Developing, independent artists with an upcoming release with music video are eligible for Foundry. Artists can be considered independent when they drive their careers forward on their own behalf, and work with independent labels and distribution partners. Artists signed directly to major labels are not eligible for Foundry.

Independent artists selected for Foundry receive dedicated support from a YouTube partner manager, seed funding invested into the development of their channels, marketing and promotion opportunities, and access to new product features and opportunities to provide feedback.

We will inform selected artists in our first Class of 2026 in the Spring. If you are not selected, don’t fret! We’ll have other opportunities to connect with us, your peers, receive training, and more. Additionally, this is a multi-year program, so there will be more opportunities to receive support in years to come.

If you submitted application data, it will be controlled by Google LLC and subject to the Google Privacy Policy. However, your application data will be used solely for the purposes to which you agreed.

We will keep the application information you provided for no longer than 3 months from the date of collection, unless you are awarded funding or choose to hear more about various programs, events, campaigns, and promotions related to Foundry, in which case data will be retained for as long as necessary for your participation.

You may contact us at foundry-submission@google.com at any time to withdraw your consent, or to request access, changes, or deletion of your information. You can also contact Google’s Data Protection Officer to submit a data access request.

• Foundry Rising is a global developing artist program under the Foundry umbrella, focused on activating earlier stage, high-potential developing artists who are willing to lean in on YouTube. Selected artists receive micro grants and platform education to help kickstart their musical journey and maximize their impact from their releases on YouTube. Consider Rising a step before Foundry in a developing artist’s journey on YouTube.

• While Foundry is for independent artists only, Rising is label agnostic.

• Where Foundry has an application process, Rising does not, though artists who apply for Foundry will be considered for Rising as well. While there is no official external application through which artists can be submitted, we ask you to share eligible candidates directly with your POC at YouTube and provide as much information as possible about upcoming releases.