How the YouTube Creator Economy Works
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
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Select footage courtesy Thomas Frank, Aimee Nolte, Joe Scott, and Nebula
Writing by Sam Denby and Tristan Purdy
Editing by Alexander Williard
Animation led by Josh Sherrington
Sound by Graham Haerther
Thumbnail by Simon Buckmaster
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I can't believe you didn't put a CuriosityStream/Nebula sponsorship on this video.
I'm surprised he didn't say it was sponsored by everyone he mentioned.
Attorney Tom #1
He did his Jet Lag the game one though
His mention of CuriosityStream/Nebula and the fact that it is a creator-owned revenue-sharing service functions about as well as if not arguably better than an outright sponsorship. Heck, the customized trackable URL is even included in this video during that segment with all the descriptions, so all the elements of a sponsorship are there. Plus, since he's part-owner, the profits gained from the mention do feed back into paying for this video, so there is a case to be argued that this is Sam from CuriosityStream/Nebula sneakily sponsoring a video by Sam from Wendover (probably under the advice of that sneaky weasel Sam, from Half as Interesting).
I mean he already mentioned it lmao
It wasn't mentioned, but one of the other main sources of income is Patreon. It's crucial for creators that make long-form/less frequent videos. I don't think any of the (smaller) channels making 1+ hour documentaries every 2-6 months would be able to do it off of AdSense and sponsorship alone.
This is so true, the number of creators that depend on Patreon is reaaally big
RLM is my favorite UA-cam channel, but I'm pretty certain they don't make a lot. They have one of the most active Patreon. And they get that sweet, sweet Disney Star Wars money. Very cool
I am sure u r also refering to kraut :) he has abt 1200 monthly patreon supporters
He mentioned donations as a source of income, but yes he didn't specifically mention Patreon.
@@shashankgadamsetty508 I wasn't. But thanks for the recommendation, I didn't know anyone else did country ball videos after brain4breakfast's unfortunate passing.
I had never thought about this in so much detail (eg full value per view). Thanks for breaking it down Sam!
Yeah, the logical progression of going from ads before the video to ads during the video to ads for the creator's own merch makes a lot of sense.
yep,just like how electricity current doesn't go inside the tube as classic yet simple view usually are shown, the revenue isn't easy as 1-2-3 as well, we need to be smarter
It's Dirk from veristablium!
i cant believe someone hasnt totally snapped off your fingers for all the clickbait you put everyone through
@@echelonrank3927 It's not clickbait if the content is as good as the title says ;)
It's also worth mentioning that when a creator signs a deal with an ad agency, they are typically paid a fixed amount based on the number of views they think their video will get before it's even published, and not the actual number of views the video ends up getting. The view estimate will be agreed upon by the agency and the creator beforehand, and it will usually be a lower-bound estimate because there are consequences if a video under-performs. For example, if a video doesn't hit the view target within 30 days of publishing, then the creator might have to do another ad for free in a future video (often called a "make-good"). On the other hand, if a video over-performs and greatly exceeds the view target, then the creator will still only be paid based on their initial estimate specified in the contract. This a win-win scenario for the advertiser because they effectively get extra free advertising regardless of how the video performs. It's especially easy for new creators to be taken advantage of, because it can be extremely difficult to predict how many views a video might get without a ton of experience, and so they are far more likely to settle for a lower number (and therefore less pay).
So here's my personal anecdote on this. I signed my first ad deal with an agency 3 years ago when my channel was only 1 year old and I had only produced 10 videos. Since I did not have a lot of analytics history, I agreed on a view target of 75,000 views, which seemed reasonable based on the performance of my previous videos. However, this particular video quickly got picked up by the algorithm, gaining over 3 million views in the first month, and is currently sitting at just under 7 million views today. So in the end, I was only paid for 1% of the views I received on that video, and the advertiser got nearly 7 million free impressions for their product. All I got was a "good job" from the ad agency, and then they offered me the exact same rate going forward for my next video. Needless to say, I am no longer working with this company.
Lately, I've seen some companies offering "bonuses" for videos that exceed expectations, so perhaps things are now shifting to be more equitable for creators. However, it's still important to recognize that these agencies are just businesses that are trying to make as much money as possible, and some of them will try to take advantage of you if given the opportunity. It's just something that I think people need to be cautious about, especially if you're a young or inexperienced creator on the platform. If you want to turn your UA-cam career into a sustainable business, then you really need to develop your business skills just as much as your creative skills.
Those ad agencies are parasites. The creator does all the work and the agency spends a little time negotiating. If I was a creator I would bypass the ad agencies and do my sales pitch to Hello fresh or Curiosity Stream or whomever.
Why even sign up with an agency like this? They are guaranteed to get the better deal - always.
How much creative control do sponsors retain about the ads? E.g. are things like whether the ad-read is placed before, in the middle of, or at the end of the video controlled by the agency or creator? And does the creator typically get a bonus for clickthroughs/signups via their affiliate link or only a flat fee?
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Could one negotiate to cancel a make-good if a video does really well, like if it reaches double of the target within the time period?
No joke, at VidCon I had literally pondered “huh, what would it be like for Wendover to make a VidCon logistics video?“
As a smaller(ish) creator who had access to that elusive Hyatt, VidCon really felt like two separate parallel events, one for the larger creators and big brands, and one for everyone else. Kinda understandable given how past VidCons sort of turned into UA-camr petting zoos
@Raytheslay L + ratio
“UA-camr petting zoo” 😂👌
I would go to a UA-camr petting zoo.
