YouTube Red - A Tech Revolution in making?

What is YouTube Red?

• A monthly subscription service that removes advertisements from all videos, everywhere you watch.
• Originally introduced as YouTube Music Key, a service that lets you stream music videos from YouTube without ads before Google expanded it to all kinds of YouTube videos in October 2015.
• Two other benefits include: offline viewing, ability to download YouTube videos to your phone or tablet for up to 30 days to watch without a connection and Background play, ability to listen to videos even when YouTube is not the active app.

What does it cost and how do I get it?

• YouTube Red is $10 per month($13 if you signing up through iTunes) and currently only available in the US.
• You have one month trial to try before you need to buy.

Why is it such a big deal and why should you care about it?

YouTube promised to bring incentives for all existing content creators to create red exclusive content onto the platform to bring more value to those users who switch to the YouTube Red. This crowd funded content creation model puts it in competition with Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Video while its music app puts it in competition with Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora etc., Because YouTube's content is crowdsourced unlike other platforms like Netflix/ Hulu / Spotify/Pandora, you can expect the exclusive content to start growing at a greater rate than it did on other platforms. It also means that YouTube will soon have the largest library  than everyone else while priced at the same level as everyone else.

YouTube has 1 billion users per month already making it the second largest search engine in the industry after Alphabet's own Google. Converting a fraction of its user base not only puts its competitors in jeopardy but also gives Youtube the last laugh in the market that has undergone many changes since the Blockbuster era.

Alright, I will be watching all of my videos on YouTube Red instead of Netflix. So what?

Unfortunately, there MIGHT be larger economic consequences than that. Until now, YouTube has been like the network television and radio before it—an advertising supported medium. It’s a flat platform for both creators and audiences. From a creator’s perspective, views become the new currency and popularity becomes the new asset. a videographer in the basement has the same capacity to reach to mass audience as a major media company has. And from an audiences’ perspective, a person with a mobile device and access to internet has access to all of YouTube. While the creators side has shifted a little with massive publishing companies recognizing talent of individual creators and sites like BuzzFeed cashing in on this social democratization, YouTube has been the same for audience until now. YouTube Red has the potential of creating two classes of viewers(i.e., the Red subscribers and the ones on regular YouTube. Does this transformation sound familiar? Well, It should as it already once occurred in cable television (Channels like HBO, ESPN etc., became paid while there are other free channels on the cable network).

Why is Google/Alphabet doing it now?

Well, The official statement is that this brings more value for users who are okay shelling out few extra bucks to avoid being exposed to advertising. But, the internal reason could be anything. It can't be said with certainty that the recent corporate change that occurred in Google to Alphabet had nothing to do with it. But, one thing is certain. It is a technology trend to watch out for...