YouTube confirmed on Tuesday that it will launch paid subscriptions as early as this spring, according to unidentified sources cited in AdAge. The sources say that YouTube is asking media companies that have already gained large a YouTube following — like Machinima, Maker Studios and Fullscreen — to submit ideas for paid channels that would cost “somewhere between $1 and $5 a month.” A Google spokesperson confirmed that YouTube is “looking at” subscriptions.
Independent artists could disappear from YouTube "in a matter of days" after the Google video service confirmed it was dropping content from independent labels that have not signed up for its upcoming subscription music service.YouTube has been hinting at launching a streaming music service, which will compete with Spotify, Beats Music, Deezer and others, for nearly a year.