You can pet UA-camrs?
@@Halcon_Sierreno Only if you have the big bucks to afford their sponsorships. ;)
I went to every Vidcon from the second one to the tenth and also every Playlist Live from 2-10 as well. I watched the scene change from being people and UA-camr-based to companies and brands-based and then finally tik tok and brands with youtubers sprinkled in. There was something magical about those early years. I wish there were a creator-based event in London though. But perhaps those days are in the past.
Would love to see more bigger creator's collaborate with lesser channels to get the platform to grow.
However I think certain bigger audience channels feel afraid to get together based on loosing their own audience imo and only collaborate with other bigger channels
As much as they want to help, they should collaborate as the music industry does in a way. I see very few channels of different walks of life collaborate (different content). Which is where the newer channels could absolutely benefit from imo
@@nomore-constipation I agree. But one issue is YT blocks collabs under 1k subscribers soooo makes it difficult to do so. I mean, you can do it regardless, but the smaller channel won't be recognized.
I agree about the magic of those early years. ‘Dear Strongbad’ was a banger. (:
There used to be an event called 'Upload', created by the Sidemen that was probably the closest to a creator event in London. Unfortunately it was stopped after 2017.
I remember sit used to be so hyped up, im not sure what's happened but it seems that UA-cam has shifted to more large creators/comapnies
You're so right about those parasocial relationships with content creators, Sam ol buddy!
@Raytheslay bro would you shut up 💀
@Raytheslay Don't you mean Half as Interesting?
@@cdvideodump Scarcely seven-fourteenths as interesting I'd say
I wonder if people with multiple personality disorder can have parasocial relationships with themselves
Yeah, Sam always tells it like it is. He's so trustworthy.
You missed one major income source for some creators: amazon affiliate links.
I've seen entire channels based around "rating" rooms/setups and then providing affiliate links for EVERYTHING in the description, pushing viewers to amazon where they can get a cut out of ANY sales made.
There is briefly a few images of affiliate links
I don't think Affiliate links make much compared to sponsorships, merch and ad sense. Maybe thats why he just briefly mentioned it
It totally makes sense though if you like their microphone and you’re making your own channel and wanna get the same one they share which one they use and get feedback on it.
@@Random_dud31 an Amazon affiliate link gives 1-3% depending on the product, this is MASSIVE
True. But I think it depends on the UA-camr. I think “the car wizzard”, a mechanic, makes more on that, than let say a travel channel.
Man, the whole section on merch made me realize why Linus tech tips works so hard on their product lineup, they get to keep all the profits on that while making money off their own advertising in their own videos
Well they are big enough that the stocking fees ain't too much, unless it's a engineering dept item ... It's a loss making one.
he's done several breakdowns of how much of their profit comes from where. Their merch is a massive portion of it, rivaling sponsorships. Ad revenue is a tiny sliver.
I think it was something like 30% income from their own products and 50% from sponsors? I can't recall, it's somewhere in a livestream clip and on twitter if you'd like to find it...
YT is so F-ed, imagine this:
Hatepreacher Kent Hovind got Coverage and Debunks
from 1 Trillion UA-camrs, so its no understimatement to say 'Its common sense
that hes a Known Hatepreacher', but is he Removed? Nah.
@@PrograError its also a content generator, I'm guessing you and many other people have seen those video's.
@TNerd i see someone missed his point.
2:50 This is also because a person watching finance videos signals that they both want to enter economics but doesn't really know it yet. This means they're willing to spend more money in places more educated and experienced people won't, which makes the amount of money they can get from the person incredibly high. This pushes up demand and therefore the RPM.
This is also why you see so many 3-minute ads with people and whiteboards in front of finance videos, because if they appeared in other genres, the viewers would either not be interested enough in finance to spend money or simply know better.
I watch a history channel it doesn’t mean I’m willing to spend on history books or material. I watch a finance video, like you said I’m likely looking to do something with money. Perhaps another similar category is travel channels - people watching those are likely looking to spend on travel. I come to wendover or Polymatter or other similar videos just to be educated so It doesn’t indicate I’m interested in buying anything.
@@Homer-OJ-Simpson people who watch investing video typically want to learn investing strategies that they can use themselves, which therefore leaves advertisers with a inexperienced person willing to spend money with companies they just heard of. That's easy prey
Easy to dupe, see NFTs and crypto in general
@@neonbunnies9596 easy prey but also those consumers are LITERALLY looking for such products and services.
The financial channels that sell hopium are far more successful too. Every top UA-cam financial channel disgusts me. But shout-out to eurodollar university
Never in my life have I been so excited to watch the sponsorship portion of a UA-cam video
Me too.
I said the same!
100% of my ad-sense, super chat, super thanks, etc. goes directly to charity.
That's very cash money of ya Jesus
J-dawg, love you man
What ab the cameos
thanks jesus
What else can we expect From Jesus?
Dang this stuff about inexperienced creators being ripped off hits close to home.
Not just inexperienced, but young. Younger than 18, younger than 13, even younger than 8
Machinima
Yeah it happens all the time in the music and film industry too. Young artists who have no manager and no knowledge about financials are very easy to trick to signing one-sided contracts.
