YouTube recently launched its newest offer- YouTube Red. A new paid monthly subscription service that offers greater experience for viewers and creators alike. With YouTube Red, viewers can now stream their favorite videos uninterrupted, save videos offline, and access YouTube across any devices for a monthly rate of $9.99. This subscription also allows members to access YouTube’s latest Gaming App as well as the upcoming YouTube Music app.
Along with YT Red’s rising popularity comes controversies with its success. There had been negative feedbacks about the profitability especially for creators during the 30- day trial period. Rumors say that YouTubers will not be paid for this certain period of time. However, YouTube clarified that since Google Play subscribers will be automatically enrolled, the subscription fee of the members will be used to pay creators. So yes, technically, they will be paid but not directly from Red.
According to TechCrunch, YouTube will set all videos as 'private' for creators who do not sign up for the $9.99 YT Red subscription. This includes all videos by popular comedians, musicians, game commentators, DIY instructors, etc. This claim might be true since even sports giant ESPN videos were made private due to a previous existing contract.
The class system between who can afford and who cannot afford the subscription is also one of the major concerns for viewers. However, YouTube assured viewers that the only difference of Red subscription is the uninterrupted streaming.
Meanwhile, small time creators are cynical whether or not Red will kick them out to give way for larger scale creators. Since Red pays based on the number of Red users and their watched minutes, this makes the smaller channels more vulnerable compared to bigger ones. Also, smaller channels are unlikely to get the majority of Red users. However, since the service had just been launched, there is no way to tell for now. It would take longer time to see what the future has to offer for both YouTube Red creators and viewers.
