YouTube has been one of the fastest growing social media sites of today. YouTube was first launched in 2005 by Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, and Chad Hurley. In 2005, YouTube received an $11.5 million investment from Sequoia Capital for their idea. Less than a year later, Google bought the company for $1.65 billion. Soon after, YouTube was launched in 8 other countries and HD videos were introduced. In 2009, gaming and vlogging channels started to gain popularity among users. In 2011, billions of people were watching YouTube videos daily. In fact, the first YouTube video to ever reach 1 billion views was Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ video.
In addition, YouTube introduced a new type of ad which substantially increased their revenue. It is now currently a multi-billion dollar company. Over the past fews years, YouTube has been expanding their services and released different features such as YouTube Music, YouTube TV, YouTube Go, and YouTube Red. YouTube Red is a subscription service that gives you ad-free YouTube videos and Google’s music streaming service. The subscription is about $10 per month or $13 via the App Store. It also offers two other benefits including offline viewing and listening to videos with the screen off. YouTube also began to create original shows and movies from top YouTubers and offered access to watch for YouTube Red members. It is predicted that 50% of users under the age of 30 will stop paying for a TV subscription because of YouTube.
Sources:
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/youtube-red-details/
https://www.digitaltrends.com/music/what-is-youtube-red-google-play-music/
https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/10/the-history-of-youtube/
Questions:
1. Would you buy a subscription to YouTube Red? Why or why not?
2. What other streaming platforms do you have?
3. What kind of YouTube videos do you watch?
This is a pretty informative post. I actually didn't know Youtube has expanded out this far in regards to their services like Youtube TV and Youtube Music. Personally, I am on Youtube every day listening to different types of music and watching videos of the channels that i am subscribed to. I currently have a subscription to YouTube Red, I think cutting out Ads was the main attracting point for me, but as i am discovering the exclusive shows on Youtube such as the SlowMo Guys or the new debuting shows like Cobra Kai, I've come to a conclusion that Youtube Red is worth the money. Lastly, I use other streaming services such as Twitch, CrunchyRoll and Netflix
ReplyDeleteI love watching YouTube too, and I am now seriously considering to buy YouTube Red. I watch YouTube on a daily basis so I feel like the ad-free videos would already be worth it to me too.
DeleteYouTube is actually my most frequented form of entertainment. I am on it almost everyday. As of the last few months there has been many issues however. Many content creators are having their videos demonetized because YouTube feels that their content may not be suitable for all advertisers. This means that they are not making money from advertisers or the YouTube Red services.
ReplyDeleteAs a result of these issues, many content creators have been placing ads within their own videos in order to generate revenue and YouTube Red will not filter out these ads. Therefore, even if you pay to remove ads you will still see other advertisements in the videos. At this point I do not feel that YouTube Red is worth the money. There are so many other solutions that don't cost you money.
I currently have YouTube, Netflix, HBO Go, and Twitch as my primary forms of digital entertainment. I typically watch videos related to gaming, comedy, and sports. I am interested to see where YouTube goes from where they are today.
That is super interesting that you mentioned that about YouTube Red! I just assumed that the subscription would take out ads completely, but I guess there would still be ads that are put up by the creators themselves. I'll definitely put that into consideration before I decide to subscribe.
DeleteHello Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog post about YouTube. I am not at the point where I see value in subscribing to YouTube Red. Compared to the vast amount of high-quality content on other streaming services, I don't currently see any YouTube Red series that beat the production values of a HBO series.
I actively use Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Go for watching my favorite series.
The YouTube videos I watch revolve around comedy, art, and soccer. To give some examples of channels I'm currently subscribed too, I follow TigerBelly and The Fighter and The Kid for comedy. For art, I like learning about the creative decision-making that happens in movies. My favorite channels for this subject are Every Frame a Painting, Channel Criswell, and Now You See It. Finally, for soccer I view Copa90 for my English Premier League needs.
I completely agree with you. I love watching YouTube but I don't have a subscription to YouTube Red. I also actively use Netflix and Hulu which I think are super worth it. For me, I could still live without the benefits of YouTube Red, but I could also see the benefits making my watching experience a lot better.
DeleteGreat post, Lauren! I was actually about to subscribe to YouTube Red because I have been able to find songs that Spotify does not have, in addition to having the option to stream videos from my favorite channels offline. I might change my mind if I continue finding episodes of shows or series and songs I cannot find on other platforms. The current platforms I use are just Spotify and Netflix. I also use YouTube in a regular basis. Usually the videos I stream are short videos from channels I am subscribed to such as: TheEllenShow, TED-Ed, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live and simply music videos from my favorite artists (especially those videos that are like short movies).
ReplyDeleteI love watching talk show hosts especially Jimmy Fallon! If you like country, the dynamic between him and Blake Shelton is hilarious!
DeleteBefore, I never thought I could live without a tv and a cable subscription, however with streaming services like Youtube, Hulu and Netflix I find myself almost never on the tv. I think that all these platforms have done an amazing job providing content when I want to view it, rather than sticking me to their schedule. Instead of having to tune in at 8pm on Fridays for a tv show and running risking missing a whole new episode because I was busy, I can now watch anything I feel like when I feel it is convenient for me.
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing! But yes, all these content streaming sites just keep making our lives easier and more convenient. We can watch the shows we want to watch on our own time rather than at a certain time. It's awesome!
DeleteYou know you can now bundle Spotify and Hulu, in case you have subscriptions to both. Cheaper for students, too, or with email.arizona.edu accounts, which you can keep.
ReplyDelete