A letter from YouTube to its scores of content creators has fueled speculation that Google is planning to launch an ads-free, 2-in-1 subscription service next month. As Re/code points out, YouTube’s letter essentially tells producers to agree to new terms by Oct. 22 or their videos will be taken offline.
“That outcome would be a loss for YouTube, a loss for the thriving presence you’ve built on the platform, and above all, a loss for your fans,” the letter states.
According to the report, YouTube is looking to bundle two services under one subscription: an all-you-can eat video offering and its Music Key streaming service, which has been in beta since November.
The bundled videos-and-music service is rumored to have a price point of $10/month, which is considered on the low end since that is what a fully realized Music Key service was expected to cost.
As previously reported, Music Key will enable offline and ad-free listening of music videos, playlists and songs, as well as a Pandora-like “endless playlist” component based on a listener’s song or artist choice. Details are scarce on the video-specific tier, aside from it being sans ads.
At a conference in July, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said they had “learned a lot of things” from a “set of very heavy music users” during Music Key’s ongoing beta period. She was short on specifics but did say “we have plans to launch later this year.”
