NBC News hit the top of YouTube’s trending tab by streaming James Comey’s Senate testimony on Thursday morning, but that wasn’t the only online video news The Peacock delivered this week. It also teased the launch of Left Field, a social video unit that will create short clips for platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
Details about Left Field are still sparse, but the unit’s introductory video says the venture will explain “what happens when filmmakers, programmers and journalists from all over the world come together to create a new digital video unit within America’s first broadcaster.” Variety, in reporting on Left Field, has also managed to dig up a job posting from earlier this year that offers a few more hints about the sort of work NBC’s forthcoming unit is expected to produce.
“The group’s work will be found at the intersection of technology, shoe-leather reporting, and avant-garde video storytelling — all aimed at mobiles, social, and set-top boxes,” reads the posting. “And we’ll begin our journey by developing innovative video products in several areas, including creative news-based documentaries (domestic and international) and VR — all while taking advantage of creative treatments as well as NBC’s internal mountain of archive.”
NBC News will not be the first TV journalism brand to spearhead a social-facing video producer. CNN, for example, has funded Great Big Story, which has used an eclectic collection of newsy videos to reach more than 4.3 million followers on Facebook alone.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on NBC News Teases Social-Friendly Digital Video Unit Called Left Field
With its latest endeavor, Shudder hopes to send fresh chills down the spines of its subscribers. The SVOD service, launched in 2014 by AMC Networks, has unveiled its first slate of original programs and has premiered the first of those shows, titled Primal Scream.
Shudder is aimed at horror fans, and its original programs — which were announced six days before Primal Scream’s arrival — fit neatly into that genre. Primal Scream, for example, is a hybrid documentary/horror series that delves into human psychology to figure out what exactly makes scares compelling as entertainment. Its creator, Rodney Ascher, is known for his documentary Room 237, which explored Stanley Kubrick’s classic film The Shining.
“Fear, obsession, and people’s attempts to understand these things are a particular focus of mine,” said Ascher in a press release. “Shudder was a fantastic partner and they gave me the freedom to dive deep into this new rabbit hole. I’m thrilled to present Primal Screen on a streaming service that showcases an expansive collection of Mario Bava films, a wide selection of horror-documentaries and a great variety of thrilling entertainment.”
Those pieces of content Ascher refers to don’t come for free. Instead, Shudder subscribers pay $4.99 per month for access to a library of horror films and series. The service’s execs view the development of originals as a “natural progression,” according to the press release, and Shudder has developed four more projects that are expected to join Primal Screen in the near future. Details about the entire slate can be found via The Hollywood Reporter, and current subscribers can check out the first episode of Primal Screen right here.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on AMC’s Shudder Service Premieres Its First Original Series For Horror Fans
Unboxing is a powerful YouTube format that holds enough sway to significantly influence consumer trends, and a new company wants to take advantage of those truths. Eric Feng, who spent three years at Hulu after being hired as its first CTO back in 2007, is the founder of Packagd, a startup that will leverage the power of shoppable videos through several different products.
At launch, Packagd is throwing its weight behind Unboxed, an app that focuses on the unboxing category and the many popular creators who ply their respective trades within it. The app will share reviews from popular unboxers like Austin Evans, DenkOps, and Dom Esposito. The featured videomakers won’t upload their work directly to Unboxed; instead, the app will fetch content from YouTube and will include a chat section where potential consumers can interact with each other and with the creators whose videos they are watching. Finally, an Apple Pay integration will allow Unboxed users to buy products directly from the app.
The unboxing trend isn’t the only one Packagd is buying into. Its general concept — a platform focused on converting viewers into buyers — follows efforts by tech companies like YouTube and Instagram, which have worked in recent years to make their content shoppable.
As noted by Variety, Packagd closed a $6 million funding round led by Forerunner Ventures and GV shortly before launching Unboxed. “Packagd’s apps have the ability to redefine the mobile shopping industry, combining the best aspects of YouTube with Facebook’s live social interactions and Amazon’s effortless shopping experience in one platform for consumers,” said Forerunner Ventures founder Kirsten Green in a statement.
