Deliver assets using spreadsheet templates
YouTube provides a collection of spreadsheet templates that you can use to provide the metadata for content files you’re delivering to YouTube. Each row in a spreadsheet represents the metadata for a unique asset in the YouTube rights management system. The spreadsheets provide an alternative to using the Content and Rights Administration XML feedformat.
There is a separate template for each type of content you can upload to YouTube (such as audio recordings, movies, television shows, and web videos), and for different monetization options (such as ad-supported, purchase, or reference only).
To deliver content files using the spreadsheet:
- Configure your dropbox or, if you don’t have a dropbox, download and install the YouTube CMS Uploader.
- Download the appropriate spreadsheet template for the type of content you are delivering.Choose the template from the Content Delivery Templates page. You can download the template as a CSV file or open the template in Google Sheets (recommended).
See the list below for information about the available templates. If the spreadsheet for your content type doesn’t appear, contact your Google partner manager.
If you don’t see the Content Delivery option in the Creator Studio menu, click the Spreadsheet templates link in the Content Delivery box on the Dashboard. Choose the template from the Select content type drop-down list and click Download CSV.
- Enter the metadata for your content into the spreadsheet, one item per row.The spreadsheet template includes instructions about the data to add in each column. See Spreadsheet formatting guidelines for general guidelines.
- If you entered the data into Google Sheets, download the completed sheet as a comma-separated values (.csv) file.
- Validate the spreadsheet metadata.Validation flags any issues with your spreadsheet and may prevent upload failures. If your file is updating data only — that is, if it doesn’t refer to any media files — you have the option to upload your changes from the Metadata validator.
- Upload the spreadsheet and the referenced media files using your dropbox or the CMS Uploader.
The table below lists the available templates.
| Template | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Audio – Art Tracks | Create art tracks from sound recordings. |
| Audio – Composition | Provide information about your publishing rights for musical compositions. You don’t upload any media files for compositions; YouTube uses the rights information for Content ID or AudioSwap. |
| Audio – Sound Recording | Deliver sound recordings for Content ID or AudioSwap. Use this template if you don’t control any music publishing rights for the compositions that are in the sound recordings you upload. YouTube doesn’t create art tracks for recordings uploaded with this template; use the “Audio – Art Track” template to create art tracks. |
| Audio – Sound Recording/Composition | Deliver sound recordings and musical compositions for Content ID or AudioSwap. Use this template if you control the publishing rights for the compositions that are in the sound recordings you upload. YouTube doesn’t create art tracks for recordings uploaded with this template; use the “Audio – Art Track” template to create art tracks. |
| Movie – Monetize with Ads | Deliver movies that you plan to monetize using advertisements. |
| Movie – Reference Only | Deliver movies that you don’t plan to make available for viewing on YouTube. YouTube uses the movie media files for Content ID matching. |
| Movie – Rental or Purchase | Deliver movies that you plan to make available for rental or purchase. Use this template when you have a video Order ID. |
| Movie – Update | Update the metadata for previously delivered movies (ad-supported, rental, or purchase). You can’t replace media files using the template. |
| Music Video | Deliver premium music videos and make them available for viewing on YouTube. |
| Music Video – Reference Only | Deliver premium music videos for Content ID matching, without making the video available for viewing on YouTube. |
| Music Video – Update | Update the metadata for previously delivered music videos. You can’t replace media files using the template. |
| TV Episode – Monetize with Ads | Deliver individual episodes of television shows. You must create the TV Shows and TV Seasons before delivering episodes. |
| TV Episode – Rental or Purchase | Deliver individual episodes of television shows. You must create the TV Shows and TV Seasons before delivering episodes. |
| TV Episode – Reference Only | Deliver individual episodes of television shows for Content ID matching, without making them available for viewing on YouTube. |
| TV Episode – Update | Update the metadata for previously delivered television episodes (ad-supported or purchase). You can’t replace media files using the template. |
| TV Show | Create television show assets. You must create a show before you can add seasons or episodes for the show. |
| TV Season | Create seasons for previously created television shows. You must create seasons before you can add episodes for the show. |
| Web Video | Deliver web videos and make them available for viewing on YouTube. |
| Web Video – Reference Only | Deliver web videos for Content ID matching, without making the video available for viewing on YouTube. |
| Web Video – Update | Update the metadata for previously delivered web videos. You can’t replace media files using the template. |
Spreadsheet formatting guidelines
You can create a YouTube delivery spreadsheet using any spreadsheet application that supports UTF-8 text encoding. To ensure successful delivery, you need to save the file using UTF-8 encoding. Not all spreadsheet applications save in this format by default.
