Get ready to pay 99 cents to watch YouTube. Yes, you heard that correctly. A “free YouTube” will no longer exist. Long gone are the days of aimlessly browsing videos for hours on end free of charge. In order to be granted access to YouTube’s most popular channels, you must pay the nominal fee of 99 cents or more.
In an effort to generate more revenue for the site and its most popular producers, YouTube is restructuring. Beginning in May 2014, YouTube will launch its pilot program with a few dozen paid accounts with popular brands, including Sesame Street and the Professional Golf Association. The starting subscription price is set to 99 cents, but account creators can adjust the price accordingly.
However, subscriptions are not available for all YouTube producers. Existing accounts with 10,000 or more followers have already been notified of this forthcoming change and will be offered the ability to monetize their content. For all other YouTube channels, creators will still be able to post their videos and viewers will be able to watch them for free.
I predict this impending change to significantly decrease YouTube traffic. Although the subscription model will be lucrative for video creators, it will negatively affect the number of YouTube site visitors. How many people are going to willingly pay to watch videos on a previously free website? In the long run, I foresee the free content garnering more views than the subscription’s and ultimately the paid content will flop.
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NO!!! I hate that this is going to happen. Although 99 cents isn’t that much money, I feel like this is going to drive A LOT of people away from the site. Who knows, maybe another YouTube like site will be developed and take over.
Noooooooooo!!!!!!!!! YouTube is VERY important to my life. I don’t watch TV, don’t have a Netflix account, and I’m not a Hulu person either. How am I going to enjoy good free entertainment. I’m especially partial to watching kitten videos on YouTube. This really upsets me and I refuse to pay. My YouTube traffic will definately decrease. Great article!