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YouTube Unveils Paid Channels, Subscription Music Service

Adithya Manjunath |
October 24, 2013 | 12:56 p.m. PDT

Executive Producer

YouTube has rolled out paid channels to any user with 10,000 subscribers or more, and are close to releasing a music streaming service (Rego/Flickr)
YouTube has rolled out paid channels to any user with 10,000 subscribers or more, and are close to releasing a music streaming service (Rego/Flickr)

YouTube is set to make major changes to its current video streaming services after announcing that YouTube creators will now be able to set up paid channels with monthly subscription fees.

Any channel with 10,000 subscribers or more will now be able to charge fees to access their video content – although YouTube will have final authority on subscription rates. The revenue split between video producers and YouTube is said to be similar to the current model used for advertising revenue, where 55% of all revenue goes to creators and 45% goes to YouTube. 

YouTube rolled out a pilot version of paid channels earlier this year which was, save for the $3.99-per-month Sesame Street channel, did not take off as expected and was seen as a failure by many. Whether this expansion of paid channels could impact how content creators distribute their content – especially in terms of how paid video content is distributed online, remains to be seen.

Additionally, YouTube is reportedly close to launching a paid subscription music service to compete with other streaming services like Spotify. This service is said to be specifically tailored to mobile users, after Google announced that traffic from mobile users to YouTube has shot up to 40% of YouTube's total traffic in 2013 from 25% from in 2012.

Reports indicate that this service will give users access to YouTube's catalog of music videos without advertisements, and will also allow users temporarily store videos on their phones or tablets to watch offline.

Read more about YouTube's paid subscription music service on The New York Times.

Contact Executive Producer Adi here, and follow him on Twitter.



 

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