YouTube to Pay to Play Could Trigger Revolution

In a move that looks like it is taking cues from the X-Prize, YouTube is going to start paying people for making popular, ongoing video series:

YouTube will start paying some "select" uploaders, doling out wads of hard cash to video makers with ongoing series that have proven to be popular with viewers. YouTube's mentioned this idea before, and is still not saying when the largess of its parent company Google will start billowing out, but it's now asking for all interested YouTubers to speak up and start begging for the alms. Hope the company is set for a deluge, because anybody who makes a video thinks it's just ahh-some, don't they?

Come to think of it, this is going to be revolutionary. The prospect of pay-for-play could create a whole new class of videomaker, not a dweller of the Ivory Tower of broadcast but a middle-class erstwhile vid-volunteer who will suddenly be awash in cash. With the prospect of a hit video that pays big, this adds a whole new element to the uploading jones. Roll the open, cue the upheaval. – Charlie White

I agree with Charlie White -- this should unleash a tidal wave of creative energy from thousands of amateur video producers to the benefit of the producers, YouTube, and the viewers.

See my previous posts on the impact of rewards on innovation here and here.