If Google and Facebook are The Internet (and for some large number of people, this is likely more than half true, in an empirical time-measurement sense) then The Internet is driven by advertisement. It's just become Cable TV 2.0.
I'd rather move to a world where it's either merely one option among many, or even, dare I dream, a last resort considered vaguely déclassé.
This was presaged by Scott McCloud. http://scottmccloud.com/ http://www.scottmccloud.com/3-home/essays/2003-09-micros/mic...
And it was rejected by the mainstream, led by those with a vested interest in the new status quo. https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2001/06/22
Youtube-dl just does what you want 90% of the time, and good docs for the rest.
This also means that when your ad revenue disappears, you will NEVER get that revenue back. Your only recourse is to get more popular, as your supporters are already buying your merchandise and donating.
It's going to become much more difficult to support yourself via creating content if step 1 becomes "be famous".
You don't have to become famous. One of the things I love about Patreon are how some of my obscure things nobody has ever heard of are now providing a low-to-mid-grade middle class lifestyle for people you've probably never heard of.
Wander around a bit on https://graphtreon.com/ , and bear in mind a lot of what you see is hobby work, not attempts to make a living.
And also bear in mind there is no option where anybody ever just wakes up one day, decides "I'm going to make a living as an Internet content provider!" and a thousand people pour out of the woodwork to give them $3 a month right away. The question is not whether Patreon successfully thrusts success on people... the question is whether it enables it.
i.e., if I love Patreon so much why haven't I switched to make a living on it? Well, I have a realistic view of my own "content creation" skills and realize that it's not really an option for me. Patreon isn't going to magically fix that for me.
If my ad revenue tanks, Patreon does not automatically go up, I'm just out my ad revenue for the month. For some artists this is the difference between being able to pay rent or not.
It's already becoming like this for certain forms of media. Videogames, in particular. It's amazing how many things become easier, once you've already gotten notable. Come to think of it, it's been true to some degree, even in the days when media only existed in the form of spoken word and songs.
Are these people clicking ads, though? I doubt it. And if not, you aren't monetizing them directly via that method, either.
Enough so that you can offset the cost of the hobby in many cases, and make a living in that rarest, most desirable of cases.
http://www.theverge.com/2017/4/6/15209220/youtube-partner-pr...
If your channel has 10k views total across all videos, you can monetise the next video from viewer 1.
Or maybe Youtube is just not worth it?
Although obviously, content producers sided with Patreon because it gives them predictable income, which keeps them from starving.
Another part of the reason I tend to support the model is that I've watched micropayments for.... umm... gosh, about 16-18 years now. It isn't going to happen, or if it is, it's going to require something relatively fundamental to shift.
I expanded more on that 3 days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14117016 (Also why I decided I need to disclaim being a shill, since these two things came in quick succession.)
First micropayment service that actually is _micro_.
Which may just be an open pre-order on my part. Which is sort of the stupidest way to buy anything, I suppose, except for the social trust aspect I have in him.
Full disclosure: I work at YouTube but not on Red.
"New revenue from YouTube Red membership fees will be distributed to video creators based on how much members watch your content."
Creating content every day or several times a day is what fans demand. It's not a question of if a dumb idea will make it into production and upset the audience, just a matter of when. Consider it like bugs.
PewDiePie's patron, Disney, dropping him was a reversion to the norm. As recent stories about large advertisers reallocating dollars illustrate, it takes something a lot worse before eyballs and clicks don't drive the decision.
I'd like to see competition for youtube. They'd fuck up less if there were a more compelling reason for them to stop fucking up.
Agreed! I already back many of the people I watch regularly on patreon and am sick of all of the irritating adverts, so I'd much rather just download the videos and watch them directly.
Easter Egg: "Bos in the house"
Regards,
My interest in pitching this so often is my desire to play my little part in sticking a stake in the idea that getting advertising money is the default path to monetization. I'd rather move to a world where it's either merely one option among many, or even, dare I dream, a last resort considered vaguely déclassé.
Oh, and I would also implore you, let your patrons download video directly somehow. I'd love to not even have to go through YouTube at all. Of course, I'm a crazy Linux user for whom YouTube isn't as convenient as it could be, but it's another way to detach your patrons from a particular video service.