Youtube – Sharing private YouTube Live with a Gmail mailing list

Here's what Youtube says for sharing private videos. So, if you're sending the email notifications the way the steps say, then like one of the other answers says, maybe your friends need to add service@youtube.com to their email address book.

If you'd like to share one of your videos with a select and limited audience, you can do so by setting your video to private. Once the video's set to private you'll be able to share it with fifty other users.

Once you've set the video to private you'll be able to send the video's private URL with your contacts. Once your contacts receive the private URL, they'll be able to sign into their YouTube account and watch the video.

Here's how to find and send a private video's private URL:

1. Sign into your YouTube account and click the Account link located (at the top-right of any page ).
2. Then click the Uploaded Videos link. Click and choose the video you want to send to your friends. Then, click the "Edit" button.
3. Under the "Broadcasting and Sharing Options" section (on the left-hand side of the page towards the bottom) you'll see "Privacy" options. Click the little black arrow / triangle to expand and see all your privacy options (if its not already open and you cannot see your privacy options).
4. If the video's set to private, there will be a URL section below the "Private" option. This is the special private link that you will send to (up to) fifty contacts so that they can watch your private video.
5. Email / send a private message including the private video's special URL. When your friends receive the email invitation, they'll need to: Sign into their YouTube account
6. Click the video URL. They'll then be able to watch the video

That's it! You've now learned how to share a private video with your contacts!

Quote from YouTube Help about Video privacy settings:

A private video can only be seen by you and the users that YOU select.

You have to select a real User with a Google Account (formerly known as YouTube Account). This means that the eMail Addresses you select (when sharing privately) have to be the same as those used to login by their respective Users.

When YouTube is used in conjunction with a linked Google+ Profile or G+ (business) Page, then the sharing works differently. Privacy is then controlled via the Circles Feature.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Have you linked your YouTube Channel to a G+ Profile or a Google+ Page?
• Did you setup your Circles (to manage Contacts)?

There are 2 groups you have to understand:

• Your Circles
• Extended Circles

For a better understanding of how the Google+ Circle Concept works, please checkout the following links:

• Read this Quick Tip: What does "Extended Circles" mean? | by +GooglePlusDaily

• Who sees my posts shared with “Extended Circles” in their stream? | WebApps StackExchange