Alien Workshop

Alien Workshop (AWS) is an American skateboarding company that was founded in 1990 by Chris Carter, Mike Hill, and Neil Blender. Following periods under the ownership of the Burton snowboard company and original team rider Rob Dyrdek, the company was acquired by Pacific Vector Holdings in October 2013. Alien Workshop produced skateboard decks, wheels, apparel, and other skateboard accessories, prior to its closure in May 2014. In 2015 Alien Workshop was revived with an all amateur team and distribution through Tum Yeto. They released a series of new skate decks and Bunker Down, their 6th video. Alien Workshop is still run by Mike Hill out of the Mound Laboratories in Miamisburg, Ohio.

History

1990–1999: Formation, Memory Screen, Timecode

Carter, Hill and Blender decided to form a company based in Dayton, Ohio, United States (U.S.), at a time when the skateboard industry's core was located in California. Early team rider Duane Pitre recalls attending a meeting in California and feeling excited about the concept of an innovative Midwestern company, which initially adapted the logo of the eatery that the Californian meeting occurred in. The nascent company's first video was titled Memory Screen (1991), and featured a team that consisted of Dyrdek, Pitre, Bo Turner, John Pryor, Scott Conklin, Steve Clear and Thomas Morgan.

YouTube Red

YouTube Red is a paid subscription service offered by YouTube to internet users in the United States; it provides advertising-free streaming of videos hosted by the service, offline and background playback of videos on mobile devices, access to new original content, and access to advertising-free music streaming in November 2014. It offered ad-free streaming of music and music videos from participating labels on YouTube and Google Play Music. The service was re-launched in a revised form as YouTube Red on October 28, 2015, expanding its scope to offer ad-free access to all YouTube videos, as opposed to just music, as well as premium content produced in collaboration with notable YouTube producers and personalities.

History

The service was first unveiled in November 2014 as Music Key, serving as a collaboration between YouTube and Google Play Music, and meant to succeed the former's own subscription service. Music Key offered ad-free playback of music videos from participating labels hosted on YouTube, as well as background and offline playback of music videos on mobile devices from within the YouTube app. The service also included access to Google Play Music All Access, which provides ad-free audio streaming of a library of music. Alongside Music Key, Google also introduced tighter integration between Play Music and YouTube's apps, including the sharing of music recommendations, and access to YouTube's music videos from within the Play Music app. Music Key was not YouTube's first foray into premium content, having launched film rentals in 2010, and premium, subscription-based channels in 2013.