"Creative people will keep choosing UA-cam as their platform of choice over TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, or any other social site, because as the other platforms are attempting to get creators to work for less, UA-cam, through the years, has successfully developed a platform than earns creators more and more and more."
Well said! Case in point: the new Thanks button...
Which nobody uses because UA-cam takes 30%, whether it’s the thanks button, or a super chat, UA-cam takes 30%. It’s easier just to send people to Patreon or somewhere else entirely where a creator can keep all of the money earned.
@@IzzyTheEditor Patreon also charges some % (less than 30 though). And Basically YT gives 70% of everything earned, which tictok is like fixed amount only, regardless of how much more they earn
@@IzzyTheEditor Nobody uses super chats? Ohhh boy, you've seen nothing 😄 There are 30 UA-cam Channels that made more than half a million US$ on super chats alone just in 2021. And last month there are more than 100 channels that made more than 10,000 US$. Lots of them are VTubers (especially hololive) because it's very much engrained in the fan culture to interact with them by sending a message while donating money. All of that of course in addition to memberships, merch, ad revenue and so on...
2:22 "Served to audiences with particular... interests." Puts up a video of a plane cockpit. I see what you're doing here, Wendover.
Great video. Some of this stuff I didn't even know even though I've been in this biz for awhile now. One thing I always tell small creators who are first getting sponsorship offers is DON'T LET THEM SCREW YOU OVER, because ad agencies absolutely will screw you over if they can. They are able to take advantage of creators because most of us are just happy to be getting money for our work at all. It's sickening how we undersell ourselves and the sponsors/ad agencies don't pay us enough.
Oh and Sam, I'm still waiting for that invitation to have my videos on Nebula. 😉
I've been watching your channel for years, and I have to tell you it's just UA-cam's gold. I so appreciate your work on your great videos, that sometimes I go back to old videos, to enjoy the moment. Please do not stop, and thanks for your videos.
I really hope they let you on nebula, you're amazing!
HOLY SHIP YOURE HERE TOO
Game Grumps is mostly funded by sticking two fingers into the coin return slot of arcade machines and hoping for the best.
stonks
But how did you continue to visit arcades during the height of the Backstreet Boys Reunion Tour?? Weren't they all closed down because everyone was getting tickets?
hilarious....
Just wait for the boxing sponsorships to come pouring in
Coin return slot must go wild over 2 fingers.
It’s must be a real slot coping 2 fingers from everyone.
This is great stuff. I don’t believe I’ve seen a video that really discusses the economics of UA-cam creators as in depth as this.
@Raytheslay book
@Raytheslay This mid what? You didn't finish your sentence.
You should check out the Hank Green video he referenced
I have seen individual creators go much more in depth than this on their youtube channels. Also, this video didn't mention a trend I've seen. People stream on Twitch and then chop up that content into youtube videos to double dip on the same content.
While short form content is very very much up in the air, super long form (livestreams) is still undecided. As someone dead center in the middle of it, platform wars are definitely happening between UA-cam Gaming and Twitch right now for the space. If UA-cam can replicate Twitch's monetization strategy & make their livestreaming experience better, we might see a bunch of platform switching--which is absolutely phenomenal for creators since Amazon & Google are in swift competition to make the best space possible to create content on.
'best space' for advertisers.
Even right now, YT streaming platform are slowly copying some of the Twitch's most popular features, like Membership gifting, Free Membership Superchat, Emotes, etc. Not everything is here, but its slowly getting increasingly feature-comparable from viewers standpoint.
The main problem with YT is facing right now imo, is that YT is still pretty much VOD-dominant platform. You are most likely recommended shorter VOD contents compared to livestreams or livestream VOD in general. I can see that YT are now trying to optimize its algorithm in my feed like trying to recommend me current livestream or current VOD for every second or third videos, but livestream-focused channels is probably some way before having more presence in YT.
However, even Twitch streamers still recognize the importance of YT, to monetize their contents more. Clips from Twitch streams, Twitch VODs, etc, can be all repackaged, reposted, on YT for extra income.
It's up in the air as to which platform will win, sure, but I don't think there's any question that the average person can make a living as a creator of livestreams. It's a lot more questionable whether or not it's possible to do it for TikTok. Ideally speaking, no platform will *win*, but there will be multiple platforms that are viable enough that they'll remain in an arms race for a long time.
@@ArchusKanzaki Personally, I can't confirm that UA-cam having trouble with recommending stream VODs. RIght at this moment, 5 of the 10 videos I see in the recommended sidebar on my desktop screen are stream VODs (each > 2h) which makes sense because streams and stream VODs make around 50% of my watch time. But on top of that, those UA-cam streamers also publish occasional UA-cam Shorts and mid-length (~10 minutes) UA-cam videos (as premiers), all on the same channel to diversify the content that can be recommended. And that's something, that currently (and I think for the foreseeable future) only UA-cam can do for you.
Problem with UA-cam Gaming is that if i want to watch a livestream from a certain game or creator it's already very difficult just to find it.
I find the directory so bad. Though UA-cam is going the right way with the whole clips & membership thing. But still a long way of.
Would be better if they clearly separate streaming & videos at this point.
