YouTube has made a big push for original channels on its service over the last year, funding more than 160 of them itself. Now Google’s video service is reportedly planning to allow some of those partner publishers to charge $1-$5 monthly subscriptions for new YouTube channels, which could go live by the summer. “We have long maintained that different content requires different types of payment models,” a spokesperson tells AdAge. “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.” An opportunity for music? The expectation among fans that music videos are free to watch – albeit ad-supported – would likely mean any subscription-based YouTube music channel would have to go further. Exclusive live performances would be one obvious thing to try.
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Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…