A premium YouTube subscription service is expected to debut within the next few months, according to The Verge. For an expected price of $10 per month, the service will give users the ability to watch videos without ads and to store them offline. Bloomberg published a letter YouTube sent to some users, writing, “By creating a new paid offering, we’ll generate a new source of revenue that will supplement your fast growing advertising service.”
YouTube and its owner Google are trying to make more money, obviously, and also competing against fellow video streamers Netflix and Hulu, the latter of which also started with a free content model before transitioning into a subscription service with Hulu Plus. YouTube rolled out its music subscription service Music Key in November; it’s still in beta mode, and will be $7.99 when it becomes public. The company has also started offering movies to buy or rent through YouTube.
The Verge notes that the new model requires creators to participate in the subscription offering, or else their videos will be set to private. A YouTube spokeswoman responded to The Verge’s query on this with, “While we can’t comment on ongoing discussions, giving fans more choice to enjoy the content they love and creators more opportunity to earn revenue are always amongst our top priorities.”
A copy of YouTube’s letter is below.