As a fledgling creator whose channel just monetized a few months ago, I found this video extremely informative. This is exactly the sort of information that should have been presented, but largely wasn't at this year's VidCon, which was the first attendance (and probably the last) for me. It seems to me that the whole emphasis has shifted away from long form educational (or "edutainment") content to short form, which is largely impractical for me. Anyway, I really appreciated the information. Well done, Sam!
Use the money you get wisely if you do manage to become super successful. Help as many people as you can instead of spending it on excessive luxuries and stuff. Matthew 19:24- "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Don't focus on stacking up treasures here on earth because before you know it everything will be destroyed and all that you had will be lost. Detach from this world and the things in it and follow God.
Contemplate how the Roman Empire fulfilled the role of the beast from the sea in Revelation 13. Revelation 17 confirms that it is in fact Rome. From this we can conclude that A) Jesus is the Son of God and can predict the future or make it happen, B) The world leaders have been conspiring together for the last 3000+ years, or C) History and archaeology as we know it is fake.
You don't need to speculate though because you can start a relationship with God and have proof. Call on the name of Jesus and pray for Him to intervene in your life, if you can't get a response then make sure you are approaching Him in a humble way. God will ignore you if you don't make a serious attempt - Isaiah 1:15, James 4:8, Micah 3:4. Stop eating food sacrificed to idols (McDonald's Wendy's etc), stop taking pictures of yourself and uploading them to social media (pride, second commandment), start fasting, stop watching obscene content etc. A lot of the things people do in the modern day hold them back from getting a response even though they don't realize it. Take care and God bless!
It's good to know we didn't miss out on missing vid con it always seemed like a cool convention to learn .
Absolutely brilliant breakdown that will really resonate with a lot of smaller creators. Give them clarity they rarely find.
Absolutely. :)
@@HenrythePaleoGuy Oiiii Tim! My best friend /j
Great video, Sam! Love the point on sponsorships. Logically, if someone is sponsoring a video, they’re making more than the sponsorship fee. Good to see more creators start to capture that value themselves through their own product lines. If you don't have your own product to pitch, partnering with a sponsor via affiliate links where you get a cut of the initial sale and renewals is another way to share in the benefit beyond just getting paid for a set amount of views.
This is an awesome breakdown, so many UA-camrs are trying to keep up with Tiktok without realising the short form style isn't really best for business
As a full time creator with a team, i think this video is closest to justifying how complicated creator industry is, and yes it's going to get more than this
Aur bhai kaise ho sab badiya
Use the money you get wisely if you do manage to become super successful. Help as many people as you can instead of spending it on excessive luxuries and stuff. Matthew 19:24- "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Don't focus on stacking up treasures here on earth because before you know it everything will be destroyed and all that you had will be lost. Detach from this world and the things in it and follow God.
Contemplate how the Roman Empire fulfilled the role of the beast from the sea in Revelation 13. Revelation 17 confirms that it is in fact Rome. From this we can conclude that A) Jesus is the Son of God and can predict the future or make it happen, B) The world leaders have been conspiring together for the last 3000+ years, or C) History and archaeology as we know it is fake.
You don't need to speculate though because you can start a relationship with God and have proof. Call on the name of Jesus and pray for Him to intervene in your life, if you can't get a response then make sure you are approaching Him in a humble way. God will ignore you if you don't make a serious attempt - Isaiah 1:15, James 4:8, Micah 3:4. Stop eating food sacrificed to idols (McDonald's Wendy's etc), stop taking pictures of yourself and uploading them to social media (pride, second commandment), start fasting, stop watching obscene content etc. A lot of the things people do in the modern day hold them back from getting a response even though they don't realize it. Take care and God bless!
@@bannah6400 ok
Awesome video - would love to see more in this category. "The insane logistics of producing a Wendover video"
As someone who's new to the industry, I've found that a super effective strategy is to use short form content platforms to grow initially because of the reach, then as you begin to grow a good amount, you pivot and begin to create more content on longer form platforms, using TikTok/reels/shorts as a means to push traffic there. Not 100% effective, but it's helped me grow tremendously.
17:42 “unsexy cost”. From a guy whose UA-cam channel is literally just logistics and the exact same kind of dull behind the scenes stuff, and is a widely loved creator because of that.
I enjoy watching Fact Fiend's "How Not To Do Business" series. It's interesting to see how strict the contracts are, and how small the payments to the creators can be.
Oy! Im going to check this out!
I love how straight forward that dude iss!
All the yes
Big Wangers Inc. ftw
I had never thought about this in so much detail, thanks Wendover.
I’m dying! Where has this channel been all my life? I have literally looked up the past two videos you have made to no avail of finding one that has the exact question I have!! I was getting so frustrated with having to pay for UA-cam premium and then later finding that I had to listen to ads by the UA-cam creators thinking that the UA-cam creators were already making so much money just from their views that it was just simply greed that they started acting as spokes people. Thank you for elucidating this very mysterious side of the UA-cam creators experience
That’s a long overdue video, as there’s precious little information around the “Creator Economy.” My own channel doesn’t fully sustain my life expenses and probably never will but, regardless, I rank starting Roadster Life as one of my best decisions: I learned a lot, gotten in touch with awesome people and have had a great time doing it. Thank you, and on to the next one 👍
I think you missed one important element: social capital. While UA-cam may generate more financial capital, TikTok generates much more social capital. Some creators, (especially younger ones) are more drawn to hitting 1000 followers (much easier to do on TikTok) than making $100 on UA-cam. TikTok made it easy for people to hit 1000, or 10k followers, which is something that many people find invaluable.
