Live streams on X will become a paid feature

Live broadcasts on X will no longer be free. Elon Musk’s social network has announced that this function will become exclusive to its subscribers premium. The platform is looking for new forms of monetization due to the drop in its advertising revenue.

When it was known as Twitter, the social network acquired Periscope and with this gained support for native Twitter functions. live streaming. The resource has evolved over the years and is currently available to all users at no cost. This is about to change.

“Very soon only Premium subscribers will be able to create live video streams on X. This includes livestreaming from an encoder with social network integration. Upgrade to a paid plan to be able to stream live,” the service reported in a tweet.

The announcement suggests that the tool would not be available in the Basic payment plan that starts at 48.25 Mexican pesos per month. Those interested in broadcasting live content must purchase a Premium or Premium+ membership. The most affordable cost of these packages is 126.67 Mexican pesos per month.

X could become the only social media platform that charges for live broadcasts. This would put it at a disadvantage compared to other services such as Instagram and would further widen the competition gap with YouTube or Twitch, applications that in their free versions have proven to be more popular and versatile in the field of livestream.

The platform did not explain the reasons behind the decision. Analysts say the move could be a response to the difficult economic situation it faces. A report by Bloomberg revealed last week that X generated $1.48 billion in revenue during the first half of last year. The figure represents a year-on-year drop of 40%. The social network reported losses of $456 million during the first three months of 2023.

X is far from profitable

Linda Yaccarino, CEO of the platform, anticipated in October that X could be profitable starting this year. “I’ve immersed myself in the business and we have a good view of what is predictable. It looks like early 2024 we will be making a profit.” The forecast is far from being fulfilled.

Tensions with advertisers have worsened since Elon Musk took control of the service. An analysis of Media Matters indicated that, between September and October 2022, when the purchase of the now defunct Twitter was about to be completed, the application managed to raise $71 million thanks to the investments of its 10 largest advertisers. However, in March 2023, Bloomberg reported a collapse in investments close to 89%. Their projections indicated that the same 10 clients had only spent $7 million on advertising.

Experts have noted that X’s subscription plans have failed to make up for the shortfall. They indicate that the social network has consequently implemented controversial measures to improve its income, under the argument of improvements in security and freedom of expression. Last October, the pilot program was launched “Not a bot” which charges one dollar annually to new subscribers in the Philippines and New Zealand. Elon Musk has shown his intentions to expand this initiative to other markets. Last month, the platform modified its usage policies to formally allow the publication of adult content. A report of Reuters published in October 2022 noted that about 13% of all publications hosted on the platform contained materials of this nature. The Verge reported that the then executives of the service considered create a subscription offer similar to OnlyFans to capitalize on the trend. Analysts speculate that the project could be resumed after the change in the conditions of use.

The Tesla CEO’s plans to turn X into the “application for everything” are advancing, but his strategy to generate financial benefits is not. The investment firm Fidelity calculated at the beginning of this year that the value of the app It was close to 13,000 million dollars. The figure represents a 71.5% drop compared to the 44 billion Musk paid for it.