The first row in the spreadsheet lists the columns you’re providing data values for, separated with commas. The column names need to match the names as they appear in the spreadsheet template. They can appear in any order, as long as each row uses the same order. You can omit any optional column for which you aren’t providing data.
Each subsequent row in the spreadsheet provides the metadata values for one delivered item. The comma-separated values must be in the same order as the column list from the initial row. Each row should appear on a new line.
Formatting rules for metadata fields
- The value for a metadata field can include any UTF-8 characters except for newline characters or angled brackets (< or>).
- If a value includes embedded commas, enclose the whole value within double-quote characters. (You can enclose all values within double-quote characters if you want.)
- If a value includes embedded double-quote characters, include two double-quote characters and enclose the whole value within double-quote characters.
- To provide a list of values, separate the individual values with a vertical bar character (|).
- Leading and trailing whitespace characters are trimmed.
- All fields need to be formatted as plain text, including fields whose values are dates or exclusively numeric.
Validate metadata
Make sure to validate your XML file or spreadsheet before uploading it. Any issues with your CSV or XML will be flagged during this process and may prevent upload failures. This step can be especially helpful for verifying the output of any automated process or custom code that generates the content feed.
If your file updates data only, with no new files, the Metadata Validator offers the option to upload your changes.
To validate the metadata file:
- Sign in to the Dashboard for your YouTube content owner.
- Click the Metadata validator and upload link that appears in the Content Delivery box.
- To validate an XML file or spreadsheet, click Choose File and select the file to validate.You also have the option to enter or paste XML into the text box. The XML must be complete and valid, meaning it has to start with a <feed> element.
- Confirm that your user name appears next to the Validate btn.Some partner accounts have different uploaders for different content owners. Formatting requirements may differ for different owners, so you need to ensure that you validate the metadata against the rules in effect for your content uploader. If another user’s name appears, click the name and choose your user name from the drop-down list.
- Click the Validate btn.The results of the validation appear in a message bar. If the metadata contains an error that would prevent it from uploading successfully, a message bar appears in red and describes the errors. If the metadata contains no critical errors, the message bar appears in green.
If your file is updating data only — that is, if it doesn’t include any <file> elements — a Upload and Make Live btn appears in the green message bar. This btn gives you the option to upload your changes from this page.
- (Optional) To update the metadata based on the contents of this file, click the Upload and Make Live btn.You also have the option to upload the file using your usual upload method.
Updating metadata using spreadsheet templates
YouTube’s collection of spreadsheet templates includes templates that enable you to update the metadata for previously delivered videos. You can update multiple videos at once using a spreadsheet; to update metadata of just one or two videos, you’ll probably find the YouTube website easier.
See Deliver assets using spreadsheet templates for general information about how to use spreadsheet templates. Here are tips for using the “Update” spreadsheet templates:
- Identify each video you’re updating using its YouTube-assigned video_ID. We don’t currently support identifying videos by asset_ID or custom_ID, but we plan to support this option in the future
- For metadata values you don’t want to update, either leave the column blank or specify the same value in the column. YouTube does not update the values for any blank columns.
- For any field that accepts a list of values, the values in the spreadsheet will replace all existing values for the field; you can’t incrementally add new values. For example, if the current value of the ownership field is “JP|CA|US” and you want to add ownership in Mexico, you need to enter “JP|CA|US|MX” in the ownership column of the spreadsheet.
- You can’t overwrite manual updates using a spreadsheet. If you update a metadata field in the YouTube user interface, the value persists even if you subsequently submit a spreadsheet with a different value. This rule ensures that YouTube does not discard manual updates for batch updates.
There is a separate template for each type of video you can upload to YouTube (movies, television episodes, music videos, and web videos).
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