YouTube is making significant changes that should help creators monetize their channels sooner.

YouTube is one of the leading platforms for content creators to make money on. Unfortunately, the barrier to entry is relatively high, and it can be difficult for new creators to break into the new platform and get the views necessary to begin making money. The company is working to address that issue, making a number of changes that will help creators make money sooner.

The company announced the changes in a blog post:

Last year we shared that big updates were coming to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) to help more creators make more money on YouTube. And in case you missed it, we’ve recently expanded YPP eligibility to include Shorts creators & also added Shorts ad revenue sharing.

Now we’re expanding the program by introducing earlier access to YPP with lower eligibility criteria that will help you start earning on YouTube sooner by opening up access to fan funding features like channel memberships, Super Chat, Super Thanks, and more. We’re also introducing an update to our YouTube Shopping affiliate program for creators who are further along in their journey!

YouTube previously required creators to have 1,000 subscribers before they were eligible for YPP access, but the company is cutting that in half:

Starting today, eligible creators will begin to be able to apply to YPP earlier — once they’ve met a threshold of 500 subscribers, 3 public uploads in the last 90 days, and either 3000 watch hours in the past year or 3M Shorts views in the last 90 days. These new partners will unlock access to fan funding features like channel memberships, Super Chat, Super Stickers, Super Thanks, and the ability to promote their own products with YouTube Shopping.

The company says the new features are already rolling out to creators in the US, UK, Canada, Taiwan, and South Korea and will roll out to all other countries over time.