YouTube Play Buttons, also known as Creator Awards on YouTube, lets a content creator know they’ve made it big as a YouTuber. More than likely, you’ve seen these creators showing off their Play Buttons once or twice—some are plaques with the YouTube emblem on them and others are trophy-style gifts.
What exactly are YouTube Play Buttons? And what does a YouTuber have to do to earn one, or all four awards?
What Are YouTube Play Buttons?
A YouTube Play Button is an award given to a YouTuber who achieves specific milestones set by YouTube. They are physical awards that can be put on display and even shown off to the YouTube community through a video.
What Are the Four YouTube Play Buttons?
Screenshot by Sam Wolfe; no attribution
https://www.youtube.com/creators/how-things-work/get-involved/awards/
As of 2023, there are four tiers of awards that a YouTube channel can earn, each tougher to reach than the one before.
The four YouTube Play Buttons are as follows:
The first three awards are fairly well-known in the YouTube community. However, the Red Diamond Play Button is a rarity that has only been given out to a few YouTubers like Mr. Beast and Pewdiepie.
What About the Custom Creator Award?
You may have heard of the Custom Creator Award and are wondering why that’s not on the list. In all honesty, no one is really sure.
How to Earn YouTube Play Buttons
Earning a YouTube Play Button is pretty straightforward. To start off, each Play Button requires you to meet the criteria for the following.
How to Redeem YouTube Play Buttons
When you’ve met the criteria, YouTube will send you a redemption code to your Google email attached to your YouTube channel. Copy and paste that code on theCreator Awards redemption website. ClickRedeem Award.
From there, you’ll be prompted to enter your shipping information and exactly how you want your channel name to appear on your new YouTube Play Button. According to YouTube, it should take between two and three weeks to receive your award.
It is important to note that just because you receive the YouTube Play Button, it doesn’t mean that you may do anything you want with it outside of personal use. If you sell or give the award to anyone outside the channel, you could be liable for disciplinary actions. This can include forfeiture of the award, ineligibility for future awards, and possible cancelation of your YouTube channel.
Tips to Earn a YouTube Play Button
Photo from pexels; no attribution
https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-writing-on-a-notebook-beside-macbook-1766604/
Earning a YouTube Play Button can be a long and exhausting process—if it was easy, everyone would have one. However, there are some tips that you can follow to help get you there.
And lastly, patience. Remember, it’s going to take time and hard work to get there. Mr. Beast and Pewdiepie didn’t happen overnight.
Do You Have What It Takes to Get a YouTube Play Button?
Earning a YouTube Play Button is a huge accomplishment for any YouTuber. It shows the world that you hit the milestones created by the platform and that you have a channel worth following—at least 100,000 other people thought so too.
If earning a Play Button is on your bucket list, make sure to understand the eligibility requirements and keep pushing forward with your content.
