The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Google was in talks with record labels to launch their very own music streaming channel. Since that report broke, reports have emerged that indicate that YouTube is preparing to do the same thing by fencing off part of its video real estate in order to become a paid-for video streaming channel.

No specific details have emerged, other than these two apparently redundant lines of code found on the latest YouTube application update, which experts agree indicates very strongly that YouTube is preparing to role out paid-for channel subscriptions.

<string name=”paid_channel_subscribe_message”>You can only subscribe to this paid channel on your computer.</string>

<string name=”paid_channel_unsubscribe_message”>You can only unsubscribe from this paid channel on your computer.</string>

So, could we be saying goodbye to our favourite vloggers and music video services? How would this affect their viewership?

[Source: Android Police]