Leading website hosting service Squarespace has announced a range of new video tools that it says will be a big hit with creators.
While embedding videos, like those on YouTube, has always been possible on Squarespace, new additions are focused on hosting and monetizing that video content, like its relatively new Member Areas service.
Broadly speaking, the new tools allow website owners to sell access to video content, directly host video content, and upload up to 30 minutes of high-resolution content. There are also new branding and merchandising tools.
Squarespace Video Hosting
The company also rebuilt its video player from the ground up to accommodate new features, including playback controls, speed, and resolution, as well as deep integration with the Squarespace platform.
“We launched Member Areas in 2020 to give creators a new way to sell content through subscriptions,” Squarespace said. "Since then, we've seen an increase in the use of video content, and to help customers get more out of this medium, our latest releases provide a seamless way to monetize video content, such as courses."
By hosting videos and offering extensive tools to manage them, Squarespace competes more directly with Patreon and YouTube, both of which offer options for monetizing content. OnlyFans is also now a direct rival, though it's unclear what Squarespace's content moderation policy says about adult content.
In recent days, newsletter platform Substack has also added the ability to host videos for creators in beta, a feature that will be welcomed by those who already have many paying subscribers for their services.
by Engadget