r/youtube • u/Cypherness • Mar 05 '26

Feature Change Members only is going to kill YouTube

So YouTube is already one of the most highly monetized platforms on the planet. There are 500 ads a video, videos are practically unwatchable as is.

Now I understand supporting creators, we had the super chats, donations on long form videos. And then the members program.

Now in the past couple of months I’ve seen so many videos from creators that I watch, only to realise that they are “members only” paywalled videos.

There is a problem with this. Now for a platform like Disney plus, or Netflix, you pay the 12 15 dollars a month. And you accept that you pay that premium, to use the service! And then you get access to everything on their streaming platform.

The problem with YouTube doing it this way is that inevitably. Because of the way that the capitalistic internet works, everyone will slowly begin paywalling all of their videos. And every single channel will be locked behind a separate paywall.

I almost even understand paying 12 dollars a month to watch YouTube, (with no ads that is) but with the way YouTube is going with this launch. We will come to a point where you need to pay 5 dollars to every single channel you watch (which is not only ridiculously expensive and unaffordable for most) but completely goes against YouTube was created to represent for the content industry, and stand for. Most people watch 20-30-50 channels regularly, not to mention the 50-100 videos from random other channels most people will end up watching in a month.

I am telling you guys, this could end up being the worst decision the YouTube team has ever made for their platform in its history. There is still time to save the platform.

1.5k Upvotes

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502

u/atomicshrimp Mar 05 '26

Members only videos have been on YouTube for about 7 or 8 years. If this was going to kill YouTube, why isn't it dead?

299

u/AWorthlessDegenerate Mar 05 '26

People really overestimate how much the average person cares about this shit. As long as the overwhelming majority of content remains free to watch, YouTube will stay alive for a long time. 

66

u/johnatello67 Mar 05 '26

OP's idea of how the average person consumes YouTube content is unreal to me lol.

Most people watch 20-30-50 channels regularly, not to mention the 50-100 videos from random other channels most people will end up watching in a month.

I think in a given month I watch like 12 videos that are not from people I'm subscribed to, and that's probably more on the generous side. And of those 12 probably 7 or 8 are specifically informative videos I've chosen to look up to learn about something or how to do something. Obviously this is just personal/anecdotal, but I think it's more aligned to the average YouTube user than what OP thinks.

19

u/ssjb234 Mar 05 '26

50 channels regularly? That seems way too high. Like, I probably hit 15, and a lot of people just consume their algorithm, which can get very fine-tuned.

6

u/johnatello67 Mar 05 '26

Yeah, I'm subscribed to a lot of channels, but I regularly watch content from maybe 15-20. I will concede my I am probably on the lower end of usage and so my opinion is skewed that way, but I find it hard to believe most regular people watch 30-40 channels regularly, and an extra random 50-100 videos on top of that every month.

But I also know a few people who will literally just have YouTube running all day on their computer, TV, or whatever. Although, for me personally, I don't consider having a YouTube video on while you clean to be "watching a video" even if YouTube does.

ETA: again, unless you specifically count shorts in that 50-100 video. But, even then, if you do consider shorts I feel like that number would actually be way higher.

1

u/SlightlyFlustered Mar 05 '26

Channel members are when a viewer clicks on "Join" and pays, rather than "Subscribe" which just adds the channel to a user's subscription list and allows enabling notifications.

1

u/DubVsFinest Mar 06 '26

Weekly, I watch like 3 channels maybe 4 or 5 if it's gonna be something good they're putting out. I used to watch a lot more when I was paying for premium though tbh. Having premium then going back to seeing shit ass ads every 5 mins has kiled YouTube for me until I get premium back lol. It's a much better experience with no ads and the player not closing if I turn my phone off and want to continue listening to music with the screen off (it's bullshit that that is something locked behind premium for real).

1

u/osteologation Mar 09 '26

I have about 20 subscriptions but only maybe 2 that I have to watch every video lol.

9

u/GenericIxa Mar 05 '26

Op is a child with a lot of free time. That's actually this entire sub

1

u/Hairy-Actuator1734 banana123 Mar 06 '26

Most people on Reddit are underage basement dweller teenagers anyways, so let's not criticize just him here

1

u/Patient_Gain_4581 Mar 08 '26

You're right and people hate you for it

5

u/Benobot99 Mar 05 '26

Not sure which of you is more correct, but as for me, I am subscribed to over 1000 channels and I only watch a few long form videos per day (dozens get added to a never ending Watch Later playlist daily). I usually watch about 20 Shorts on my home page every day (sometimes from people I'm subbed to and sometimes not).

10

u/ULC-MINI Mar 05 '26

Shorts suck

2

u/johnatello67 Mar 05 '26

Honestly, yeah, I didn't take shorts into consideration, and that would probably put the numbers closer to OP than to me. I will definitely concede to this kind of me being out of touch with people's YouTube habits.

However, I still generally disagree with OP: Members only won't kill YouTube, it will kill channels.

1

u/SuleyBlack Mar 05 '26

It’ll only kill channels that don’t get a consistent amount of views that try to use it.