But is harder to capitalize on tiktok followers.
I remember that 1+mil follower tiktok celeb that did a meet and greet and no one showed up
@@iulioh that's because most tiktok stars aren't actually famous, they're infamous. Aka most people only follow them to watch their life burn to the ground. Besides that it's well-known at this point that tiktok artificially inflates views and followers with bots so you can't believe someone's # of tiktok followers at face value.
The fact that your probably right on this on is the very very sad part -_-
Yea and after they get a following they move to another platform and diversified. TikTok is a starting point UA-cam the endgame.
@@dominickvu4911 That's not what we are seeing with successful creators though.
Never sign contracts that outlast a relationship. When starting, do a short contract so you can learn, then move on and get better rates elsewhere.
As far as 'kid's dream job' goes, UA-camr/Streamer kinda cheats. Lots of kids want to be an actor, singer, or otherwise famous person. UA-camr seems like the least barrier to entry. You dontt have to have specific singing/acting talent, and you don't have to move to Hollywood or find a record label or what have you.
However, behind the scenes, the popular UA-camr/Streamer you see all the time is one of the lucky ones. For every streamer with 10000 consistent live views, theres dozens of streamers with
Yes, it's true for all "celebrity" and more generally entertainment, sports or art-related business. High risk, high potential payoff, but extremely low average/typical payoff.
@@clray123 Athlete is a good addition. But for generic 'UA-camr' it just looks like any old regular person can do that. And they can, its just very unlikely to be successful.
Kids also don't watch old media television anymore. Kids tend to spend their time watching online media. Their parents are also less likely to have subscriptions to cable TV, etc. than previous generations. UA-camrs and Twitch streamers are the celebrities to kids today.
popular youtubers are all survivorship bias lol. we dont see teh ones that fail
the idea of it being a dream job is an idealisation, in reality you bend to the will of a company that couldnt care less about you and get the blunt end of more flawed laws like copyright or the idiotic coppa system, making a kids platform yet expecting the regular platform to follow the same kids rules is ridiculous, maybe parents should try caring for their children
This was the longest but best Hover ad I have ever seen!
Thank you so much for making the ONE video I've been wanting someone to make for years! This is also the one video where I WANTED to watch and pay attention to every single ad while I contemplated its value to you. And I learned so much more than I thought there was to learn about being a content creator! (To clarify, I'm not one.) So really, thank you so much!
(One thing, though. That is not at all how you pronounce Simone Giertz. From one of her videos, it's pronounced "Yetch".)
I love videos like this where the comments are littered with huge creators talking about how much they enjoyed. Its really endearing to learn that some of the biggest creators are themselves also consumers
Glad you mentioned Hank in relation to this, he has done some excellent videos on the subject. One thing you left out in relation to TikTok is how their creator fund is only something like 5% of their revenue, while UA-cam shares 50% of ad revenue.
I’m a small time creator and I honestly don’t get how any creators can decide to go full time with their channel. It just feels like that would take all the pleasure and fun out of running my channel.
Being able to work on topics which are interesting to me, but may not go viral sounds way better to me than trying to constantly “chase the algorithm.” Everyone has different priorities though I guess.
It may be that they don't derive joy from anything else monetizable, so even reduced pleasure and fun is worth it for them. Gaming is an example. I'm not a creator though, am I missing something?
if you go viral you will get your important topic to a wider audience tho
If you had 10,000 subscribers and then 100,000 subscribers, you might have a different opinion at that time.
You say that now since you haven't gone viral but once it does and you got the 'fix', then you'll start to understand why creators chase the algorithm.
Thing is, human goals change. At first sure people would say they only do things for passion and wouldn't care if it wasn't known, but then they realize that there is also joy in people knowing and liking your passion project. After that, your passion of creating and 'marketing' is linked. What's the purpose of you doing something you like if people don't like it?
@@Ubeogesh that’s definitely true. But going viral isn’t exactly the same as betting your whole paycheck on the chance to go viral. That’s what I’m trying to get at.
So don’t get me wrong. I’d LOVE to grow…I just don’t want to get into the position where I have to grow or else I lose my ability to feed myself.
Woooow! Long time viewer here. I did NOT expect to see myself in a Wendover production video, ever. But in 08:28-08:32, I'm the guy with the ball!
Thanks for breaking it all down, and even though I am in the middle of all these apps, it's great to have some numbers attached to it. Thanks for including me too 💁
The differences in value of viewer are a quite interesting topic. Recently I had the chance to talk with people who had a mainly Japanese viewers and others who had mainly Indian viewers. While the channels with Indian subscribers had almost 10 times more subscribers, the Japanese channel had 2-4 times the monthly income. The lesson here is: I should switch my target group to Japanese people.
That made me interested in what the ad revenues are in each country.
Same with patreon/donations, merch, subscription-service, and affiliate scheme. Donation scheme performs really well for some but it dont work for the other.
Thats because the people in those countries have different purchasing power. An average japanese makes a lot more than an average indian , so they can spend more on the companies/ads promoted on the video which in short results in the creator getting more money too.
