Hey guys. I've just come across something in my YouTube Subscriptions, and I thought you guys might find it interesting, mostly because this is the sort of thing that most of us would jump for JOY about.
Now, about two years ago the VLog Brothers (if you haven't heard of them I will put a link to their YouTube Channels below for you to use for extra reading should you choose to since they are awesome) got a grant from Google to create education content on YouTube. They decided to make the Crash Course videos, which are also known as how I survived high-school biology, and world history. Also as how I am going to survive chemistry next year.
The problem is, their grant money is running out and they haven't quite managed to make the show self-sustaining. Which makes sense, YouTube videos are dependent on Advertising (much like the Escapist itself I suppose) and they are making Education videos which aren't exactly prone to going viral and getting a ton of views to rake in the Ad Money.
So, as the VLog brothers are apt to do, they have decided that the advertising system is flawed since it doesn't care about the quality of content that is advertised, only the quantity of hits a page or video receives. Also as they are apt to do, they are creating a solution instead of just sitting around and complaining and/or talking about it like me. The solution is Subbable, a website similar to Kickstarter, but with a few differences.
Rather than up-front donations, Subbable is a opt-in subscription service which allows the viwer to set the ammount they pay monthly to support the content. Think of it as a automatic monthly Kickstarter donation to make sure that the content keeps getting made. The VLog Brothers intend to make all of their content freely avalable to the public, they hope that enough of their fans will drop into Subbable and pay to support the continuation of Crash Course (their other channels, VLog Brothers and SciShow get enough views to support, they also don't cost as much to create).
But they aren't stopping there, that would be a cop-out. They are designing subbable to accept other content creators into its program. This looks like another Kickstarter Boom waiting to happen. Imagine the Penny Arcade guys getting ahold of this? Or the guys over at Giant in the Playground. Or even the guy who makes Keychain of Creation (The guys at Darths and Droids probably wouldn't touch this for fear of litigation)? Not to mention the numerous YouTube creators who make great videos, but who don't make things that are likely to turn into viral ad revenue goldmines.
Also the Escapist could probably hook into the system themselves. Might even be able to axe the ads on the page if enough of us put in enough monthly.
This system could let the niche projects like MSPA, or Order of the Stick, or Keychain get made not only without advertisements, but with their paycheck literally coming straight from their fans?
And now, because this wall of text is big enough to annoy the natives, here is a video version of TL:TLTR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc3_o0kHB-E&feature=player_embedded
Here is a link to Subbable itself: https://subbable.com/
Remember to be awesome people.
Extra Viewing Material:
http://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers?feature=watch
http://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse
http://www.youtube.com/user/scishow
So what do you guys think about this?
Now, about two years ago the VLog Brothers (if you haven't heard of them I will put a link to their YouTube Channels below for you to use for extra reading should you choose to since they are awesome) got a grant from Google to create education content on YouTube. They decided to make the Crash Course videos, which are also known as how I survived high-school biology, and world history. Also as how I am going to survive chemistry next year.
The problem is, their grant money is running out and they haven't quite managed to make the show self-sustaining. Which makes sense, YouTube videos are dependent on Advertising (much like the Escapist itself I suppose) and they are making Education videos which aren't exactly prone to going viral and getting a ton of views to rake in the Ad Money.
So, as the VLog brothers are apt to do, they have decided that the advertising system is flawed since it doesn't care about the quality of content that is advertised, only the quantity of hits a page or video receives. Also as they are apt to do, they are creating a solution instead of just sitting around and complaining and/or talking about it like me. The solution is Subbable, a website similar to Kickstarter, but with a few differences.
Rather than up-front donations, Subbable is a opt-in subscription service which allows the viwer to set the ammount they pay monthly to support the content. Think of it as a automatic monthly Kickstarter donation to make sure that the content keeps getting made. The VLog Brothers intend to make all of their content freely avalable to the public, they hope that enough of their fans will drop into Subbable and pay to support the continuation of Crash Course (their other channels, VLog Brothers and SciShow get enough views to support, they also don't cost as much to create).
But they aren't stopping there, that would be a cop-out. They are designing subbable to accept other content creators into its program. This looks like another Kickstarter Boom waiting to happen. Imagine the Penny Arcade guys getting ahold of this? Or the guys over at Giant in the Playground. Or even the guy who makes Keychain of Creation (The guys at Darths and Droids probably wouldn't touch this for fear of litigation)? Not to mention the numerous YouTube creators who make great videos, but who don't make things that are likely to turn into viral ad revenue goldmines.
Also the Escapist could probably hook into the system themselves. Might even be able to axe the ads on the page if enough of us put in enough monthly.
This system could let the niche projects like MSPA, or Order of the Stick, or Keychain get made not only without advertisements, but with their paycheck literally coming straight from their fans?
And now, because this wall of text is big enough to annoy the natives, here is a video version of TL:TLTR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc3_o0kHB-E&feature=player_embedded
Here is a link to Subbable itself: https://subbable.com/
Remember to be awesome people.
Extra Viewing Material:
http://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers?feature=watch
http://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse
http://www.youtube.com/user/scishow
So what do you guys think about this?