14 DAY TRIAL // Last year, YouTube was reported to launch a program that would allow its viewers to watch ad-free videos through a paid subscription service.
It seems that the online video-sharing website has finally decided to go forward with this decision revealing its intentions in an email addressed to all of its YouTube partners, The Verge reported.
This is not necessarily good news for YouTube Creators, given that they do not really have any other option but to sign the agreement, otherwise their videos will be made private, which means that subscribers will not be able to watch them unless they receive the link to them.
It was also revealed that this new service will cost around $10 (€ 9.28) while Google will keep almost half of the revenues, 45 percent, to be more precise. The rest of the money will go to its partners, based on the amount of views that they can amass on their channels.
The service is expected to take off in just a few months and it actually looks like YouTube is trying to take action against Vessel, the extremely similar platform that offers paid subscriptions which provide early content for its premium users.
YouTube is running the risk of losing its creators
YouTube has made no official statements on this matter or on how the service will work and people do not know yet whether the paid subscription will only allow users to watch their favorite YouTube videos without the ads or they will also have access to some premium content like early video access. Some say that it might even allow offline access.
A YouTube representative declared for the Verge that discussions are still ongoing, but that they want to give fans “more choice to enjoy the content they love and creators more opportunity to earn revenue are always amongst our top priorities.”
The paid-subscription initiative is a good way for video creators to make more money from their YouTube partnership, receiving about 55 percent of the total revenues, but only if people are willing to pay the price.
It’s pretty obvious that YouTube was afraid that Vessel might steal away its creators, as many YouTubers have already complained that they are not any ways to make money on the platform and have closed a deal with the newly launched website.