At the VidCon 2018, YouTube has introduced new ways to help content creators earn more money on the platform.
First up is Channel Memberships which have already been available for a select group of creators on YouTube as Sponsorships. With Memberships, viewers pay a monthly recurring fee of $4.99 to get unique badges, new emoji, Members-only posts in the Community tab, and access to unique custom perks offered by creators, such as exclusive live streams, extra videos, or shout-outs. It will be available for channels with more than 100,000 subscribers on YouTube.
https://youtu.be/Minu0lTlEOI
Next is Merchandise to make it easier for creators to sell merch directly from their channel. YouTube has partnered with Teespring so creators can choose from over 20 merchandise items to customize and sell via a shelf on their channel. This will be available to all eligible U.S.-based channels with over 10,000 subscribers starting today and will expand to more merchandising partners and creators soon.
In addition to the monetization options mentioned, YouTube also introduced Premieres which allows creators to debut pre-recorded videos as a live moment. When content is released as a Premiere, YouTube will automatically create a public landing page to build anticipation and hype up new content. When all fans show up to watch the premiere, they’ll be able to chat with each other, and with the creator, in real time via live chat.
Premieres can also be a revenue stream as creators can use Super Chat on traditional YouTube uploads and take advantage of Channel Memberships perks that were previously only available on Live videos. Premieres are starting to roll out to creators today and will be available broadly soon.
Nice new way to monetize, but of course works best if you already established a community around you. It will not do much for new guys I guess.