The last time YouTube added new features — their new Music page — the YouTube community tore the new features to shreds.
The previous changes, implemented on August 16, were criticized primarily for their commercial undertones: the new additions highlighted already established musical talent and did nothing to showcase the native music community on the site.
YouTube’s latest round of changes, however, might just be what the community was waiting for.
The new additions, announced in an official YouTube blog post on October 16, level the playing field between artists already commercially successful, and those just starting out on YouTube.
Now, musical partners will have access to a new feature called the Merchandise store, a web marketplace that allows users to purchase anything from t-shirts, posters, to concert tickets, and even download their music.
Basically, artists can sell their merchandise directly through their YouTube page — cutting out the middleman.
And, according to the official blog post, YouTube “made a few changes to make it easier for indie labels to become YouTube partners and share revenue when their music is played, even in user generated content.”
So far, there have been little — actually, absolutely no complaints, over the new additions.
On Twitter, Tim Weber called it a “pretty clever move” while Debonair called it a “game changer.” Brad Henderson wasn’t so sure about what it meant to “smaller artists.”
Web publication Digital Trends seemed to think this was a runner-up to Google’s rumored MP3 store, though the current new YouTube additions feature iTunes.