Official Blog
VidCon 2018: Helping creators earn more money and build stronger communities
Thursday, June 21, 2018
I just stepped off the stage at VidCon, a conference created from scratch by Hank and John Green in 2010 that brings together fans, creators, and industry leaders to celebrate the power of online video. I talked about how over the last 13 years, YouTube has grown from an ambitious idea into a worldwide movement built on free expression and the power of openness.
With more than 1.9 billion logged-in users who come to YouTube every month and localized versions stretching across 90 countries and 80 languages, we’re opening up the world to anyone with a cell phone and an internet connection.
YouTube is a vibrant community where everyone has a voice. Every day, creators use their voice to entertain, spur action and bring about positive change. That’s why over the last year we’ve doubled down on building the products and tools that the creator community needs. Not only to thrive on YouTube, but to continue to develop the video platform of the future.
The next big steps for creator monetization
YouTube lets creators connect with their community and gives them the opportunity to earn money while doing what they love. Thanks to advertisers, creators around the world have been able to build businesses, creating an entirely new global economy that’s seen incredible growth. The number of creators earning five figures a year is up by 35 percent and the number of creators earning six figures is up by 40 percent. As in previous years, the vast majority of the revenue is coming from our advertising partners. We’ll continue investing here, but we also want to think beyond ads. Creators should have as many ways and opportunities to make money as possible.
We’ve been working on new tools that not only help creators better engage with their fans, they also enable them to make money while doing it. This is an idea that really began last year with
Super Chat
, a product that allows fans to purchase messages that stand out within a live chat. We’ve seen tremendous success with Super Chat and have since expanded to
Ticketing
,
Merchandise
,
Channel Memberships
and more. We’re also bringing creators and brands together to form unique marketing partnerships via
FameBit
.
Channel Memberships
With Channel Memberships, viewers pay a monthly recurring fee of
$4.99
to get unique badges, new emoji, Members-only posts in the Community tab, and access to unique custom perks offered by creators, such as exclusive livestreams, extra videos, or shout-outs. Channel Memberships have already been available for a select group of creators on YouTube as Sponsorships. We’ve seen a lot of creators find success with this new business model. So, we’ll soon be expanding this to
eligible channels
with more than 100,000 subscribers on YouTube under the new name Channel Memberships. We hope to bring it to even more creators in the coming months.
Creators who have already been experimenting with this feature on YouTube have seen encouraging results. Since launching in January, comedy creator
Mike Falzone
more than tripled his YouTube revenue. And traveling duo
Simon and Martina
have built a closer-knit community and revamped a miniseries exclusively for their members, in more than 30 countries from Finland to the Philippines.
Merchandise
Merchandise has been a part of many creators’ businesses for a long time. We want to make it easier for more creators to sell merch directly from their channel. So we’ve built a product that allows them to do just that. From shirts with a logo to phone cases with a creator’s face, we’ve joined forces with Teespring so creators can choose from over 20 merchandise items to customize and sell via a shelf on their channel. This will be available to all eligible U.S.-based channels with over 10,000 subscribers starting today, and we plan to bring even more merchandising partners and creators in soon.
Just take a look at Joshua Slice’s merchandise shelf. The creator of
Lucas the Spider
recently turned his hero character into a
plushie
selling over 60,000 furry friends and generating over $1 million in profit in just 18 days, according to Teespring.
Introducing Premieres
The engagement between fans and creators is at the heart of YouTube. We’re working on new ways to help creators strengthen those unique bonds. Livestreams have brought the YouTube community together during the biggest
music
,
science
, and
gaming
events. We’ve also built a
Community Tab
that allows creators to move beyond just video to build even deeper connections with fans through GIFs, pics, polls, and text. And we’ve started experimenting with our take on
Stories
, but designed specifically for YouTube creators—coming to all eligible creators with more than 10,000 subscribers later this year.
Today, we’re introducing a new way for creators to upload content to YouTube called Premieres. With Premieres, creators will be able to debut pre-recorded videos as a live moment. When creators choose to release a Premiere, we’ll automatically create a public landing page to build anticipation and hype up new content. When all fans show up to watch the premiere, they’ll be able to chat with each other (and with the creator!) in real time via live chat. It’s as if a creator’s entire community is in one theater together watching their latest upload.
Premieres also unlocks new revenue streams. For the first time, creators can use Super Chat on traditional YouTube uploads and take advantage of Channel Memberships perks that were previously only available on Live videos.
Premieres are starting to roll out to creators today and will be available broadly soon. If you want to experience one for yourself, check out some upcoming premieres from creators such as
Leroy Sanchez
,
JacksFilms
,
Jackson Bird
, and
Ari Fitz
, with more Premieres coming from
Corridor Digital
and
Inanna Sarkis
soon.
YouTube creators are the heartbeat of our platform. That’s why we’re committed to building products that empower and support the creator community. We hope these tools help creators build a stronger community and earn more money while doing it, because when they succeed, the entire YouTube community thrives.
Neal Mohan, Chief Product Officer, recently watched "
Lucas the Spider - Plush Introduction
."
