According to Fortune, the video sharing site will likely give listeners the choice of either playing the songs for free, mixed in with advertisements, or paying a fee to hear the songs ad-free.

Google will also build a digital locker at Google Play for Android for purchasing and collecting songs.

Fortune has more:

Potentially foreshadowing how Google’s two separate music services will compliment one another, YouTube has already begun embedding click to buy links on user-uploaded songs that direct to Google Play (along with Google’s competitors: Amazon Mp3 and iTunes). It’s not difficult to imagine a user’s “collection” becoming jointly visible between the two platforms, or having music purchases or listening histories from one feed informing the recommendation engine of the other.

The article also quotes a YouTube spokesperson who said, “While we don’t comment on rumor or speculation, there are some content creators that think they would benefit from a subscription revenue stream in addition to ads, so we’re looking at that.”

Image by feiyuezhangjie.

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Online video streaming connoisseurs love to complain about Netflix’s streaming offering—”Ugh, I had to watch ‘A Night At The Roxbury’ again last night ‘cause there’s nothing good streaming on Netflix!”  But Hastings points out that today Netflix is streaming a whole lot of content that simply isn’t available through other streaming services (though he also addresses the fact that these services offer content that isn’t available on Netflix as well):

“Amazon Prime, Redbox Instant, and Hulu also offer low-cost streaming offerings, and they have some of the same content that Netflix has, as well as some unique content.  The more unique content they have (for example, ‘Battleground’ and ‘Community’ on Hulu, or ‘Falling Skies’ and ‘The Closer’ on Amazon Prime), the more they are a different service than ours.  To the degree they have some of the same content as Netflix, they are potentially a substitute for Netflix.  To examine this, we looked at the top 200 titles on Netflix: our 100 most popular movies and our 100 most popular TV shows in Q4.  Of these 200, 113 are not on Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus or Redbox Instant.  Of the 87 that are available on at least one of these services, Hulu Plus offers 27 of the 200; Amazon Prime 73 of the 200; and Redbox Instant 12 of the 200, with significant overlap in TV between Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime, and in movies between Amazon Prime and Redbox Instant.  In other words, when it comes to the most popular content with members on Netflix, none of these services are good substitutes to Netflix.”

Hastings adds, “When it comes to competition, we not only have a superior content offering due to our larger budget, but we are further along the experience curve when it comes to improving our user interface and delivering great quality streaming.  For all these reasons, Netflix continues to add members rapidly.”

And adding members rapidly, it is!  According to Hastings shareholders letter the company “added nearly 10 million global streaming members in 2012, we grew to over 33 million global streaming members, we generated profits for the year 2012, despite large international investments establishing Netflix in 40 countries around the world, and we developed several major original series, which debut this year.”

But let’s play devil’s advocate for a moment here and ask whether the top 200 titles on Netflix are really titles that people want to watch or whether they are simply watching by default because the movies and TV shows they really want to watch aren’t streaming on Netflix (and speaking of The Devil’s Advocate – there’s a good movie that’s not available on Netflix but is available on Amazon Instant Video, though you’ll have to pay to rent that one).

Is it really fair to rate the offerings of competitors Hulu, Redbox and Amazon based on Netflix’s own offering, which is admittedly thought of as shoddy by many Netflix users?  What do you think?  We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Megan O’Neill is the resident web video expert here at Social Times.  Megan covers everything from the latest viral videos to online video news and tips, and has a passion for bizarre, original and revolutionary content and ideas.

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Redbox Instant by Verizon is priced at $8 per month, which includes the unlimited streaming of movies, as well as four one-night credits per month for new releases on DVD at Redbox kiosks.  For an extra dollar per month, customers can take out Blu-ray Discs instead of DVDs.  The streaming only service, sans kiosk rentals, is $6 per month.

According to Home Media Magazine, “At launch, Redbox Instant will be offered via the Web, as well as on tablet and mobile devices, including iOS, Android, Samsung Blu-ray Players and TVs, LG Smart TV and connected Blu-ray Players, and Google TV.  More devices will be announced in the coming months.”

The streaming service will include titles from pay-TV service Epix, including new releases like Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and The Hunger Games, and other features from Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate, and MGM 90.

Epix president and CEO, Mark Greenberg, said, “Redbox Instant by Verizon will be an exciting new service for consumers in the digital entertainment marketplace and we are thrilled to be their partner.  We have a long and successful relationship with Verizon FiOS, which was our first distribution partner at the launch of Epix, and we are excited to build on that relationship with Redbox Instant.  We are confident that the movies we have will be a popular and important part of the success oft his new service.”

