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Online retail giant Amazon has announced the launch of its own video service dubbed "Amazon Video Direct." The new video service will let users post videos and earn money from royalties and advertising. Video creators will have the option to make their videos available on Amazon's Prime Video streaming service, either by offering them as one-time rentals or purchases, or creating exclusive subscription channels.

"It's an amazing time to be a content creator," said Jim Freeman, Vice President of Amazon Video, according to Tech Crunch. "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," Freeman added, according to CNet.

According to Amazon's license agreement, content creators will be paid 50 percent of the revenue earned from rental receipts or sale of the videos, while for ad-supported videos, the creators will get half of the net ad receipts. For ad-free Prime videos, the company will pay video creators 15 cents for each hour of streamed content in the U.S. and six cents overseas.

What's more interesting is that is that the online retailer is also planning to offer a share of $1,000,000 per month as a bonus to the top 100 titles on Amazon Video Direct.

Conde Nast Entertainment, HowStuffWorks, Samuel Goldwyn Films, The Guardian, Mashable, Mattel, StyleHaul, Kin Community, Jash, Business Insider, Machinima, TYT Network, Baby Einstein, CJ Entertainment America, Xive TV, Synergetic Distribution, Kino Nation, Journeyman Pictures, and Pro Guitar Lessons are among the initial launch partners who will create content exclusively for Amazon Video Direct in the coming months.

Initially, videos will be viewable in the US, Germany, Austria, Japan and the UK.

Amazon's latest move brings the company in direct competition with Google-owned video site YouTube, which is currently the Internet's biggest video site. 

Did you try the new Amazon Video Direct service? Let us know your reviews in comments below.