YouTube is now the single largest source of music consumption online (and quite possibly, overall). The only problem is that outside of piracy channels, it’s the single worst-paying royalty platform for artists and rights owners. And this goes way beyond artists: according to VEVO chief executive Erik Huggers, ad-supported music video content simply isn’t a sustainable model.
Vevo, launched in 2009, is now a massive music video platform that largely lives within YouTube. During the chat, Huggers noted that Vevo currently amasses 17 billion views monthly, though advertising isn’t supporting a reasonable business despite significant sales efforts.
On its face, an audience of 17 billion certainly sounds large enough to draw monstrous advertising revenues, but Huggers confirmed that simply isn’t the case. “Ad-supported is a real strength we have, and we want to build upon that strength,” Huggers said. “There will absolutely be a free Vevo, it’s an important part of the puzzle piece.
“But we think having just an ad-supported model is not sustainable in the long-run, but we do think that an ad-supported plus a pay model makes a ton of sense.”
But wait: is YouTube about the go to war with itself over paying music video subscribers? Hugger’s themes are familiar for YouTube proper, which just beta-released ‘Red,’ a subscription service that plans to eventually include music. Currently, Red features an extremely limited selection of video series, including ‘Dance Camp’ from AwesomenessTV. Music is the next part of that puzzle, with options ahead to cache, navigate, and better organize the massive YouTube music catalog.
The critical question is whether YouTube can create a united front and properly capture subscription revenue. Google (or, Alphabet) is notorious for overlapping and competing initiatives, with flopped and ill-supported launches another hallmark.
Beyond that, it’s puzzling why a subscription-based music video play has never materialized. Vevo, a joint venture since 2009, was created to better monetize videos but never moved forward on subscription-based plans. YouTube’s massive music video traffic has been understood for more than five years, though little effort has been made to attract premium crowds around that content.
Meanwhile, YouTube remains a massive, low-rent problem for the music industry. According to insiders, YouTube’s free-for-all is making it incredibly difficult for better-paying platforms like Spotify to compete, and, agree to terminate its free-access tiers. Soundcloud, the other free-access elephant in the room, is now on a timetable to launch a subscription-based service during the second half of this year.
Again, the really, really easy solution is adblock-blockers.
Even the Everything-Should-Be-Free-Except-My-Car-crusaders over at Wired block ad-blockers now (man, I’ve been waiting for that, haha).
Also, I hate to say it, but I’ll have to become a paying subscriber instantly when YouTube bans adblockers. I’ve never seen a YouTube ad, and I’ll keep it that way.
I’m pretty sure millions of other users feel the same way. YouTube is one of the only sites that can afford to take the step; it doesn’t have any competition, not even from pirate sites.
DMN, November 1 2015:
PewDiePie: Adblock Is the Real Reason YouTube Red Was Launched
Red would make sense if it were part of an adblock-block strategy.
But today it’s hilarious — why would I pay for an adfree service I’ve got already?
Adblock-blocking is the future. Don’t tell me you haven’t considered it yourself…
The best solution is to make unblockable ads. It is possible. It just takes a little creativity. Blocking users will just drive them away to a competitor.
“Blocking users will just drive them away to a competitor.”
Which competitor?
Pay for music? How is this just not a standard mentality? Do people run into stores and just take stuff?
Exactly. The music industry will eventually help put an end to the ease of illegal fire sharing with helps of big companies in the movie industry as well. The average joe now day apparently can’t even afford to get music legally and help artists.
When?
The full-blown internet has been around since 1999. When is this point when the movie industry rides into town and shuts everything down?
You already know music can’t compete with gaming. Now you wanna put it up against a for-pay YT channel of kitties? The free market will speak, and it will say “Mew”.
Video games have been around since the 1980s. Music is being consumed just as much now as it ever was. It’s just that all the money spent accessing it now goes to tech companies.
Wait, you mean there’s no such thing as a free lunch?
Why can’t anyone reply to your comments, Paul?
Actually, it’s not specific to me. Just replies to replies to replies (3 levels) aren’t enabled on this new comment system. That’s something I’ll check out. But I think you can, for example, respond to this one.