Beyond Unboxed, Packagd also has at least two more apps in the works. One will focus on toys and the other will hone in on the massive beauty category.
Filed under: Uncategorized by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Startup Led By Former Hulu CTO Looks To Cash In On YouTube Unboxing Videos
Though YouTube has taken steps to curb fallout from the so-called ‘Adpocalypse‘ — whereby many brands pulled ads from the platform earlier this year after discovering that they had run against explicit and extremist videos — it may have more work to do.
Once again, U.K. companies, as well as both of the country’s major political parties — who were running ads in the lead-up to today’s general election — have suspended advertising on YouTube after discovering that their campaigns had run against content promoting Islamic extremism, reports The Wall Street Journal. In addition to the U.K.’s Conservative and Labour Parties, Etihad Airways, meal-delivery startup Deliveroo, and Marriott International have also yanked ads.
The renewed controversy arrives on the heels of a terror attack in London last weekend that resulted in eight deaths, and a suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena in May that killed 22 people after an Ariana Grande concert.
A YouTube spokeswoman told the Journal that the platform was still in the process of reviewing its ad policies, and working to better harness where ads appear. She added: “We never want terrorists to have a voice, or spread extremist material on our services.” In addition to new safeguards announced by Google in March, a tool is also in the works — for release in the third quarter — that will provide marketers with a full list of videos that their ads have run against, according to the Journal.
The YouTube ad boycott first kicked off in the U.K. last March, ultimately triggering marketers stateside, including AT&T, Verizon, Pepsi, and Walmart, to pull ads from the site. Subsequently, YouTube has sought a tricky balance: to furnish new tools to protect marketers from having their ads run against inappropriate videos, while simultaneously helping to ensure creators that their videos aren’t being unjustly demonetized.
Filed under: YouTube by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on YouTube Adpocalyspe Rolls On As U.K. Political Parties, More Companies Yank Spend
Welcome to YouTube Millionaires, where we profile channels that have recently crossed the one million subscriber mark. There are channels crossing this threshold every week, and each has a story to tell about YouTube success. Read previous installments of YouTube Millionaires here.
In the world of builders who fabricate famous items from pop culture franchises, James Hobson goes the extra mile. Hobson is the creator and star of The Hacksmith, where he has shared real-life versions of Captain America’s shield, Iron Man’s jets, and Batman’s Batarang. Hobson, more than just a science nerd, is also a savvy business who has turned The Hacksmith into a full-fledged company; he’s even given a TED Talk about his operation. Here’s his candid chat with us about his past, present, and future hacks.
Tubefilter: How does it feel to have more than one million subscribers? What do you have to say to your fans?
James Hobson: It feels amazing.
I’ve been chasing this YouTube dream for years, and getting that gold play button was really validating. It means that it has all been worthwhile, and that I’m doing exactly what I should be doing with my life and this business.
Our channel is also an educational outlet for youth around the world, inspiring them to explore STEM fields and to pursue complicated projects that will further improve their engineering abilities. Our fans leave an abundance of uplifting comments and honestly those comments mean so much to us and give us the drive to create even more exciting projects and videos. Hearing that kind of feedback means so much more to us than just seeing the view or subscriber counts go up!
We’d just like to thank all of our fans, new and old, for joining us on this journey, and we hope you are as excited as we are about the future!
TF: Your channel has grown quite rapidly over the past couple of years. Why do you think that is?
JH: A couple? Honestly, almost all of our channel growth has been in the past year! But let me back up a second.
Technically, I’ve been on YouTube for over a decade now. I first signed up in April of 2006, and back then, I was just using YouTube as a platform to share videos I made with my friends. But I actually had a viral video back then too, and that kind of gave me a taste “internet fame”. I had made a backflip tutorial that somehow became the number one backflip tutorial on the net for a good five years and I gained a few thousand subscribers because of it! Unfortunately, the YouTube partner program was rather exclusive back then so I never made any money off of it. I continued making videos occasionally, but usually just for fun.
