Streaming income harder to earn for indie producers

I’ve seen several signs lately that the world of online streaming is now contracting — the major platforms are reducing options and payouts for independent filmmakers.

YOUTUBE

Youtube gave us little guys the ability to monetize a few years ago, but now they’re raising the minimum threshold. Now creators need over 1000 followers to receive ad revenue. Interesting, that if you have a one-off viral hit, but not enough subscribers, you won’t earn. I still have aspirations of creating awesome content that people want to see, but not at the volume it would take to gain 1000 followers.

VIMEO

There’s Vimeo Free, Plus, and Pro. I do the Plus at $60 a year. Gives me enough to share big uploads with clients, including a feature if necessary. 5gb upload cap weekly.

I would only do Pro if I wanted to sell videos through Vimeo. I don’t have anything worth selling that would gross me at least $250 a year, though. As a user, I have purchased a few Vimeo shorts in past years, and I like using the app on my Roku to watch on TV.

VHX

I’ve tried VHX (now owned by Vimeo) for selling my short, The Other Gods. Their pricing structure changed since I first signed up, though. I think I’m grandfathered in on a free tier and people selling feature films now have to pay an upfront fee.

AMAZON

Amazon Video Direct just took us indie producers down a peg. It’s gone from 15 cents an hour payout to 6 cents an hour. Unless you’ve got 500,000 hours of downloads, then you graduate to the 15 cents tier. Doesn’t make any sense. They must have been getting a lot of garbage uploaded and are now trying to cut back by lowering the incentive. Personally, I thought 15 cents was an insult. I was making about $5 a month with my short, now it’s gonna be about $2 if people keep watching at the same rate. The Other Gods is also availabe for sale for non-Prime subscribers (see below)

VIDEO AS A SERVICE

Meanwhile, I’m subscribing to Moviepass, which lets me see unlimited theatrical movies (practically) for $10 a month. So if you look at Moviepass/Netflix/Youtube as trends, content will be experienced by the public more as a service than as a one-at-a-time purchase — like Spotify and other music services. As a producer, it’s no good having one item, you need hundreds of videos or series to break through the noise and make a living.