No, and neither has anybody else. Not saying that to be rude or dismissive, but just using their own numbers on the front page to paint a picture. They have ~3,000 paying members as of right now. Patreon has over 10,000,000 paying members, and even then only a tiny, tiny fraction of their creators are actually sustainable.
Paid subscription services like this are a great idea, in theory; I’d love to get away from ad-supported platforms. But the truth is that they just don’t work for all but a few lucky people.
That’s 100% true, but YT also foots the bill that creators would otherwise be responsible for when it comes to just the basics. Free hosting/distribution of high res full-length videos, globally accessible, with a player app that is actively developed and maintained, a recommendation algorithm to put your content in front of viewers’ eyes… That, alone, has tremendous value for a creator that they really can’t get anywhere else without paying out of pocket. All of those things would have to otherwise be paid for/maintained by the creators. While it’s not a direct payment, YT relieves a huge burden for creators.
It sucks because it keeps creators’ success dependent on corporate oligarchs. But at the same time, it’s also great because it gives them a fighting chance to get started.
I don’t think that necessarily follows.
Have you heard of self-hosted Patreon-similar Ghost ?
No, and neither has anybody else. Not saying that to be rude or dismissive, but just using their own numbers on the front page to paint a picture. They have ~3,000 paying members as of right now. Patreon has over 10,000,000 paying members, and even then only a tiny, tiny fraction of their creators are actually sustainable.
Paid subscription services like this are a great idea, in theory; I’d love to get away from ad-supported platforms. But the truth is that they just don’t work for all but a few lucky people.
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That’s 100% true, but YT also foots the bill that creators would otherwise be responsible for when it comes to just the basics. Free hosting/distribution of high res full-length videos, globally accessible, with a player app that is actively developed and maintained, a recommendation algorithm to put your content in front of viewers’ eyes… That, alone, has tremendous value for a creator that they really can’t get anywhere else without paying out of pocket. All of those things would have to otherwise be paid for/maintained by the creators. While it’s not a direct payment, YT relieves a huge burden for creators.
It sucks because it keeps creators’ success dependent on corporate oligarchs. But at the same time, it’s also great because it gives them a fighting chance to get started.
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