In a statement released on Monday, Adam Smith, Vice President of Product Management at YouTube, emphasized the company’s focus on enhancing the YouTube Premium experience and supporting creators. His comments come amidst ongoing competition in the streaming space and increasing scrutiny of monetization models for creators.
Smith highlighted recent improvements to Premium playback, including seamless device switching and an upgraded 1080p HD option. He further mentioned early access for Premium users to experimental generative AI features, hinting at potential future innovations. For music listeners, Smith cited features like the “Samples” tab for music discovery, personalized radio creation, and podcasts integration on YouTube Music.
Beyond these features, Smith stressed the importance of content creators and artists to YouTube’s success. He positioned YouTube Premium as a crucial contributor to supporting this community, offering creators an additional revenue stream through subscriptions. This statement suggests an awareness of the need to attract and retain both viewers and creators in the competitive streaming landscape.
He said, “In fact, in the past year alone we enhanced the Premium playback experience including adding the ability to continue watching YouTube across different devices like your smart TVs and tablets and introduced an enhanced version of 1080p HD. We also experimented with new generative AI features that Premium users were among the first to try. And for listeners, we introduced the Samples tab, a lightning-fast way to discover new music, a completely customised radio building experience, and brought podcasts to YouTube Music.
“Beyond features, we know what truly makes viewers and listeners keep choosing YouTube – it’s the incredible content from our creators and artists. YouTube Premium helps maintain a thriving creator and artist community, providing them with an additional source of revenue from subscriptions.”
