Video content creators and their fans should know there’s a new way to sponsor YouTube influencers, a $5 per month channel subscription that was just unveiled. In fact, it’s just one of the new ways fans can contribute to established content creators, and a move that could help YouTube better compete against Amazon’s switch.
Aside from the new Channel Membership feature unveiled on Thursday at the VidCon conference in Anaheim, California, YouTube also introduced a feature that will allow video creators to sell merchandise. The bad news is that not all YouTubers out there will be able to take advantage of these new monetization tools.
Channel Membership options are available to content creators on top of the usual ad-based revenue stream as long as they have more than 100,000 subscribers. For $4.99 each month, viewers will get access to unique perks from creators, including exclusive live streams or new videos, but also new badges, emojis, shout-outs, and Members-only posts in the Community tab.
If you want to sell merchandise on your YouTube channel, then you’ll have to have at least 10,000 subscribers to your channel, YouTube explained. Creators can sell up to 20 items on a shelf on their channel.
As you can see, if you don’t have enough subscribers, you won’t be able to get into either program. In fact, you need more than 1,000 subscribers and more than 4,000 hours of watch time within last year to make any money from YouTube ads. That’s the milestone to beat before being able to sell products or channel memberships on your channel.
In addition to the new monetization options, YouTube also announced a new Premieres feature, a new way to upload pre-recorded video content to Youtube as a live moment. The idea here is that creators will be able to build anticipation for new material.
