YouTube Red: Is No Ads for $9.99 a Month Worth It?
Welcome to a brand new segment on DIY Video Guy: NEWS.
So it's a new segment about news. Here we go. Episode one of that. (Click play above or go to YouTube to watch.)
Today YouTube announced YouTube Red, which is what they're calling they're monthly payment membership. YouTube Red is going to cost you $9.99 a month and for that you won't get any ads when you're watching videos. So if you're logged into your account and you're on your phone, your iPad, Apple TV, computer or whatever else you own, you won't get any ads before the videos or on the sidebar.
Other added benefits of having a subscription to YouTube Red include being able to download the videos and a background listen feature.
So, if you're about to go on a flight you can download a handful of YouTube videos and watch them while you're traveling. As far as background listening, you can basically close the YouTube app and do something else on your phone or other device, and it'll keep playing. Combined with YouTubes playlist feature, background listen will allow viewers to consume content in a similar way to how you use Apple's Podcasting app.
It would appear Youtube is trying to get a larger piece of the audio and music streaming pie.... Speaking of pie, YouTube says they're working on a lot of exclusive content for YouTube Red subscribers, one of them being a horror show with PewDiePie.
They're going to make some horror show where they put him in situations and I'm sure he will scream a lot.
So what does this mean for a YouTube creator or someone that's making videos for the web? Well if you are running ads on your videos and a subscriber watches them, do you still get paid? YouTube hasn't really laid out all the details yet, so more info to come on that, though long-time YouTuber Hank Green is optimistic that this is better for creators.
You can subscribe to YouTube Red on October 28th. Ten dollars a month. You'll also get access to the Google Music app as well. However, until they deliver this exclusive content that they're working on, what you are really paying for is not to be annoyed by ads. Think Pandora of video. Other than that I may subscribe to YouTube Red just to be able to watch videos offline during flights because, lets face it, in-flight entertainment blows.
Expect YouTube Red to deliver big in the long run, but for now, you basically get to forgo advertisements. $9.99 a month not to watch that same GEICO ad over and over again? Maybe.