YouTube has sent an email to its content creators confirming plans to introduce an ad-free, paid-subscription model. The email sent to YouTube Partners, who receive a share of the advertising revenue generated by their work, requires them to agree to updated terms and notes that the changes will take effect on 15 June. “By creating a new paid offering, we’ll generate a new source of revenue that will supplement your fast growing advertising revenue,” said the email, which goes on to add that “it’s an exciting year for YouTube, as we push into uncharted territories."
Although the email did not say how much the video platform would charge or when it would roll out the new service, an unnamed source told Bloomberg that an ad-free version could launch later this year. The email appears to confirm comments made last year by YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki, who said: “YouTube right now is ad-supported, which is great because it has enabled us to scale to a billion users, but there’s going to be a point where people don’t want to see the ads."
Last November YouTube launched a beta music subscription service called Music Key giving customers access to over 30 million songs in Google's Play Music database at the promotional price of USD 7.99 a month.