Updates from VidCon: more users, more products, more shows and much more
Thursday, June 22, 2017
I just got off stage after a great conversation with Rhett and Link at VidCon, where we announced a number of exciting new updates. We spoke about VR, YouTube TV, new original series and a number of improvements to the core YouTube experience. Let’s talk about that!
An update on our viewers:
A question I get all the time is “How many people actually watch YouTube?” Today, I’m pleased to announce that we crossed a big threshold:
1.5 billion logged in viewers visit YouTube every single month.
That’s the equivalent of one in every five people around the world! And how much do those people watch? On average,
our viewers spend over an hour a day
watching YouTube on mobile devices alone.
Making VR for everyone:
I also spoke about how we want to make VR more accessible and more affordable for viewers and creators. The reality is, filming 360-degree VR videos isn’t easy for most creators and some VR cameras are expensive. That’s why I’m thrilled that YouTube and Daydream have worked together on a new format,
VR180
, and new cameras, which make it easy and affordable for anyone to make VR videos. This format delivers 3-D video while capturing 180-degrees around you. Creators only have to worry about recording what’s in front of them while viewers get an awesome, immersive experience with a VR headset, or a video that looks just as great on a phone as any other video. Best of all, we’re working with camera manufacturers like LG, Yi and Lenovo to build new VR180 cameras for as little as a couple hundred dollars—comparable to what you’d pay for a point-and-shoot.
A new look for our app and desktop site:
We want to make sure YouTube gives you the best experience when it comes to creating and watching videos. Perhaps our most important job is to show off your videos in the best possible way, no matter what format you choose to shoot them in. Who cares if they’re vertical or horizontal? Shot on a mobile phone or DSLR? Square, 4:3 or 16:9?
In the coming weeks, the YouTube mobile app will dynamically adapt to whatever size you choose to watch it in. That means if you’re watching a vertical, square or horizontal video, the YouTube player will seamlessly adapt itself, filling the screen exactly the way they should.
We want things to look just as good on your desktop, too. Last month, we
opened up
a preview of a new desktop experience. The new design is clean and fresh, and it has new features, such as a super cool Dark Theme that gives videos more of a cinematic look.
Sharing is caring:
We’re making it a whole lot easier for you to share your favorite YouTube videos with friends. Last year, we announced a new sharing feature that lets you share videos right from the YouTube app. In a couple weeks, it’ll be available in Latin America and then throughout the U.S. soon after that.
More markets for YouTube TV:
We are really excited about
YouTube TV
and pleased that it will be expanding to ten more markets in just a couple of weeks, including: Dallas-Fort Worth, Washington, D.C., Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne and Charlotte. YouTube TV was built for the YouTube generation that loves live TV but wants it delivered in a way that suits their mobile and flexible lifestyles. In fact, we see more Millennials using YouTube TV than any other generational group. Now - with this expansion - millions more people will be able to stream their favorite live sports and must-see shows from top broadcast and cable networks.
Sign up
to find out when we launch in your market.
New slate of YouTube Red Originals:
To date, we've launched 37 original series and movies on
YouTube Red
, and they've generated nearly a quarter billion views. We are excited about working with our partners to help them create incredible content that delights their fans. Today, we shared details on 12 new projects coming to YouTube Red—here's the preview:
Watch the latest shows from YouTube's biggest stars
I always have an incredible time at VidCon and this year is no different. I met amazing fans and inspirational creators and I experienced, first-hand, the wonderful sense of community and belonging between them. I hope some of these features and announcements will make their YouTube experience—and yours—better than ever.
Susan Wojcicki, CEO, YouTube recently watched Good Mythical Morning —
What’s All Over My Body (CHALLENGE)
YouTube is what you make it
Friday, July 29, 2011
Did you ever think you’d be a part of a revolution? Wonder if your contributions to the world would add up to something greater?
As we take the stage today at
VidCon 2011
, I can tell you for certain that they have. This two day gathering of annoying oranges, ukulele stars, voracious vloggers, super fans and thousands of other YouTubers like you is about changing the media landscape—one upload, view and mashup at a time. Not satisfied with just watching media, you've become the media. Not satisfied with flipping channels complaining there’s nothing on, you’ve created new ones with hundreds of millions of viewers, some of which will become as well known as networks like MTV, CNN and ESPN.
To all the people who are creating content on YouTube, THANK YOU. You have built the site into what it is today and we’re as committed as ever to providing you with the tools you need to make high quality videos and drive audiences to your channels. Initiatives like
YouTube NextUp
, the
YouTube Creator Institute
, and the revamped
Creator Hub
are part of this effort, as is the work we’re doing to make YouTube easy to
watch on TV
. And keep the feedback coming on
Cosmic Panda
—we look forward to re-inventing with you how YouTube works and feels in the future.
If you weren’t able to make it to VidCon this year and are eager to catch some familiar YouTube faces, we’ll be
livestreaming a special VidCon performance
on Saturday at 5pm PT. Come by and check it out!
Salar Kamangar, Head of YouTube, recently watched “
VidCon 2011 Approaches
.”
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