YouTube Cinema and YouTube Live

While it hasn’t been officially announced, YouTube is rumored to start offering full length feature films at the beginning of 2009. Parent company Google has allegedly struck a deal with at least one major movie studio for ad-supported movies to run on the video site. The films are unlikely to be premium studio offerings, but if this happens, it could be a successful means of monetization for YouTube, as the user-generated content that dominates the site has proven difficult to sell ads against.

Something that YouTube already have created is its first branded live event – YouTube Live. This past November they held a two-hour concert featuring performers who “got their start” on YouTube, as well as artists whose careers were boosted by the video site. The concert, which included Katy Perry, Soulja Boy, A kon, and will.i.am, took place at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco and was streamed live on the video site. A second concert also took place in Tokyo, featuring artists popular in the Japanese market, and was streamed through the YouTube Live Tokyo site. Tickets to both shows sold out. (http://www.youtube.com/user/Live)

While YouTube is certainly popular among web visitors, it has had some difficulty finding a profitable business model. Ultimately, branded events such as this could bring some much needed revenue to the company.

Copenhagen INK

Lars is the owner of Copenhagen INK and is an experienced and passionate marketer with a proven track record of driving business impact through innovative commercial marketing initiatives.

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