@@bluedna6749 yup, tho i don’t think japanese people earn on average 40x more than indian. As someone who lives in india, people don’t get sucked into paradoxical relationships nearly as much, also many aren’t interested in buying subscriptions, and many products promoted aren’t available here.
As a creator this was extremely interesting to watch.
Looking at your channel, we use the same ceramic small bowls. Love those little things.
This is a great overview. I have to say, while the creator life looks great, it seems to me like the vast majority of potential creators will never reach that $4K/month level, and even if they do, thats only $48k a year. For sure there are a few major winners in this economy, but it seems the vast majority of new entrants would be better served by trying to get a good job and potentially doing this as a side hustle.
As we used to say when someone declared their desire to be an artist or musician, "Don't quit your day job". Or at least not yet. Not to mention, day jobs are frequently a lot easier than being a content factory.
Didn't realize it was only $48k a year until you said it lol. Considering the insane amount of time you need to invest in, not to mention learning new skills or paying a talented team, it doesn't sound like a good deal unless you really like being a content creator.
You need a vast pool of stupid suckas so that the business people can pick out the few stars that they will market to the masses.
Reaching 1k is better than most retail and warehouse jobs. Owning a business is liberating. And, tbh, you pay less taxes. Also, also you develop a skillet that actually makes you competitive
That has pretty much always been the case in the entertainment industry tho, only a few make it big. Nothing new there.
I had never seen so many creators commenting a video. From my perspective this is a clear sign of the quality of this channel. Incredible work.
Watched on nebula, im resistant to ads but nebula worked. I love being able to support multiple creators at once.
I somehow see this video becoming a billion view video pretty damn fast. After 10 years this was by far the best video on this topic made, well done!
As a small farmer who is not a youtube creator, I have also noticed that farmers have been able to sell their services and books far and wide and also have become hubs in their region due to their constant exposure in that field.
I also wonder how much Nebula paid you for the inadvertent ad in this video
He part owns Nebula so Nebula doesnt need to pay him.
There's farmers making youtube videos now, like laura farms, about farming. Literally adding to the bottom line.
5:56 "... Being on camera boosts it, so does injecting more personality into videos, speaking in a less scripted manner does too."
List of thing Sam doesn't do
I just assumed Sam's personality was airplane logistics LOL
I'm offended by your comment. Please delete.
Well maybe not in Wendover
Check HAI
im just pissed that the moment I happened to live near a vidcon, I also happened to move.
how many times did you move exactly
I wish i had seen your video earlier because throughout the past year, i have been doing creator economy research and was only able to find 50 % of the information in this video, including creators making money through their own merch. I'm definitely subscribing.
On one hand, it feels kind of disheartening for a once intimate platform with personable creators to become so... "corporatized" in a sense but on the other, it's only lending more credence to content creation being the modern day California Gold Rush. Everyone wants to do it because everyone has a chance to make it. Honestly you don't even have to be a 1m+ sub channel making millions of views per video. Half, or even a quarter of those numbers is enough for any UA-camr to live large. Obviously it's in the creator's best interest to maximize their earnings so long as it's available, but I don't think anyone would complain about making that original 11,000$ per video. Heck all of us would take 10% of that. 1000$ per video, make 100 videos (or 1 video every 3-4 days) and you have a 100k income right there, with almost no overhead unless you're paying editors.
The problem will be that, IMO, we're probably already pretty close to peak attention on YT and other platforms. Maybe it doubles again from here, but there's only so many people and so much time to watch videos. Extra money will come from either more valuable advertising or at the expense of other creators - I suspect it's only going to get harder to break into being a creator, and it's fairly likely IMO that only high value, high effort creators are likely to continue breaking into the big time, which is probably not going to work for the vast majority of people wanting to be creators.
One video every 3-4 days is an incredible amount of time and effort to dedicate for just 100k. There are far better ways to make money if that’s what you’re after (and you have the level of commitment and skill to make decently popular UA-cam videos that regularly)
I make 100k putting in minimum time and effort into an entry level developer position; I’d have to be way more skilled, driven, and intelligent AND I would have to work at least 30 more hours a week to have a chance at that level of income on youtube
Simply, the best video on summarizing what the creator economy is. Thank you so much for this content!
This is a great video. My RPM on my main channel and podcast are $15 or more. At this point I think most FullTime creators don’t use Adsense as their anchor but brand deals.
But, can UA-camrs make good money off their brand deals, partnerships, and sponsorships alone?
I had 1000% my usual tolerance for an ad after this class on the subject
I would love to know the Hover conversion rate for this add. We were all just wondering what programs you were going to hype for the Nebula/Curiosity Stream bundle, but then you took us on an unexpected trip to Domain Town!
Would love a video about how UA-cam and other platforms “monitor” their content. “The cleaners” is a cool movie on this subject. Just be cool to look at the economics of how much it costs to do the monitoring they do
let me answer this for you:
They don’t. They do the bare minimum and no more.
its just a bot that scans the video and audio for violence sexual and child content
Well that just shifts the question slightly: what is defined as the bare minimum, what interesting things lie just beyond it, and what is work like for the people who actually have to make the decisions to enforce that distinction?
