Quick summary
Creating a custom sound for YouTube Shorts lets your channel become the credited audio source, boosting discoverability and brand recognition. By recording original audio, syncing it in a video editor, and uploading without replacing it via the YouTube Audio Library, your sound becomes reusable by other creators.
Steps
- Open a video editor and create a new project in 9:16 format.
- Add your video footage to the timeline and import your recorded audio file to the project.
- Sync the audio to the correct points in the video timeline, then trim any silence at the start or end of the audio clip.
- Export the finished Short as an MP4 and prepare it for upload to YouTube.
- Go to Studio.YouTube.com and click Create > Upload videos.
- Click Select files, or drag and drop your video file from a local folder on your device.
- During upload, do not add any music from the YouTube Audio Library — the original audio track from your export will become the sound associated with the Short.
- After publishing, open the Short and tap the sound icon to confirm your channel is listed as the audio source.
