YouTube Rumored To Have Paid Tier In The Works

Would you pay for YouTube? If a new report is accurate, you might soon have to think critically about that. Google is cited by sources as being interested in a video-on-demand (VOD) subscription model for YouTube. The move is believed to be in response to other platforms, many of whom offer a pay-to-play layer wherein the content is ad-free. It may also be a move to retain talent, something YouTube has quietly been battling for a year or more.

Those others, like startup Vessel, take a small monthly fee from viewers. In turn, the content is either mostly or completely ad-free, and a portion of the monthly fee kicks back to creators.

YouTube's rumored subscription service is believed to be modeled on their Music Key model, which gives Play Music All Access subscribers access to YouTube videos from artists. Play Music All Access costs $7.99 or $9.99 monthly, depending on when you may have signed up.

It's not yet known what price point Google may be considering for a paid YouTube layer.

According to one YouTube partner, Google may be strong-arming others into signing up. According to an exec who had been approached by Google about a paid YouTube VOD service, the terms come with one serious caveat: if partners don't agree to the terms Google puts forth for the YouTube paid model, they can't secure any YouTube ad revenue in the future.

With startups like Vessel poised to take creators from YouTube, and Facebook (along with Twitter) urging people to load video to their platforms first, something has to give. Google isn't commenting on this rumor, but a new-look YouTube with a paid layer may find its way to Google I/O this year.

Until the service actually shows up, we want to know; would you pay for YouTube?

Source: Variety

Via: The Verge