Google is planning to introduce a paid subscription based service to view exclusive video content.
What does this mean? It means that for those who wish to see content labelled as “exclusive†will have to subscribe and pay.
Early rumours included a monthly paid subscription for viewers of popular uploaders. In turn those viewers would not have to sit through adverts and the income generated would be shared with the content creators. It is still unclear if the advert-free service has got access to exclusive content that the free service doesn’t.
At the time of writing all current content on YouTube is freely viewable by everyone. Even with all of Google’s vast resources and technical know-how it has yet to turn a profit on YouTube. This is not to say that Google is not profiting in other ways from its YouTube ownership, one would have to think of things such as the literal wealth of statistical information about what people like and don’t like to see, which in turn can be applied to various other areas of their business.
On a slightly relative note, Google’s relatively new service Music Key costs around 10 USD a month, the costs of the YouTube subscription is not yet clear.
So far however it is all rumours. Google is to make an announcement according to various sources regarding these plans, on the 21st of October during a event in Los Angeles.
How do you feel about this turning event?