In 2012 I graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering from Conestoga College, around the same time that YouTube opened the partner program up to everyone. I decided “what the heck — let’s try it again.” I started producing content one to two times a week. That’s when I came up with the name “the Hacksmith” — it’s kind of a throwback to blacksmithing. Back in the day, the blacksmith was the person you’d go to have things fixed, designed, or built; weapons, armor, tools etc. Consider a Hacksmith to be a 21st century spin on the term — a jack of all trades, proficient at most things, but not necessarily an expert at any!
For the first couple of years, I didn’t get much traction. I was putting out content, but was having a hard time finding an audience. In the summer of 2014 I started working on one of my biggest projects — my pneumatic powered exoskeleton based off of the movie Elysium. It was a 16 part series, culminating in my first major test where I curled 170lbs using my creation. That video got a lot of news attention, and my channel doubled in size from 20,000 to 40,000 subscribers!
I’d say that was the moment I really thought “Hey, this could work… I could do YouTube on a larger scale…”
I continued to invest in tools and equipment, and eventually, my shop. I took out a large mortgage from the bank and purchased a house complete with a 1800 square foot warehouse sized garage on the lot. I really lucked out finding this place, and credit having it to being crucial to my success. It wasn’t easy though — the place was in shambles when I took it over. In the first year we probably spent more time cleaning it out and renovating it than we did on projects.
Not even a year after signing the mortgage, I was getting bored at my job. I was a Product Developer for a really cool tech company, but I was burning the candle at both ends trying to do both it, and YouTube. In November 2015, I took the plunge and started doing YouTube full-time exclusively. And that’s when the magic started.
I focused on increasing production quality, and learning from other YouTubers on how to do that. We started another exoskeleton build, this time based on one from the video game series Call of Duty. It wasn’t long before we hit the 100K subscriber milestone. Ian Hillier, my best friend from highschool and college (who often helped behind the scenes) decided to join me, and left his job to work full-time on the channel as well.
We both took massive risks, living off dwindling savings to keep working on the channel — but then we had our first major success. We designed and built a working Captain America Shield, complete with an electromagnet bracer, just like in the movie. Except in the movie — it was all CGI. The project went mega viral, and we grew to half a million subscribers in just over a month!
Because we already had a huge library of content on the channel, for every view on the viral video, we saw 2-3 views on our older content as well — and I think this is what spiked the massive growth in subscribers! New viewers saw that we weren’t just a one trick pony, and were excited to see more content.
The channel has experienced near linear growth from then, averaging close to 100,000 new subscribers per month, and accelerating. We cracked the 1 million milestone in early 2017, and we’re hoping to double that by the end of this summer!
For more information about my journey on YouTube, I filmed a very candid interview called “One Year on YouTube — from 50K to 1M Subscribers” which outlines exactly how I’ve gotten to where I am today.
TF: What would you say makes your operation unique within YouTube’s “nerd builds” genre?
JH: There are lots of channels out there making cool gadgets and random inventions, but I think we’re the ones taking it the farthest. We focus mostly on making real-life superhero tech — and then using, it too. Basically, watching our channel is like watching the beginning of a superhero origin story. I’m not saying I’m actually going to fight crime or anything, but it’s certainly the inspirational vibe we’re going for.
We’ve got the super cool workshop, we’ve got the awesome technology and equipment, and we’ve got the team. But, we don’t quite have the money just yet. It would be so much easier if I had started out as an eccentric millionaire…unfortunately I’m just eccentric.
The fun part about our videos is that they aren’t just nitty gritty nerd builds. We focus a lot of time on making our epic tests, which feature all the explosions and action scenes that appeal to a much larger audience.
I also think we’re one of the only channels really treating our business like an engineering R&D company. There are lots of maker channels out there, but not many with a big shop, and all the fancy tools (3D printers, laser cutters, CNC machines and every power tool you can think of), oh and a whole team of people working on creating projects! I think we kind of give off a bit of a Mythbusters vibe, which is awesome!
So because of that, I think one of our other main differences is our long-term goals for the business. For some people, YouTube might be the end-game, but we see it as more of a stepping stone.
