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YouTube's ad-free subscription service could roll out as early as this October

By Koh Wanzi - on 28 Sep 2015, 1:47pm

YouTube's ad-free subscription service could roll out as early as this October

YouTube users may soon have the option to pay to get rid of ads.

YouTube has long been the epitome of accessible content. All the videos you could want, all in the same place. And for free! But things could soon change as the Google-owned service is reportedly looking to implement an ad-free subscription service for users who are willing to pay to cut ads out entirely.

If the idea of a YouTube subscription sounds entirely foreign to you, remember that YouTube actually has a paid music service called Music Key, which it launched late last year. In addition, it also launched a pilot program as far back as 2013 for a small group of YouTube partners to provide premium content to users for a monthly fee.

So the concept isn’t entirely new, and the idea of subscribing to the entire video platform was first floated almost a year ago by YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki. However, a fixed timeline was never specified, and the potential launch was always viewed as an indeterminate point somewhere in the vague future.

Now, it looks like something concrete may be happening as a blast email was apparently sent from YouTube to content owners, telling them they have to agree to new terms by 22 October or else their “videos will no longer be available for public display or monetization in the United States”. According to Recode, unspecified industry sources have also talked about a launch date in late October.

The new subscription service would be a single service, instead of multiple ones. YouTube reportedly wants to bundle two services into one offering, which would comprise an updated Music Key service and another one which would allow users to watch YouTube videos without ads.

The price is rumored to be set at US$10/month for the dual offering, which raises eyebrows because YouTube’s paid music service was supposed to cost that same amount on its own. Music labels and other copyright owners were to take the lion’s share of the fee, so it remains to be seen how YouTube will actually profit from that pricing for two services.

But if you really detest YouTube ads and aren’t averse to paying to get rid of them, that option might be available sooner than you think.

Source: Recode

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