Rumors of YouTube’s premium subscription service have been popping up for years, but it wasn’t until recently that we had some actual information to go on. Unfortunately for those looking forward to the option of an ad-free YouTube that still allows content creators to receive money for their work, Google us having a difficult time convincing these content creators to join the service. Apparently, the creators are worried that a paid subscription service would cannibalize their existing ad revenue.
Google is having trouble getting TV networks and YouTube stars to support its new video subscription model for YouTube, reports The Information.YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki spoke at conferences all last year about a different YouTube experience where users would pay monthly for an ad-free version of the site. But YouTube is having trouble getting networks on board with this idea. That’s because the new model would conflict with their existing contracts with other sites like Hulu and Netflix, which have sometimes required exclusives. YouTube stars are also hesitant to follow the idea because they’re worried subscriptions will cannibalize their ad revenue, which is where they make most of their money today. Google has been quiet about how much this video subscriptions service would cost, and has told some providers if they don’t participate in the service, they’ll either be forced to forgo the traditional revenue split from YouTube selling ads, or they’ll have to set their channels to private which will make them impossible to find through search. The concern follows a rough start for Music Key, a subscription service for music videos on YouTube. The service was supposed to launch last year, but remains in invitation-only beta, and will face tough competition from streaming music services like Apple Music and Spotify.