If (when) our channel grows to the 5-10 million subscriber size, we could potentially support a team of 10+ engineers, and actually be a fairly powerful and innovative engineering R&D company — whose home is on YouTube. If that’s not unique, I don’t know what is! With a team like that we could work on even more complex projects, and potentially, real inventions that we could actually manufacture and sell!
The real end goal is to become a company not unlike Stark Industries, or if you’re more of a DC fan, WayneTech Enterprises. But don’t worry though — we’ll keep video production at the core of the business. How cool would it be to see more into Elon Musk’s crazy life at Tesla or SpaceX?
Whatever we end up doing, it’ll be super cool — and we’ll be taking you along for the ride.
TF: Where do you get ideas for new things to make, and how long does one of your builds take from start to finish?
JH: Coming up with ideas is the easy part; choosing what to work on and what not to work on is the hard part. Honestly, we have a never ending list of ideas to pursue! A lot come from movies, comics and even video games — which for us, makes it pretty easy to get inspired. As our channel continues to grow and we get better equipment in the shop, we’re going to take on even more “impossible” projects, which is super exciting!
Some of our projects only take a few days to design and build; others, weeks or even several months. It really depends on the project. Sometimes the video takes more time to produce than the actual project does.
We usually have several projects on the backburner at all times. Sometimes, projects will sit on the shelf for months or even years just waiting to get finished. Sometimes it is funding that is holding us back — sometimes the technology itself.
TF: Have there ever been any things you’ve tried to build that you ultimately deemed unfeasible?
JH: Aha, good question! We have lots of project ideas that aren’t quite feasible with current technology — but that’s not stopping us from dreaming them up and putting them on the back burner for when that day comes. The biggest thing holding most sci-fi tech is the power source. If something like Tony Stark’s arc reactor could be made, it would unlock the possibilities for so many inventions — it would literally cause a paradigm shift in technology. I’m not talking batteries that are 5-10 times better (though that would be a great start!) but 100-1000 times. It would revolutionize the world!
However, speaking of the present, a specific project we’ve had difficulties with is our Flying like Iron Man series, which has been one of our most popular projects. The issue is, it’s a super expensive project. Estimated costs for building it are around $75,000 and while our fans really want to see us fly like Iron Man — our GoFundMe campaign fell a little short.
In about 6 months, we raised just over $3000 — which we’re super grateful for — but that isn’t even be enough to buy one of the EDFs we would like to test for the project (they’re $5000 each). Does that mean we’re giving up? Hell no.
In that time we’ve talked to several companies and managed to get agreements in place to have some of the simpler components sponsored for the project — which adds up. With that in mind — we should be able to do the project for under $40,000 now. The tricky part is that we’re still left with either using expensive EDFs — or designing our own (both time consuming and riskier). For the latter option, we’ve also managed to score a SolidWorks sponsorship for the business — which means, we now have access to professional software that will allow us to design and simulate our flight project prior to even building it. To give you an idea of the value of that software, each software license is worth well over $25,000 with the simulation plugins, so while we haven’t posted many video updates on the project, rest assured we’ve still been working on it behind the scenes.
Anyway, as we continue to design the project, we’re planning on doing another fundraising push to try and raise the remaining $37,000 we need to build it — and hey, if you want to see the project come together faster — you can check out our fundraising campaign here.
TF: You speak a lot about the financial aspects of your content creation. What’s one change you’d like to see YouTube make to help its creators make a more livable income?
JH: Honestly, my biggest concern with YouTube is with their Content ID system. It’s too easy for big players to shut down little channels, and there’s no real way for the little channels to fight back. We’ve seen this happen a few times where little channels have gotten shut down after getting three false flags, and unless you’re a big channel, YouTube’s not necessarily going to help you out, or if they are, you’re not exactly a priority case.
I like where the revenue sharing copyright policy for certain music is going, but I think it needs to be even more sophisticated. For example, let’s say I make a 30 minute long video, and feature 30 seconds of a popular song that has a revenue-share policy (remember most songs don’t even have a revenue-share policy, they just take 100% of the ad revenue). Under the current revenue-sharing system it would be a 50/50 revenue split for the ads. Does that make sense? Not really.
