YouTube Debuts Paid Subscription Channels With Select Partners

Whether you agree with it or not, it is tough for some YouTubers to make money unless they have tonnes of subscribers and a profitable industry in terms of advertising and sponsorships. This is probably why YouTube have just recently debuted the paid subscription channels, which allow select partners to charge a small monthly fee for people to subscribe to their videos and updates.

YouTube’s new subscription method allows partners to charge a minimum of $0.99 a month, offer free 14 day trials and offer discounts when people buy yearly subscriptions. The reasons for YouTube doing this in my mind are twofold. The first is that it allows people to make YouTube more profitable and it gives YouTubers more flexibility for monetizing and distributing content, although the end user may not like this extra charge it is important that video makers can make good money out of YouTube. This leads on to the second reason which is that with more profitability it will drive YouTubers to make higher quality content, maybe even bring over some big TV show companies and other content that hasn’t yet arrived at YouTube because of no way to monetize it, until now.

Currently YouTube has published a list of all paid YouTube channels which you can find here. The feature will be rolled out more broadly in the coming weeks, and YouTube will activate the paid subscription as a self-service feature for qualifying partners. YouTube is encouraging people that want to get involved with a paid subscription channel to contact them here.

I don’t know about you but I am happy to see YouTube introducing paid subscription channels. Not only does it mean your subscription now actually means something more than just a click but it gives YouTubers the opportunity to strive towards much higher quality content without needing a viral reach. Of course, if every YouTube channel charged money then it would just be totally stupid and YouTube would no longer be “free” to the average user. That’s why I find it important that YouTube ensure they rigorously check every application for a paid subscription channel.

What are your thoughts on YouTube’s new paid subscription channel service?

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