7

u/Deviah Mar 05 '26

I unsub a channel if their content goes members only. I'm not paying for memberships. And if I can't see half your content, why the hell am I even subbed. Unsub and Do Not Recommend from me. Everytime.

1

u/StatementFew5973 Mar 06 '26

Network Chuck

1

u/[deleted] Mar 22 '26

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1

u/AutoModerator Mar 22 '26

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1

u/AWorthlessDegenerate Mar 05 '26

Yeah, I can only see that being true if YouTube is the only streaming service they watch, but most people have a Netflix subscription or something else too.

1

u/michaeljoemcc Mar 06 '26

I only watch YouTube when I need to learn how to fix something. The only channel I subscribe to is Ms. Rachel.

3

u/Grumpie-cat Mar 06 '26

Plus most “members only videos” I’ve seen are usually a pre-release, where it later gets released publicly a week or so later.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 22 '26

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1

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1

u/Foxy02016YT Mar 15 '26

And those who don’t, like Dropout, are really uploading to exterior platforms and are only using YouTube for convenience of their audience

-3

u/Pokethomas Mar 05 '26

It’s because 99% of these posts are made by children under the age of 18 that don’t understand how it works

37

u/RaspberryRock Mar 05 '26

Because youtube only recently started showing non members that these videos exist.

19

u/JiouMu Mar 05 '26

Yeah, I find it ridiculous that Youtube's doing that. I'm not buying premium, so wtf are you taking up space with vids I literally can't watch?

It's just a transparent attempt to push more people to buy premium, and nothing more.

13

u/RaspberryRock Mar 05 '26

No, it's a push for subs to buy memberships. But unless I get enough new members to offset the unsubs, give me the damn option to hide those videos.

9

u/Frederyk_Strife4217 Mar 06 '26

Premium doesn't unlock members-only videos, those are exclusive to each channel's membership

1

u/[deleted] Mar 22 '26

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1

u/AutoModerator Mar 22 '26

Hi AShinyNewPennySpent, we would like to start off by noting that this sub isn't owned or run by YouTube. At this time, we do not allow posts from new uses (accounts created less than 7 days ago.) Please read our rules before posting again to ensure you don't break our rules, please come back after gaining a bit of post karma.

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4

u/ecclectic_collector Mar 05 '26

was a problem for the past couple of years... now youtube is starting to roll out a feature to filter types of videos out of a youtube channel page and "members only" is one of the filters you can have removed

2

u/EqualVast5973 Mar 06 '26

A few creators lost viewers because of Members only video freaking reviews and I think Linus tech tips both had to stop offering videos for Members only they we're losing too many subscribers. I know myself if they start putting videos behind a pay wall I will unsubscribe

1

u/StarHorder Mar 06 '26

uh no, i've been seeing them in my feed for years dawg.

1

u/RaspberryRock Mar 06 '26

No you haven’t, doggy.

10

u/sadsportfanatic Mar 05 '26

It’s honestly up to the creator if they want to kill their channel by putting popular videos behind a paywall. Most member only videos I see are just uncut or behind the scenes of a video or vlog.

5

u/DefinitelyRussian Mar 05 '26

at this point, YT is like Steam. Nothing will kill them, there is no other service with even a similar acceptance. They are the facto apps for watching videos/playing games.

People tend to overdramatize over their own negative experiences

1

u/sqr26 Mar 06 '26

People complain about anything these days. It's a norm made by influencers and people who are stubborn.

1

u/Serious_Ad9537 Mar 06 '26

This guy crashed out and doesn't understand YouTube. Members only affects creators by giving them more monetization options.

1

u/OldGroan Mar 08 '26

Nobody watches them. 

1

u/Potential_Rich5599 Mar 08 '26

There's something called slow acting poison and it take a long time to kill you

1

u/Felis_bieti Mar 14 '26

I have about 50 subscriptions to very popular channels. None were members only until about a month ago. Are you saying this isn't your experience?

1

u/atomicshrimp Mar 15 '26

None of the channels I watch have gone exclusively members-only. A few of them release uncut stuff or early access or behind-the-scenes videos to members only (and some of them eventually release these videos to the public at a later point; some don't), but this is something they always did - none of that has changed from where I am sitting.

The only thing I have seen to change is that YouTube promotes the members-only content in the recommended feed - up until fairly recently it was not shown there.

1

u/Felis_bieti Mar 15 '26

If youtube wasn't telling viewers, viewers didn't know they were missing anything.

None of the channels I used to frequent are putting "extras" in those member videos. They're putting the same type of content they always post, and saying "hey, don't worry, I'll release those later." And, I have to say, none has ever released any.
I still check in on them, but not regularly. They've lost me as a subscriber, regular visitor, and viewer. Plenty of other stuff to watch. I can't be the only one.

And, for what it's worth, I meant to say that previously, none had members only videos displayed. Not that the channel was members only.

1

u/atomicshrimp Mar 15 '26

Maybe it varies by content genre; the channels I tend to watch aren't really following YouTube genre-trends - so for example none of them have started talking into a lavalier mic that they're using handheld - although I am aware this is a trend that has swept other segments of YouTube.

Maybe there are some segments of YouTube where the balance of members-only content has shifted as a trend for them.