So how would you determine the split? Should it be 1% because the music was only featured in 1% of the video? What if there were multiple songs in the video? While it might make sense to do a duration based split — getting all the music labels on board would be near impossible for YouTube. So while it would be awesome for a system like that to be put in place…it’s quite unlikely it’s even possible for YouTube achieve — but hey, we can dream right?
TF: Alternatively, what’s a financial tip you would give someone who is just starting out on YouTube?
JH: Always have a side-hustle.
While it’s true diving headfirst into YouTube and giving it your all is super important to succeeding…if you end up broke after a few months you’re pretty much out of luck. What I did was I had several part-time freelancing jobs on the side. I was able to supplement my income doing that — basically focusing on the highest paying work for the least amount of time — which allowed me to focus the majority of my time, on YouTube. That’s what will allow you to keep pushing forward on your dream.
But it’s also important to be realistic.Take a real hard look at your plan for YouTube. Unless you’re super unique, or you’ve got something that no one else has, it’s going to be hard to get a foothold and grow your presence on the platform. I’m not saying give up — but you have to be realistic. A lot of the really big channels are big because they’ve been around for so long. Do you think PewDiePie could replicate his success today if no one knew who he was? Probably not.
With that in mind, if you don’t have something that’s unique to you — find something! Because trying to compete with the established players in an established niche (gaming, basic DIY, vlogging, etc) is almost a sure-fire way to fail. I’m not trying to being pessimistic — just realistic.
If you want to succeed on YouTube, you have to bring something new to the table. Here’s a few of our best tips for success:
Minimize your expenses so you can maximize your runway. Live in your parents basement and film on a used camera if you have to. It is far easier to start spending money than it is to stop.
Diversify your social media presence and use each platform to complement the others, they all have different uses.
Diversify your revenue streams so that if one of them dries up unexpectedly, you are still making money — YouTube isn’t and shouldn’t be your main source.
Avoid sponsorship deals that are not good for your channel. There are many companies that will send you free stuff but want a dedicated review in return. Free stuff is awesome but it is usually not worth the damage it could do to your channel — the last thing you want is to be labeled a sell-out and lose any credibility you might of had.
Finally, don’t sign with an MCN, agent or any other representative until you have done your due diligence. There are many companies out there that just want a cut of your earnings without helping you in return. Avoid exclusive agreements altogether unless it is a very good fit and negotiate the contract so that you can easily leave if it is not working out.
TF: There’s a lot of stuff like your Hacksmith videos on TV. Is that a format you’re curious about exploring at all?
JH: Honestly we’ve been approached by dozens and dozens of production companies interested in working on a series with us, but the issue is, all the networks are still too old school! They just want TV content without any connection to our YouTube brand — but, if I disappeared for a few months from YouTube to film a show, it could seriously hurt our channel — and there’s no guarantee the show even goes anywhere! Digital media is the future after all.
The only relationship I could see working is if both our YouTube channel and the TV show cross-promote content — offer behind the scenes footage and extended cuts on YouTube, keep the TV show the highly produced episodes — maybe a Mythbusters style kinda of thing. If anything, I think an arrangement like that would have even higher audience engagement!
Think about Hollywood — actors are starting to Tweet and Instagram behind the scenes stuff during production — in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s in their contracts that they have to share certain things — as it all builds up hype for the movie or show!
I guess what I’m saying is, it could be awesome to be on TV — but it’d have to be the right deal for it to work out.
TF: What’s next for your channel? Any fun plans?
JH: Well, we’re hoping to crack two million subscribers by end of summer, and as we continue to grow — we’re going to be able to take on bigger and bigger projects! We invest everything back into the business, growing the team and expanding our capabilities. I am super excited to find out what the future holds for us.
In the meantime, we are currently working on building a real burning lightsaber, a laser bazooka, Wonder Woman’s indestructible bracelets, a variety of overpowered electric vehicles, and much much more.
One project I’d love to do is the Power Loader from the original Alien franchise. Essentially a wearable forklift that would be capable of flipping cars. It’s completely feasible with today’s tech… it’d just cost more than a new car to build!
