The online video sharing platform YouTube has always been criticized for not compensating the creators. The platform will now allow the creators to set up their paid channel memberships. Majority revenue at YouTube comes from advertising which will still remain a focus. But the company is thinking beyond ads now. The creators will be able to make money through different ways and opportunities.

The viewers will be paying $4.99 every month for the membership of a channel. It will provide them access to the exclusive content which includes live streams, shoutouts on channels which have more than 100,000 subscribers and extra videos. Creators can sell merchandise like apparel on their channels as well. The merchandise will appear on a shelf below the video with up to 12 products available at a point of time. This will not cost anything to the creator and every sale will help them generate income. With regard to channel memberships, a channel needs a minimum of 10,000 subscribers for it to be eligible.

Currently YouTube returns a small part of the revenue generated from advertising to content creators who have constantly accused the platform for not paying them enough. The site has stiff competition from other platforms that use more and more video. With more than 1.9 billion users, YouTube is one of the top online video sharing platforms in the world. This move will give an opportunity to artists and influencers to make money through their video channels. One of its biggest competitors is Instagram that has recently introduced IGTV. The increasing number of users on Instagram could be a threat to the popularity of YouTube. With an opportunity to make money, YouTube has offered a reason to the creators to continue sharing their videos on the portal.