As some of you may already be aware, last week Google decided to launch a new pilot project for its users, a service which it bills as the natural next step in its YouTube Partner Program.
A number of select partners now have the ability to offer paid subscriptions to its users. This announcement isn’t likely to come as any significant surprise for those of you with your hand on the pulse of YouTube monetization. People have been trumpeting for quite some time that YouTube’s partnership program makes the production and distribution of high-quality content a herculean effort at best.
The new program means that paid channels will start appearing on YouTube, each one with a 14-day trial and each one with adjustable fees starting at $0.99 per month to $6.99 per month. Presumably, partners will be able to set and adjust the subscription fees (within reason) as they see fit. Subscribing to a channel will allow a user to watch that channel from any of their devices, including their phone, tablet, PC, or TV. More devices have been promised in the future, as well.
Though only a small collection of channels is going to be running the subscription program at first, Google plans to roll things out on a much broader basis in the near future. As they do this, they’ll be taking feedback from both content creators and users, working to tailor the service to provide a better experience to all.
The categories of the currently enrolled channels are fairly broad and extensive, ranging from Comedy, film, & Entertainment to Music. For creators, the impact this initiative will have on them is clear. A new method of monetization means more money, more money means better content, and better content means more users.
That’s the theory, anyway.
I’m actually not so certain the new initiative is going to pan out all that well. For one, YouTube has traditionally been an entirely free platform. Ad-supported, maybe, but ultimately entirely cost-less to browse, peruse, and upload. To me, it almost feels as though Google may well be trying to make new media fit an old business model.
Just look at the new channels. Few, if any, contain any user-generated content. They’re almost entirely comprised of television shows. This could, it seems, end up as YouTube trying to be something it’s not.
After all, we already have a whole host of subscription TV services available to us. Netflix and Hulu together host pretty much all of the videos most of us will ever need, while many television networks have begun offering their own shows, free of charge, for online streaming. In such an environment, can YouTube’s new offering really survive?
That’s not the only reason I find myself experiencing doubts about the new service. In the current YouTube landscape, it’s common – almost distressingly so – for videos to be downloaded and re-uploaded. Given this fact, is a subscription service really the most viable option? What’s to stop people from simply getting the videos elsewhere, or subscribing then downloading to provide them at another source?
On the one hand, the YouTube subscription model means that we’re going to be seeing some really cool stuff coming out of some of our favorite YouTube channels. Unfortunately, we may with the advent of this model begin seeing pay-walls for some of the best content. Truth be told, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised to see video piracy services start to spring up if this ends up being the case. That, or people might just start going elsewhere for their video needs.
What do you folks think of the new model? Will it prove viable, or ultimately fall fat? Moreover, will any of you be willing to pay for YouTube videos?
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On a personal level, none of the channels I’m subscribed to would keep me if they went paywalled. Nuff said.
However on a professional level, I can see it being a useful service. In my case, I support some Dental systems in the tech field. If, for example, some major dental software vendors put up a paywalled channel containing helpful content for system admins, that’s something that could be worth paying for, for businesses like mine.