In the model I would support, I would pay creators for their content. If the content creator would like to use youtube as their distribution platform, that's fine, but then it's up to the creator to pay Youtube as their distributor. I'm sure there's plenty of reasons "why that would never work", but don't chastise others for not paying Youtube.

So it's not "content creators need a slice". Content creators need to get paid, and distributors need a slice.