Oh — and of course, someday… we want to build a full Iron Man suit.
of uplifting comments and honestly those comments mean so much to us and give us the drive to create even more exciting projects and videos. Hearing that kind of feedback means so much more to us than just seeing the view or subscriber counts go up!
We’d just like to thank all of our fans, new and old, for joining us on this journey, and we hope you are as excited as we are about the future!
Filed under: Articles, Featured, Millionaires, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on YouTube Millionaires: The Hacksmith Is Like “The Beginning Of A Superhero Origin Story”
Wattpad star A.V. Geiger, who counts more than 200,000 followers on the story-sharing platform, has released this week a social media-tinged thriller titled Follow Me Back.
The YA thriller initially rose to popularity on Wattpad, where its first draft received millions of hits and peaked as the #1 mystery/thriller on the site. The novel was subsequently published on Tuesday by Sourcebooks Fire.
Follow Me Back tells the story of an agoraphobic teen named Tessa Hart, who pines for pop star Eric Thorn. Thorn, who becomes fed up with fame, forms an unlikely bond with Hart via Twitter — though when they finally meet up in in real life, the encounter turns deadly. The novel employs unique formatting elements, according to its jacket description, and is told via police transcripts, Twitter DMs, and dual points of view.
New Jersey-based Geiger is part of the Wattpad Stars Program — an accelerator initiative for top writers that links top scribes with bold-faced publishers and brands. Her original work — much of which is rooted in celebrity fan fiction — has received millions of hits on the site to date.
A sequel to Follow Me Back, slated to publish next summer, is already in the works. Geiger will also be hosting a launch event at her local Barnes & Noble on June 10.
Check out the book trailer for Follow Me Back below:
Filed under: Wattpad by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on Wattpad Scribe A.V. Geiger Releases Social Media-Driven Thriller ‘Follow Me Back’
Tuesday, June 27, 2017 at Busby’s East Early Bird Tickets WILL SELL OUT – Get your tickets now!
Beauty norms continue to evolve with each new generation of creators, who are presenting new ideas of what it means to be beautiful while challenging old pardigms. One thing that remains constant is the power of personal identity and the authenticity that can only come with being true to yourself.
In this second installment of the Tubefilter + SNARLED Women In Video Panel Series, we tackle the important issue of established beauty norms and how those norms affect creators and viewers alike in their personal and professional development. More importantly, we will hear from leading voices on what they’re doing to change the beauty business—both from the inside and out.
Tuesday, June 27, 2017 at Busby’s East Early Bird Tickets WILL SELL OUT – Get your tickets now!
Tubefilter + SNARLED Women In Video Series
It’s back! By popular demand, the Tubefilter Meetup is coming back to Los Angeles. We’ve teamed up with SNARLED, one of the fastest-growing alternative women’s networks, to bring a new series of meetups throughout the year focused on new creative and diverse female voices.
For too long, the mainstream media has trivialized young women’s needs, wants, and concerns with a deluge of vapid editorial. Traditional publishers struggle to maintain the “authenticity” they have been selling their advertisers as their influence declines. Women focused groups and interests that used to be considered fringe or niche are finding massive audiences with their unique points of view. And with the rapid evolution of online video and social media, young women are gravitating toward creators across multiple platforms to find voices that represent their own.
Join us as we sit down with some of the most successful creators, talent, and programmers who are leading the charge in bringing niche female programming from alternative to mainstream.
Tuesday, June 27, 2017 at Busby’s East Early Bird Tickets WILL SELL OUT – Get your tickets now!
The Tubefilter Meetup
With over 25,000 members on its roster, the Tubefilter Meetup brings together the most dynamic group of online entertainment professionals in the industry.
Check out the schedule below for our entire Tubefilter Meetup schedule. Mark your calendars accordingly.