Are you looking forward to subscribing to Redbox Instant by Verizon or do you think there are already enough services of this kind out there?  We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Megan O’Neill is the resident web video expert here at Social Times.  Megan covers everything from the latest viral videos to online video news and tips, and has a passion for bizarre, original and revolutionary content and ideas.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Starting in 2013, Netflix viewers will have access to Disney content, but it will be primarily made up of “high-profile Disney direct-to-video new releases.”  Other select Disney features will be available starting today as well, including Dumbo, Pocahontas and Alice in Wonderland.  The deal also includes content from Pixar, Marvel, Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disneynature.

Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer at Netflix says, “Disney and Netflix have shared a long and mutually beneficial relationship and this deal will bring to our subscribers, in the first pay TV window, some of the highest-quality, most imaginative family films being made today.  It’s a bold leap forward for Internet television and we are incredibly pleased and proud this iconic family brand is teaming with Netflix to make it happen.”

Janice Marinelli, President of Disney-ABC Domestic Television says, “With this cutting-edge agreement, we are thrilled to take our highly valued relationship with Netflix to the next level by adding Disney’s premier films to their programming line-up.  Netflix continues to meet the demands of its subscribers in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, and we are delighted that they will have much earlier access to our top-quality and entertaining slate.”

This is good news for Disney and Pixar lovers, as for quite some time the only “Disney-ish” content available on Netflix consisted of knock-offs like Kiara The Brave (instead of Brave), Chop Kick Panda (instead of Kung Fu Panda) and Little Cars (instead of Cars).  However, it’s still going to take awhile before Netflixers can get their full fill of Disney on the streaming site.  And let’s be real for a moment here—who knows where Netflix and online streaming in general will be in 2016.

What’s your take on this news?  We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Megan O’Neill is the resident web video expert here at Social Times.  Megan covers everything from the latest viral videos to online video news and tips, and has a passion for bizarre, original and revolutionary content and ideas.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel.com reports that “Netflix subscribers watch 11% fewer minutes of television per day than nonsubscribers — and their Internet video usage is a commensurately bigger chunk of their media diet, according to Nielsen.”

According to Nielsen stats, Netflix users watched 246 minutes of television, on average, in the second quarter of 2012.  They watched 41 minutes on video game consoles, 22 minutes on Blue-ray Disc players, and 12 minutes on other streaming platforms.

Non-Netflix subscribers, on the other hand, watched 276 minutes of television per day, 26 minutes on video game consoles, 14 minutes on Blue-ray, and 4 minutes on other streaming platforms.

Spangler writes, “Overall, TV viewing in the second quarter of this year declined about five minutes per day, or 1.9%, from the same period in 2011, to four hours and 18 minutes (258 minutes) across all television households.  DVR playback increased from 20 minutes daily in the second quarter of 2011 to 22 minutes; video game usage was flat at 12 minutes per day on average.”

Is the decline in viewership hurting the cable operators?  Well, Nielsen also reported that in the second quarter of 2012 about 2.7 million customers cut the cord.  Satellite operators and telcos, on the other hand, picked up 173,000 and 1.2 million customers respectively.

On another note, Nielsen also reiterated the trend towards the second screen, reporting that 40% of tablet and smartphone owners are using their devices while they watch TV.  Nielsen senior vice president of client insights Dounia Turrill says, “Whether used to stay connected through social media sites, check email or engage in mobile shopping, the interaction between what happens on the TV screen and the mobile screen is creating opportunity.”

Do you find yourself watching less and less TV in favor of Internet streaming sites like Netflix?  We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Image credit: Maxx-Studio via shutterstock.com

Megan O’Neill is the resident web video expert here at Social Times.  Megan covers everything from the latest viral videos to online video news and tips, and has a passion for bizarre, original and revolutionary content and ideas.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Casablanca

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Google Begins Testing Its Augmented-Reality Glasses (The New York Times / Bits)
Yesterday, Google gave people a clearer picture of its secret initiative called Project Glass. The glasses are the company’s first venture into wearable computing. The glasses are not yet for sale. Google will, however, be testing them in public. Cnet A video of this augmented-reality experiment was posted by Google on YouTube showing someone wearing the glasses as he made his way around a variety of Manhattan venues, receiving up-to-the-minute updates as information streamed into his glasses. The Wall Street Journal / Digits Instant walking routes on maps, video chat, voice notes and a camera may be included in the glasses, Google suggests. Wired / Epicenter It’s also a timely means for Google to remind the public that its engineers have visions that transcend the current spats with Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, the DOJ and the European Union. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.