YouTube buttons - What are they and what do YouTubers actually get them for?

YouTube is a platform that has gained enormous popularity since its inception in 2005. As more and more creators began to hit significant subscriber milestones, YouTube created a reward system for those achievements. They called it the YouTube Creator Awards. You've probably already seen the silver play button, but do you know what the others are for?

Silver Play Button

This first award was also won by a number of our partners, as it is necessary to reach 100 thousand customers. Such a number is much more respected in our region than abroad, so our creators value the Silver Button and often unbox it directly in the video or take a picture with it on Instagram.

In Vidadu, we received our silver button for the vidaduTV channel in 2020 and it made us very happy. We displayed it in our office and we like to remember this success.

Despite the fact that it is called silver, it is made of 92% nickel. It was first introduced in 2013 and today it is owned by more than 300,000 creators around the world. In 2018, it underwent a design renewal, when they gave it a more "cleaner look", which was officially presented in the YouTube Creator Awards video.
What do you think about the renewed design? Do you like it better than the old one?

Gold Play Button

Second in line is the Gold Award. This is awarded to creators who have managed to reach a million subscribers. A total of almost 30,000 of them were distributed, but in our region it is very difficult to get so many customers and only a handful of creators succeeded. brass. Like the other buttons, it is also engraved with the YouTuber's name and the message that it is for reaching a million. A signed letter is also sent in the box, in which YouTube congratulates you on this achievement.

Just like the silver button, the gold one has also been renewed. The older design consisted of a black steel background on which a three-dimensional gold YouTube logo was screwed and below it the message - "CONGRATULATIONS on overcoming one million subscribers".

The new design has an elegant gold instead of a black background and no longer has a glass case. The reason for these changes was that more and more channels started to reach this milestone, increasing the number of buttons produced. This became too expensive, so they had to make a cheaper version, but no less nice.

Diamond Play Button

The truly prized award comes with the so-called Diamond Button. This is given to YouTube channels that reach ten million subscribers. In its simplicity, it copies the YouTube logo and the shape of the button, which is made of a silver-plated metal frame, and the triangle itself is made of pure crystal. The award was given for the first time in 2015.

The first channel to reach 10 million subscribers was Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox from the Smosh channel. They managed to do it back in 2013. To date, more than a thousand channels have managed to reach this limit, and therefore approximately the same number of diamond buttons have also been distributed.

Unboxing his button, Marques Brownlee praised YouTube for thinking this way about its creators.

Custom Creator Award

This is a special award given to channels with a reach of 50 million subscribers. It is unique, as each award is unique. It always depends on who it is delivered to.

The number of such channels is increasing, but currently there are over 30 channels that have reached this number. The first awardee was PewDiePie, who did it in December 2016. Next up was the Indian channel T-Series, who were awarded with their logo inserted into the play button. For example, the channel Pinkfong received an award that was associated with their popular song Baby Shark.

Red Diamond Play Button

Currently, the highest possible award is given to channels that have managed to surpass the magical 100 million subscribers mark. These awards are far fewer than the others, with only seven channels to date , who managed to reach one hundred million subscribers. These include T-Series, Cocomelon - Nursery Rhymes, SET India, MrBeast, PewDiePie and Like Nastya.

It is made of dark glass and brass with a piece of red baccarat crystal glass. It comes in a chunky red case with the YouTube logo stamped on it. Red Diamond Play Button was revealed via tweet from YouTube on September 6, 2019. In a 30-second video, they showed what the creation process looks like.

PewDiePie and his unboxing of the Red Diamond Play Button that has been played over 70 million times

If you as a creator want to receive an author award, you must reach a set milestone in the number of subscribers. If you meet this and other criteria, YouTube will send you a unique code that you enter together with your personal data on the page designated for it. Finally, just confirm the order and wait for the Play Button to arrive. Since it is a package from behind a big puddle, they will probably hold it at customs before entering us. Then you need to contact them.