's payouts compare with other platforms, see which platform pays creators the most.

How do you leave an MCN?

If you're an affiliate creator and you believe your contract allows it, you can ask YouTube to remove the network's access. The network then has up to 30 days to respond.

YouTube's page on removing MCN access sets out the steps:

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
2. On the Channel dashboard, find the Network relationship card.
3. Click Remove access, then confirm with Leave network.

Access is removed automatically within 30 days. After that, you'll need to set up monetization and link your own AdSense for YouTube account to keep getting paid, so plan the switch for a quiet week, well away from a launch.

If you'd rather have a team working across your whole career once you're out, you can apply for representation with 1DS.

What does "MCN agency" mean outside YouTube?

Outside YouTube, people use "MCN" more loosely, and in China it's a common name for agencies that sign and develop creators.

TechNode reported in 2022 that Douyin and Weibo had started showing the MCN behind an influencer's account on their profile pages. It described MCNs as third-party organizations that provide assistance and production services for content creators.

So when a company calls itself an MCN agency, ask which model it runs. A YouTube network takes a share of your channel revenue through YouTube's systems, while a creator agency signs you across platforms under its own contract, and the terms to check differ for each.