By: Gillian Marcus
On October 21, 2015, YouTube released the official trailer for an additional way to experience your favorite videos – through YouTube Red, which was eventually launched on October 28. YouTube Red is a paid subscription service where original movies, videos, and other content is available exclusively to its subscribers.
For $9.99 a month, you can subscribe to YouTube Red and access features you normally wouldn’t be able to on the regular YouTube website. One new feature is ad-free videos, where your favorite content can be viewed without any interruptions. This means that ads will not play before the video and during the video (including the pop-up ads), and there also won’t be banner ads, homepage banner ads, and search ads. In addition, people who’ve purchased YouTube Red can save videos offline. This means you can save videos or playlists to watch offline when you aren’t connected, such as at the gym or on a camping trip. The number of video and audio files you can save depends on your mobile device’s amount of free space, storage capacity, and the size of the saved file. Another feature involves being able to keep videos or music playing even if you switch apps or turn off your device. However, all of these benefits won’t work on YouTube videos that you already have to pay to view, such as movie rentals. YouTube Red is not its own app, either; it’s simply an added tier on existing YouTube and Google accounts. And, as always, you can cancel your YouTube Red membership at any time.
Unfortunately, YouTube is completely removing videos of certain creators who don’t sign the YouTube Red subscription deal. On October 21, YouTube confirmed that any “partner” creator who earns a cut of ad revenue but doesn’t agree to sign its revenue share deal will have their videos hidden from public view on both the free, ad-supported YouTube website and the ad-free YouTube Red tier. This includes videos by popular comedians, musicians, game commentators, and DIY instructors – not the average person who uploads clips. One example of this is ESPN, who had to remove most of its videos from the U.S. since its other contracts prevent it from being on subscription services like Red. However, the vast majority of creators signed the deal, meaning 99% of content consumed on YouTube will still be available.
Examples of certain creators who will be releasing original content exclusively on YouTube Red are Lilly Singh (IISuperwomanII) with a documentary called A Trip to Unicorn Island, Toby Turner (Tobuscus) with a new comedy series called I Am Tobuscus, and Felix Kjellberg (PewDiePie) with a horror-themed reality series called Scare PewDiePie, which is produced in collaboration with Skybound Entertainment of The Walking Dead fame. In his series, PewDiePie will be placed into live-action and horror scenarios inspired by horror video games (an exclusive first look for this has been released on his channel). “I had no idea what was going to happen, and it was one of the craziest experiences of my life,” says Kjellberg in his first look video. These YouTube Red original series will be launched next year.
Many people find YouTube Red to be a waste of money and fear that they’ll have to spend $10 a month to watch all of their favorite YouTubers’ videos. However, this is not the case – only a few YouTubers have decided to use YouTube Red, and their regular videos will remain free – the only thing you’ll have to pay to watch are their exclusive series. In a comment on his video, PewDiePie defends YouTube Red, saying “Say what you want about YouTube Red, but generally it costs money to make shows like this [Scare PewDiePie], and that money needs to be made back somehow, otherwise projects like this wouldn’t exist.”
So don’t worry – YouTube isn’t planning on going anywhere, and most of your favorite YouTube videos will still be accessible (sorry, ESPN fans). You can enjoy videos without the interruption of ads, save videos to watch offline at a later time, and keep YouTube videos playing even when you switch apps or turn off your device. On top of all of this, new creative content will be released, which many YouTubers such as PewDiePie are very excited to announce. A one month free trial is currently available for any considering YouTube fans who’d like to have a go at Youtube Red.
