In February 2013 Google showed off its newest feature, the YouTube One Channel. The design was created to give YouTube pages a Google+ profile page feel. The new design brought with it a featured banner at the top of the page, and a trailer video for visitors that have not yet subscribed to a creators channel.
The YouTube One Channel platform was released in beta but is now available to all YouTube users.
Speaking about the new release product manager Jeb Havens writes on the YouTube blog:
“The main focus of this update is to make your new channel look great on browsers across all screens and devices. It will also help you convert more visitors into subscribers with a slot for a channel trailer, and you can customize how you organize your videos and playlists so it fits your programming strategy.” read more
YouTube is rumored to be preparing a new music streaming network that would rival industry leader Spotify.
According to Fortune the video sharing website wants to provide free songs mixed with advertisements or the option to hear song without ads for a monthly fee. Spotify currently offers ad free listening for $4.99 via Desktop and $9.99 via mobile devices.
To add value to the service Google is expected to add a digital locker at Google Play for Android. By adding the extra option the company can round out its music services for different types of users, thus creating an online experience that provides more benefits to customers. read more
Earlier in the week YouTube announced the launch of its first YouTube Spaces production facility in Tokyo. That facility is now being shown off in a new YouTube video.
The video platform already runs production facilities in Los Angeles and London.
YouTube Spaces are meant to provide top notch YouTube content creators with the facilities they need to produce high quality content.
Receiving access to the Tokyo studio requires filling out an application. Content providers chosen to use the facility receive three months of access. read more
Amara has announced a new platform that allows YouTube publishers to crowdsource subtitles and translation for their published videos.
Amara.org proved its own proof of concept in 2012 when the KONY 2012 video was translated into more than 20 languages and subtitled in less than 24 hours.
More than 300 users have already signed up to use the program.
To use the program YouTube account holders sync the platform with Amara and then invite viewers to add their own captions and translate videos. read more
While superstar Pop Singer Lady Gaga may be one of the biggest draws for YouTube views, her views dropped quite a bit on Wednesday.
According to NME the super star singer watched as YouTube removed 156 million video views from her account.
In December 2012 content network VEVO reduced many major artist account numbers by nearly 2 million views, however Lady Gaga escaped that first major view count purge.
The views were invalidated after YouTube officials discovered that many of Lady Gaga’s views were the result of hackers who artificially inflated site numbers. read more
Last month a group of students at animation and design school Centre NAD in Montreal posted a YouTube video of an Eagle as it snatched a baby and nearly carried it away. The video was originally thought to be genuine but was later revealed to be a hoax.
Now the school has announced that profits from the videos 41+ million pageviews will go to fund a scholarship fund for animation and design students at the school.
NAD spokesperson Claude Arsenault did not reveal how much money was raised by told Mashable:
“It will likely be divided into several scholarships aimed at recognizing excellence in our undergrad students.” read more
YouTube viewers may soon discover that some of the premium channels they like fo follow will cost them money to view. According to Jason Del Rey of AdAge, select YouTube channels will be placed behind a paywall in 2013.
According to Del Rey:
“YouTube is prepping to launch paid subscriptions for individual channels on its video platform in its latest attempt to lure content producers, eyeballs, and advertiser dollars away from traditional TV, according to multiple people familiar with the plans.”
The channel paywall content will range in price from $1 to $5 per month.
YouTube is said to have reached out to certain channel producers to gauge their interest in the program and to encourage application submissions for the new paywall product.
The idea of a YouTube payment platform shouldn’t come as a surprise, in 2012 a rep for the video platform revealed:
“We have long maintained that different content requires different types of payment models. The important thing is that, regardless of the model, our creators succeed on the platform and viewers find more content to watch. There are a lot of our content creators that believe they would benefit from subscriptions.”
Are you willing to pay for premium YouTube content via certain channels?
Search giant Google has rolled out new integration practices between its Google+ social network and social video sharing website YouTube.
YouTube users now have the option to share videos they upload on Google+ by selecting that option directly from the upload interface. Once uploaded the videos are automatically showcased in a “videos” tab on the users Google+ profile.
In order to use the new service users must like their Google+ and YouTube accounts under their real name. The new process is very similar to what is already used for Picassa photos sharing.
For Google+ users who do not want to use the service the tab can be hidden.
After opting in to the service the users videos then read “YouTube” and when clicked users will be sent to YouTube rather than watching the embed on Google+, a sly way for YouTube and Google to share multiple pageviews per video engagement. read more
Music video management firm VEVO has paid more than $200 million to its artists since launching in 2009. The music service is responsible for managing the music videos and performances for thousands of artists around the world.
VEVO CEO Rio Caraeff spoke at the Business Insider Ignition Conference in New York City on Tuesday where he announced the company’s massive artist payments.
VEVO has streamed billions of video views thanks to artists that include Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and many others.
The music service earns money through pre-roll ads that stream once for every six to seven minutes of video watched per user. read more
Felix Baumgartners supersonic freefall was not only a record breaking skydive attempt that broke the speed of sound with the human body, it was also a record breaking YouTube sensation.
Broadcast live on YouTube the social video sharing website revealed that the jump is now the live stream with the most concurrent views ever on YouTube.”
At the time of the jump 8 million concurrent live streams were broadcasting at one time. Those concurrent views were broadcast over the Red Bull YouTube channel.
At one point it was Baumgartner who held the record with 7 million concurrent views, but his Sunday attempt just sent that number shooting higher. read more
In February 2013 Google showed off its newest feature, the YouTube One Channel. The design was created to give YouTube pages a Google+ profile page feel. The new design brought with it a featured banner at the top of the page, and a trailer video for visitors that have not yet subscribed to a creators channel.
