YouTube’s new features let users make more money, pre-record live videos

YouTube has decided to step up its game by introducing new features including giving users the ability to pre-record videos for live streams and being able to make money without ads.

YouTube announced new features at its VidCon 2018. One of the features was ‘YouTube Premieres’ that will allow creators to pre-record their videos for future live streams. Through this new feature, the creator can concentrate more on answering live chat questions without distraction while the pre-recorded video plays.

Premieres will also let those features, once limited to only live chat, to be accessible to the pre-recorded videos, for instance ‘Super Chat’ where the users could pay donations for having their comment highlighted. Premieres will be available over the next two weeks and will first be available to selected YouTube users who were beta test partners.

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Also, the Google-owned platform is expanding its ‘YouTube Sponsorships’ and is rebranding it as ‘Channel Memberships’ through which creators can name their fan clubs and charge $4.99 for Channel Membership, as long as they have at least 100,000 subscribers who are part of the ‘YouTube Partner Program’, wrote Engadget.

YouTuber Amy Shira Teitel who had been testing Channel Memberships said, “Audience engagement is how you survive on YouTube. Now instead of being in your separate live stream, you’re in the chat.”

The Verge reported, users will also be able to design custom emojis for their live streams and assign special perks for paying members. The feature is set to roll out within coming weeks.

For creating more money from their channels alongside the videos and ads, ‘Merchandise’ integration has been added too that lets YouTubers with 100,000 subscribers design and sell up to 20 custom products from e-commerce site ‘Teespring’ that are not directly available on the site. The merchandise includes shirts, mugs, phone cases, and such items.

Another feature announced was an expansions of a ‘Famebit’ integration through which brands hire YouTubers to make branded content. With this feature, under a branded video, there can be a shelf advertising branded products. However, the roll out date for this feature is not yet known.