Wednesday, March 29, 2017 • Bringing Alternative Mainstream—How Niche Female Programming Is Capturing Big Audiences
Tuesday, June 27, 2017 • Going Out of Style—Challenging Beauty Norms Of Traditional Media
Tuesday, September 19, 2017 • Social (Issue) Media—Women Creating Meaning Through Creativity
Tuesday, December 5, 2017 • The Evolution of Females In Comedy
Filed under: News, Tubefilter Meetup by Drew Baldwin Comments Off on Tubefilter Meetup: Going Out of Style—Challenging Beauty Norms of Traditional Media
The compensation of musicians and their collaborators across the digital landscape has been a particularly hot topic over the past year or so, and while platforms like YouTube continue to engage in a tug-of-war with record labels, a young company is hoping to ensure that artists earn what they are owed. Stem, a company that helps its users aggregate revenue-claiming efforts across all the digital destinations on which their songs are distributed, has raised an $8 million Series A funding round Aspect Ventures and Evolution Media.
Stem, which works primarily within the world of music but has also been connected to comedians and vloggers, helps its users track the amount of ad revenue they pull in on its supported platforms, which right now areSpotify, YouTube, Apple, SoundCloud, Amazon Music, Tidal, Pandora, Google Play, Beatport, Saavn, and Deezer. Stem also helps its partners find previously untapped revenue streams and makes it easy for artists to deliver a portion of their earnings to collaborators.
The new funding round will be crucial for Stem as it expands. It is currently in private beta but has struck deals with a number of high-profile users, including Frank Ocean (pictured above) and Childish Gambino.
Stem’s previous funding includes an undisclosed 2015 seed round led by Mark Cuban and a 2016 effort through which it linked up with several notable investors, including the managers of Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and Calvin Harris.
As the digital music rights business continues to shift, Stem’s investors hope the young company will become a valued part of the ecosystem. “We think a lot is changing in the music space and that’s creating a lot of opportunity,” said Evolution Media principal Ian Doody.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Stem Raises $8 Million To Help Musicians Gather Revenue On Digital Streams And Videos
YouTube has released some fascinating stats about the ever-popular gaming content category, confirming that the once-niche sector has fully penetrated the mainstream zeitgeist.
Esports tournaments, for instance, have clocked 320 million views to date, according to a Google blog post, with watch time having increased by roughly 90% over the past year. In addition to esports videos, ‘how-to’ and ‘unboxing’ clips are drumming up massive viewership as well. For instance, there are 20 million gaming how-to videos on YouTube right now, according to Google, and there were 40 million hours of gaming-related unboxing videos last year — on mobile screens alone.
Creators and brands alike are riding this wave. Esports-pro-turned vlogger Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag, for instance, has published popular videos recounting his favorite plays during tournaments, while Red Bull has created its own esports YouTube channel and also sponsors teams and hosts competitions.
Other notable players include British YouTuber Ali-A, who has amassed 13 million subscribers between his two channels thanks to his Pokemon Go exploits, and Nintendo, which hopped on the unboxing trend by sending popular creators like the Eh Bee Family and iJustinesamples of its Switch device prior to its launch.
“Popular trends transcend categories,” writes Google in the blog post, noting that gaming content is not all that different from the other types of videos proliferating across YouTube right now.
You can check out the company’s gaming trend report in full right here.
Filed under: Gaming by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on YouTube Says Esports Tournament Watch Time Has Grown 90% Over Past Year
Wow Unlimited Media, the parent company of animation company Frederator Studios, is set to launch a linear cable channel in Canada, where it will broadcast content from the Channel Frederator multi-channel network, which comprises 3,000 animation and artist-related channels on YouTube who drive 750 million monthly video views.
Wow acquired the cable channel as part of a strategic deal with Canadian telecommunications giant Bell Media, which, for its part, received equity in Wow. In addition to linear broadcasts, the forthcoming channel will also receive placement on Bell’s OTT and mobile offerings, including SVOD service CraveTV and short-form video platform SnackableTV. The cable channel could also potentially make available additional tax credits that will underwrite future productions, according to Wow.
Frederator has Canadian roots, having merged with two Canadian companies — Rainmaker Entertainment and Ezrin Hirsh Entertainment — to form Wow Unlimited Media late last year.
“Combining this strategic partnership with Bell Media into Wow’s triple play of OTT, linear television, and mobility will give the enormous talent in the Channel Frederator network the next step in reaching new global audiences for our members,” said Frederator CEO and Wow chief creative officer Fred Seibert.
