Fans of YouTube may have to cough up US$1-US$5 a month to view their favourite videos on the site come this spring, if the company’s launch of paid subscriptions is successful.
The video-sharing site’s parent company, Google, has asked about two dozen channel producers to submit applications to create video channels that users would have to pay US$1-US$5 a month to access, AdAge.com reports.
In addition, YouTube is also considering charging fees to view live events, content libraries and certain programmes.
The revenue split from subscriptions is expected to be 45-55, favouring filmmakers, according to the AdAge.com report.
YouTube has been thinking about paid subscriptions for awhile now, and a Google spokesman told AdAge.com that it has long maintained that different content requires different types of payment models.
“The important thing is that, regardless of the model, our creators succeed on the platform. There are a lot of our content creators that think they would benefit from subscriptions, so we’re looking at that,” the Google spokesman said.
YouTube image via Annette Shaff/Shutterstock
