• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, October 17, 2011

Though YouTube doesn’t call itself a music hub (unlike some social networks), its impact on the category is immense. Leveraging that position, the Google unit just debuted the ability to sell merchandise, tickets and more via the site.

“Through a feature called the Merch Store, YouTube partners will be able to sell artist merchandise, digital downloads, concert tickets and other experiences to fans and visitors,” TechCrunch reports.

“YouTube has long been the path to fame and fortune for many a budding musician --- Justin Bieber, Rebecca Black, Antoine Dobson, and so on,” writes Vator News. “But now the video sharing giant has taken that all important step to bridge the gap between viral fame and monetization.”

While working with several partners -- Topspin for merch sales and concert tickets; iTunes and Amazon for music downloads; etc. -- YouTube isn’t discussing it financial arrangements with any of them.

Still, “the ability to add merchandise sales, ticket sales, digital downloads and more to an artists YouTube site definitely gives these sites more of an engaging presence for artists with their fans,” TechCrunch notes.

“This only makes sense,” according to Marketing Pilgrim. “YouTube says it will only take a small percentage of the price to cover its costs. Awful magnanimous of them but as with any Google owned entity the advertising is where the money is so if more people come to the site for even more reasons the better it is for Google.”

For musicians, “By getting the stuff they sell in front of people in the place they're most likely to see it means more music, posters, concert tickets and so on sold,” writes Softpedia.

And getting their stuff in front of people they will. As Google revealed in its third-quarter earnings report last week, YouTube now sees 3 billion videos viewed per day, and a staggering 800 million visitors per month.