Filed under: Channel Frederator by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on Frederator’s Parent Company To Launch Canadian Cable Channel Featuring YouTube Content
As part of its RTX gathering in Austin this July, Rooster Teeth will host an exclusive screening of Castlevania — an animated adaptation of the famed Japanese video game series about a clan of vampire hunters waging battle against Dracula.
The four-part series, which is directed by Sam Deats and produced by Frederator Studios and Powerhouse Animation, bows on Netflix on July 7 — the same day that the first two episodes are set to be screened at RTX. RTX is Rooster Teeth’s seven-year-old internet and gaming event, which will be held this year from July 7 to 9 at the Austin Convention Center. The Austin-based entertainment collective expects to welcome more than 60,000 guests. The Castlevania screening will be open to all attendees as part of the event’s yearly Rooster Teeth Animation Festival.
Castlevania was first rumored to be in the works last December, care of noted Hollywood producer and YouTube creator Adi Shankar. Netflix picked up the project the following February. A teaser trailer for the series dropped on May 24. Take a look:
After the screening of the series, Deats and executive producers Fred Seibert and Kevin Kolde will host a Q&A. And the following day, Frederator founder Seibert will lead a panel titled ‘Fred And Friends’ to update fans about the studio’s popular franchises, including Bravest Warriors and Bee And Puppycat. Other notable guests and contributors from the world of animation that are slated to attend the Rooster Teeth Animation Festival include: Mighty Coconut, How It Should Have Ended, TheOdd1sOut, Super Planet Dolan, Flashgitz, Neebs Gaming, Black Plasma Studios, and many more.
“The pace at which the Rooster Teeth Animation Festival is growing blows our minds,” said festival head Gray G. Haddock.
Tickets for RTX, starting at $35.00, are available here.
Filed under: Netflix, Rooster Teeth by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on ‘Castlevania’ Screening To Headline Rooster Teeth’s Annual Animation Festival
Welcome to the Fund This column! Each week, we’ll look at a planned web series or other online video project currently in search of funding on crowdfunding sites. We’ll tell you what the series is all about and explain why it is worth your money. Do you have a project that’s currently being crowdfunded? Contact us to let us know and we may feature it in upcoming installments and check out previous installments righthere.
Description: If the success earned last year by Stranger Things is any indication, 80s nostalgia is currently in, and a group of students are devising a show that can capitalize on that trend. Filmmakers-in-training at the University of Austin, led by creator Reagan Weger, have turned to Indiegogo supporters in hopes of funding their micro-budget time-travel comedy That’s A Warp!
Weger, along with co-writers Jenny Ezell and Jamie Dunaway, have stylized That’s A Warp! as a campy, lo-fi series that borrows its style from the now-30-year-old shows and movies to which it pays homage. Its characters, whose personalities range from rebel to outsider, are similar to the archetypes found in The Breakfast Club and its ilk. Their experiences in the modern day, made possible by a time-traveling couch, will stand as That’s A Warp!‘s premise.
With the small amount of money they hope to raise through Indiegogo, the Longhorns behind That’s A Warp! plan to shoot a pilot that will introduce their project. More details are available in the pitch video:
Creator Bio: Texas Student Television, with which the That’s A Warp! team is affiliated, is described in the show’s pitch as “the only student-run, FCC-licensed digitally broadcasting television station in the country.”
Best Perk: Chip in $50, and you’ll receive your own personalized video from the That’s A Warp! team. One would hope said video would include VHS tracking lines, in order to mesh with the show’s nostalgic qualities.
Why You Should Fund It: The online video industry has changed a lot in the past decade, but fundamentally, it remains a place where creators who cannot be heard anyone else can make their respective presences known. The team behind That’s A Warp! is the epitome of the “kids with a dream” trope. For just $800, they will be able to deliver their lovingly-rendered vision to the masses. Shows like this, I would say, are what keep the indie web series community exciting.
Got a crowdfunding campaign you’d like to see featured in Fund This? Be sure to contact us here.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, Fund This, Indiegogo, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Fund This: ‘That’s A Warp!’ Is A Lo-Fi Throwback Made With Heart
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