Video sharing site YouTube has always drawn a clear line
between its “professional content partners” – CBS, the National Hockey League
and other mainstream content publishers – and the thousands of “you”s who
uploaded their homemade videos. Professional content partners were eligible for
revenue sharing and promotional opportunities. Amateur video makers could
aspire only to Internet celebrity. But as payments for popular videos became more common on
rival video sharing sites, YouTube has come under increasing pressure to spread
the wealth, and this week it admitted a select group of “original content
creators” into its partnership program.
Lonelygirl15, LisaNova, renetto, HappySlip, smosh and valsartdiary, which have
attracted advertisers' attention with their large and persistent
audiences, are among those YouTube has invited to become content partners.
Participating user-partners will be treated like other content partners, with the
ability to control the monetization of their videos. When they select a video
to be monetized, YouTube will place advertising adjacent to their content.
For now, the program is only available to the initial participants. YouTube
says other content creators who think they might qualify can express interest
on the partnership lead form. But
the company isn't making it easy for aspiring partners. As of press time, the lead
form leads only to an information request form, which appears to be the page
for creating an ordinary YouTube account.