@@KiLLJoYUA-cam That's not an answer, it's a brushoff.
youtube has gotten a lot better. i remember stumbling across straight up adult videos back in like 2012 lol. i sont see that sort of thing anymore
Really great video! What I'd also be interested in is something you mentioned in the transition to your sponsor: The costs behind making videos. Now we know how much money UA-cam creators can expect to make with their videos. But how much of that is really yours to keep and how much do you have to reinvest to keep the content coming?
I'm a longtime subscriber and huge fan of ALL your content and I wanted to thank you for this video especially. I finally feel like I have a clue. You do such an amazing job of explaining things in a way that someone like me who feels like I'm listening to an alien language when trying to get it, can finally understand the way it works. Keep up the excellent work. Love, Peace, and Chicken grease! ❣❣❣
Q: “How the Creator Economy Works”
A: Squarespace & NordVPN
"UA-cam has successfully developed a platform that earns creators more."
Yeah, tell that to history creators who routinely get their videos demonetized for producing "inappropriate content."
Hope I dont burst any bubbles, but that wss going to happen: Either you give full adsense to anyone (didnt work out) OR you moderate. Any since its not viable to do this manually, you have to use an Ai, which is ALWAYS more A than I. Aka: false positives/negatives. Ofc. this depends on content and targeted audience.
@themasterofdisastr Timeghost History runs a fairly well researched and one of the more comprehensive channels for both World Wars. They, like some other history channels, provide content that can truly be said to be a professional service for the viewers. Because they cover war crimes as well, however, they get regularly demonetized. The result is that they have to rely on fundraisers, sponsor sites and auctions where other channels can use publicity stunts or similarly spastic content to supplement their income.
I suppose the phenomenon was inevitable, but it does leave a sour taste.
It's really interesting that you have basically gone against every method of strengthening parasocial relationships on this channel (although on HAI you do inject more personality at least). I don't know if that is in any sense "good" or "bad", but it's definitely interesting!
Wendover is more of a reference video essay channel than anything personality-driven so it makes sense that Sam wouldn't drive parasocial relationships here. That's a less profitable strategy on the whole because it can't really leverage parasociality without severely compromising the tone.
Well I'm pretty anti-parasocial, since most UA-camrs fake it til they make it. I'll click away from a video if they're an embarrassing influencer.
@@rickascii It also has its niche. Not everyone wants UA-camrs to pretend to be their buddies. Or they're okay with some, but not all. Sam does both, anyway, just on different channels.
there's also a lot of personality on the jet lag channel
So much to learn! Thanks for prying off the top and giving us a look inside, Sam.
I wish more channels were willing to peak behind the curtain of OZ (or at least its accounting department) to give us some idea of the economic realities of our favourite channels! Good on ya!
I follow this channel called Kaisercat Cinema and they basically make althistory videos. They often do these "state of the channel" videos regularly and its basically just a financial report. Theyve been struggling for a quite a while now but its something I always loved about that channel.
This was by far the best video I've watched this year.
This video is so meta it’s insane
15:33 When Sam pronounces Giertz as "Geertz", then the animation scrolls to the top of the page to show the company name is Yetch
I imagine every youtuber is now watching a video made about them from it's favorite creator
"Interests" - shows cockpit of an airplane
That checks out for Wendover
I sincerely appreciate the quality of each and every Wendover Productions video.
UA-cam's competitive advantage by keeping creator talent happy and loyal just highlights how absurd the ActMan vs Quantum situation is/was being handled
The thing about TikTok is that everyone knows it is a fad. Even as just a consumer and not a creator I can see this. UA-cam won't last forever, but it will definitely outlast TikTok.
Tik tok is owned by the CCP. I won't go near it. I cringed when I saw my neice on it.
I'm not so sure. On one hand, literally every other social media platfirm copied them (except Twitter maybe). Even Reddit, where it doesn't fit at all.
On the other hand, I think the format itself will last for a while, since our attention spans are so short now. From what I understand TikTok's recommendation algorithm is also doing a good job at helping new creators. UA-cam Shorts's attempt at that only shows me a bunch of bots, Family Guy clips, and kids playing mobile games. TikTok is also owned by a very big company, that's basically an Asian Meta competitor, so they'll be pretty resilient to changing trends. They even bought a VR company (Pico, which is looking at expanding to Europe as a Quest 2 competitor) like Facebook did with Oculus.
There is also a generation of people who are growing up with TikTok and a whole bunch of people who rely on it for income.
TikTok > Instagram Reels/UA-cam Shorts
@@uku4171 You're right that social media platforms are copying Tiktok, but I don't think the short format fits UA-cam. Every time I see an interesting short, I always comment "I wish there was a full version of this topic". In Tiktok that's fine because their content is usually just people dancing for 10 seconds, but for UA-cam, a 10 second factoid is not very interesting.
I'm gonna have to go ahead and disagree on TikTok being a fad. It's like the perfect app. They just need to get the monetization figured out.
I love the filter bubble. I barely know most of these UA-camr's. But I know Wendover, and I love it.
You're doing God's work! No one else with your outreach has done a video like this and its a shame considering its 2022!!! Thank you so much for revealing the secrecy behind YT monetization
15:37 smoothest plug of all time. I'm subscribing immediately.
Wow you make more money than I thought off these videos… Well deserved, Sam. Keep up the good work
In case anyone cares, the sign shown in 12:40 says, "All begins with you. All begins on TikTok"
Sounds dystopian as fuck lmao
The harsh reality people need to accept is that unless you’re attractive, talented or funny, you’re not going to make money on UA-cam. 99% of the people who try don’t even come close.
