Merchandise has been a part of many creators’ businesses for a long time. We want to make it easier for more creators to sell merch directly from their channel. So we’ve built a product that allows them to do just that. From shirts with a logo to phone cases with a creator’s face, we’ve joined forces with Teespring so creators can choose from over 20 merchandise items to customize and sell via a shelf on their channel. This will be available to all eligible U.S.-based channels with over 10,000 subscribers starting today, and we plan to bring even more merchandising partners and creators in soon.
Just take a look at Joshua Slice’s merchandise shelf. The creator of Lucas the Spider recently turned his hero character into a plushie selling over 60,000 furry friends and generating over $1 million in profit in just 18 days, according to Teespring.
Introducing Premieres
The engagement between fans and creators is at the heart of YouTube. We’re working on new ways to help creators strengthen those unique bonds. Livestreams have brought the YouTube community together during the biggest music, science, and gaming events. We’ve also built a Community Tab that allows creators to move beyond just video to build even deeper connections with fans through GIFs, pics, polls, and text. And we’ve started experimenting with our take on Stories, but designed specifically for YouTube creators—coming to all eligible creators with more than 10,000 subscribers later this year.
Today, we’re introducing a new way for creators to upload content to YouTube called Premieres. With Premieres, creators will be able to debut pre-recorded videos as a live moment. When creators choose to release a Premiere, we’ll automatically create a public landing page to build anticipation and hype up new content. When all fans show up to watch the premiere, they’ll be able to chat with each other (and with the creator!) in real time via live chat. It’s as if a creator’s entire community is in one theater together watching their latest upload.
Premieres also unlocks new revenue streams. For the first time, creators can use Super Chat on traditional YouTube uploads and take advantage of Channel Memberships perks that were previously only available on Live videos.
Premieres are starting to roll out to creators today and will be available broadly soon. If you want to experience one for yourself, check out some upcoming premieres from creators such as Leroy Sanchez, JacksFilms, Jackson Bird, and Ari Fitz, with more Premieres coming from Corridor Digital and Inanna Sarkis soon.
YouTube creators are the heartbeat of our platform. That’s why we’re committed to building products that empower and support the creator community. We hope these tools help creators build a stronger community and earn more money while doing it, because when they succeed, the entire YouTube community thrives.
Try YouTube Music and YouTube Premium
Get the new YouTube Music from the Play Store and App Store today or check out the brand new web player at music.youtube.com. You can sign up for YouTube Premium at youtube.com/premium.
*YouTube Music Premium is $9.99 per month and YouTube Premium is $11.99 per month for individual memberships in the U.S. Pricing and Family Plan availability varies by country. South Korea will only offer YouTube Premium at the current price of YouTube Red.
Videos of superstar football players, including Lionel Messi, Neymar da Silva Santos Jr., and Cristiano Ronaldo, all had an 80 percent increase in watch time last year (versus the year prior).
Match recaps, game highlights and trick shots scored high with soccer fans
When it comes to football-related content on YouTube, match recaps, game highlights and trick shots proved popular. Over the past two years, the amount of time people spent watching match recaps on YouTube has more than doubled, and since the last FIFA World Cup, watch time for soccer game highlights has grown by 9x, while watch time for soccer-related trick shots has gone up by 50 percent in the last year.
On YouTube, football fans don’t just watch, they participate
People are also turning to YouTube to improve their own soccer skills, with watch time of “Drills and Skills” videos increasing 6x since 2014. Check out some popular soccer tutorials here:
How to watch your favorite 2018 FIFA World Cup moments this summer
Miss a game? Can’t get enough of the action? On YouTube globally, you can catch up on your favorite 2018 FIFA World Cup moments with select video highlights from official FIFA broadcasters in more than 80 countries around the world, including from Telemundo in the U.S., the BBC in the U.K., ARD Sportschau in Germany, NHK in Japan, Kwese in Nigeria and across Africa, Televisa in Mexico, Latina Televisión in Peru, and more. In the U.S., you’ll be able to watch all games live in markets where YouTube TV is available, with the additional option of using the YouTube TV cloud DVR feature to record matches you can’t catch in the moment.
The excitement doesn’t end on the pitch. There are hundreds of YouTube channels that will take you beyond the games for the complete 2018 FIFA World Cup experience, with live shows, training footage, interviews, banter and match analysis. The official FIFA channel will share content from around the tournament and keep users up-to-date with the latest news. A number of channels will have regular original and exclusive content including the FA with daily content from the English national football team, Germany’s DFB Die Mannschaft will report from the training camp as well as the team’s base camp, and FC Barcelona will even host interviews with Barça World Cup legends.
Join us in the countdown to the official kickoff …
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