YouTube has congratulated itself for creating stealing Live Premieres, which has apparently proven very successful.
During the summer of last year, YouTube unveiled some brand-new copied monetization features.
‘Borrowing’ competitors’ ideas, Google’s popular video platform first introduced Channel Memberships. Essentially a clone of Twitch memberships, YouTube users could subscribe to their favorite channels for $4.99. In exchange, they’d receive exclusive perks, including unique badges, new emoji, and access to Members-only posts. ‘Sponsors’ could also watch exclusive livestreams, additional videos, and receive shout-outs from their favorite creators.
The company, as with Twitch, would keep 30% of membership fees. Yet, initially, only members of the YouTube Partner Program that had over 100,000 subscribers on their channels qualified. Several months later, the video platform dropped that requirement to just 50,000.
Then, outright copying from Patreon, creators with over 10,000 subscribers could directly sell their own merchandise to viewers. They could choose from over 20 merchandise items to customize and sell on their channels. There’s a major catch, however. Creators can only do so through YouTube-selected Teespring, which takes a significant cut.
Finally, the company introduced Instagram / Snapchat Stories Live Premieres.
Creators with over 10,000 subscribers could use the feature to debut pre-recorded videos “as a live moment.”
Also ‘borrowing’ from Twitch and Patreon once more, YouTube creates a unique landing page for each premiere. Combining Snapchat and Instagram Stories with Twitch-like features, fans can tune in and chat with their favorite creators in real-time. They can also donate money with a click of a button.
Now, YouTube has claimed one of its ‘new’ features has proven a success.
When outright stealing competitors’ ideas proves profitable.
According to a blog post, YouTube now claims its Premieres features has paid off for artists.
Clearly pushing the ‘borrowed’ feature, Lyor Cohen, the platform’s Global Head of Music, wrote,
“In the video-on-demand era — where everything under the sun is available at your fingertips — YouTube Premieres gives us something that we’ve been missing: Tension! That feeling of our favorite artist standing on a stage when the curtain is pulled back and we get to see something we’ve never seen before all at once.”
Using the launch of Ariana Grande’s ‘thank u, next’ as an example of the features’ success, the post explained,
“As the anticipation and audience grew leading up to the big event, her fans set over 150,000 reminders for the Premiere. When the Premiere dropped at 12 pm PT, on November 30, there were almost a million fans watching simultaneously at peak and 400,000 chat messages sent in the live chat. The video became the fastest on YouTube to earn 100 million views, reaching the milestone in under four days.”
The company states that a key benefit of its Premieres feature remains its ability for artists to create buzz. It also drums up excitement for fans. According to the video platform, Premieres has fundamentally transformed the way fans view and engage with content.
Using Halsey’s music video launch of ‘Without Me’ as another example, YouTube advised its community,
“The power of promoting a Premiere in advance of its release combined with the ability for fans to engage with the video through comments and live chat before the video is live, helps create more engagement and viewership.”
This, in spite of its competitors – Twitch and Patreon – successfully unveiling this feature first.
Who on earth cares who is first with an idea like this? If it is a good idea for the industry… why focus on that, over and over again?
Odd