Amazon Launches YouTube-Like Video Service 'Video Direct'

Amazon.com Inc. has pumped up its rivalry with Alphabet Inc.'s Google with a new ad-supported video service that is very similar to YouTube where anyone can upload clips. Starting Tuesday, Amazon account holders can upload original or their own licensed videos to the new Video Direct service.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the Seattle-based online retail company has said that users who upload videos can designate whether their videos are free to everyone or available to rent or own. The videos can also be part of the package and offered as an add-on subscription to Amazon Prime Video. Add-on subscriptions are available through the Streaming Partners Program, and will be mostly intended for larger-scale video providers.

Tech Crunch also mentioned that Amazon video creators will mostly have control over where their videos can be streamed. As of the moment, the videos can only be streamed in countries like, the U.S., Germany, Austria, United Kingdom and Japan where Amazon Video is available. These videos can be played anywhere Amazon Video works. These include mobile phones and tablets ((Fire, iOS and Android), desktop, game consoles, connected TV platforms, and Fire TV.

"It's an amazing time to be a content creator," said Jim Freeman, Vice President of Amazon Video, in a statement about the launch. "There are more options for distribution than ever before and with Amazon Video Direct, for the first time, there's a self-service option for video providers to get their content into a premium streaming subscription service. We're excited to make it even easier for content creators to find an audience, and for that audience to find great content."

Variety has also reported that Amazon will pay their partners 50 percent of the retail price for every digital purchase, rental and subscription. If creators distribute on Prime Video, they will earn royalties of 15 cents every hour their videos are streamed in the U.S. and 6 cents in other territories. That totals to $75,000 a year.

Amazon also said that it will distribute a monthly bonus to all its creators from the $1million monthly allocated fund based on the Top 100 AVD titles in Prime Videos. This will be given on top of any other revenue the creators have earned. All creators and providers who use AVD will automatically take part in it. The program will launch today and the $1 million monthly bonus will be awarded based on streaming activities from June 1^st to June 30^th.