YouTube launching $10 ad-free video, music subscription
YouTube is launching a subscription plan in the U.S. called Red that will combine ad-free videos across its service with on-demand unlimited streaming music for $10 a month.
The plan is targeted at people who frequently click to skip ads and yet wouldn't mind giving financial support to their favorite video creators, who'll share in the new revenues. It comes as streaming services like Hulu, Pandora, Spotify and TuneIn offer ad-free as a paid option.
The plan includes exclusive access to new videos launching next year, as well as the YouTube Music Key service for music videos. It also comes with features such as the ability to download videos to mobile devices and have music playing in the background while using other mobile apps.
Given YouTube's massive reach, the strategy shift could pay off big. "If just 5 percent of its US viewers were to sign up for the service, it would add more than a billion dollars in annual revenue to the company's bottom line," The Verge reports.
But the change won't alienate YouTube's established free-video-watching customer base or its advertisers, Robert Kyncl, the company's chief business officer, said.
"We believe in the advertising business. Ninety-nine point nine percent of the content on YouTube will be free, as it always has been," he said, speaking to The Verge. "So the world that all of our advertising partners are used to remains alive and well and [watch time] continues to grow at an astonishing 60 percent year over year. There is nothing we are taking away from there, merely adding onto it."
The service will be available in the US Oct. 28 for $9.99 per month.