Tell me more!
True in the mainstream, but not always. Specific niche-interest channels can get very popular without their hosts being particularly charismatic or attractive; so long as they're well-grounded in the subject and can maintain a rapport with the subculture around it.
It's like the people who want to play professional sports or be famous musicians. Statistically it's not going to happen. You also have to have true skill, not just think you're good at something.
@@bwofficial1776 Or any field that runs on names instead of content.
It’s all about the creator, not the content. I could make a video tomorrow that gets 100M views in 2 hours doing a funny prank, and 24 hours later a thousand channels will be out and about filming the exact same thing to piggyback on it.
@@dsnodgrass4843 AKA talented.....people need a reason to watch a video, it's not surprising or "unfair" at all
sick video mate
While many might say that "ugh, those stupid kids just wanna become youtubers/streamers/whatever", I think it's a pretty valid dream. No doubt being a somewhat big creator, let a lone a big one, is still a hard job, I imagine it's a thousand times better than sitting in an office doing practically the same stuff for many years, no wonder kids dream to become such creators, you start out doing what you actually like/love and if it all goes well, you continue doing that but you are much more successful, if not, then you are doing something you like less but still you are successful.
This is probably the most useful video for up and coming influencers ever
Is this the first time Wendover Productions referenced itself in the main body of a video?
Perfectly timed! This will be quite helpful, fascinating as always, thank you Wendover!
I do wonder how the forthcoming downturns and recessions are going to impact content. It'll primarily hit both advertising and subscription revenue at a time where we are heading more toward cramming videos with advertisements or increasingly turning to a subscription model. When its a decision of heating, filling the car with fuel or eating compared to a subscription fee, the fee will go. And advertisers having to cut their marketing budgets will also herald the end of the profitability of many a content creator at a time when UA-cam is increasingly making it clear that the good times of effectively free, unlimited hosting is coming to an end and everything must justify its existence via profitability.
I'm pretty onboard with the content creator bubble. Curiosity stream can go bankrupt, and the big tech companies will value (hire) the top 100 creators more than the top 10'000. But I think this is a good thing long term, since a lower ad fee means more small businesses will advertise on social media. Some of my favorite UA-cam channels just use the platform to advertise their small business
@@nuance9000 Not everyone can be a content creator. Too many people get their hopes up thinking that they can make a few videos, hit it big, and suddenly be able to buy a mansion with their earnings. It's like the people who want to be a major league sports star or a world-famous rapper. Numerically and talent-wise the odds are highly against them. Some might make it big and that's great but what about the other 99.9% who spent their time and money on something that went nowhere instead of learning a useful skill?
2:22 To show an airplane cockpit when talking about specific interesting is such a wendover thing to do 😂
i HATE short videos, its why i really am opposed to youtube "shorts" and get frustrated when the youtube homepage tosses a bunch of 20 second or less videos at me. I much prefer long videos and they are pretty much all i watch
Im the opposite lol but thats probably why i got adhd
Man had the perfect chance to promote Nebula💀💀💀
These videos are so awesome!
@Raytheslay Whose are good..?
@Raytheslay 🤔
You make money until the algorithm decides it doesn't like you any more. Protest that!
Pity you didn't mention how happily UA-cam will slap a demonetize sticker on ANYTHING that might be even slightly controversial.
Especially since most of that income (cent/view) comes during first few days of that video launch, precisely when YT applies it's feared yellow sign.
The people who don't like their ads on what you call "controversial" videos are advertisers, not UA-cam.
youtube hates its creators, look at many of their recent decisions and you quickly see why
Or how companies abuse the copyright takedown system. They can use it to flag videos they don't agree with and there's really no third-party arbitration so the content creator has absolutely no say in it (unless they want to go to court which of course they don't have the money for). So it's a very one-sided system.
Demonetization doesn't matter for UA-cam because it doesn't impact their bottom-line. The ads will be served on safer content and there is no shortage of such content.
13:12 Don't you hate it when you forget to press record😂
I love “inside baseball”. Always wondered how this kind of thing works.
Totally! I always watch ads when it’s a channel I like but who knows if that helps
What are the odds that Sam uploads this type of video just when I am thinking of starting a UA-cam channel?
As a youtuber, I always wondered this & found this interesting & this is soo cool!
Thank you!
How did you not know this?
Great video guys, full of details and really helps to understand the economics of the creator industry.
Can you do logistics of planning/running two weekends of Coachella & one weekend of stagecoach?
Half of the budget probably goes into cleaning up
Hej Hej,....This video was much better than I expected. tHanks for posting it and all the work you all put in it.
Happy New Year, wishing you good health and even more great ideas!
I hadn't heard of the term parasocial relationship until this video! But wow, is that a minefield! I wonder if platforms like Facebook, Instagram or UA-cam measure the intensity of these parasocial relationships / interactions. It might be something that can help handle some of the negative psychological effects and possibly misinformation that social media use has been correlated with.
Knowing Better has a good and in depth video about parasocial relationship
watching Wendover and seeing so much Thomas Frank... man it doesn't get much better
"Parasocial relationships"
Every Sam'o Nella Fan: *Vietnam Flashbacks*
Ludwig's gonna love this one