Colin & Samir who specialize in following and reporting on content creators covered some really interesting information of where the web and its content are going in the near future, especially for that of video creation on YouTube.
Below I paraphrase a lot of what Colin & Samir present from their video cast which you can view in its entirety from the video embedded blow to watch in greater detail.
- CATALOG VALUE
The idea that your library of content such as videos as a backlog catalog has value that will grow over time. Example is that you could have a channel on some platform like YouTube and make revenue from past content that is continuously coming in from advertising. This creates a compounding effect with your content. Over time, you can slowly churn out more material to the catalog that is thoughtfully crafted and more engaging and not feel pressured or driven to have something published every day or week to drive viewership. The catalogue is passively generating an income due to new viewership coming to the channel and its content.
- FRACTIONAL OWNERSHIP (the theory)
This means that audiences would actually get to participate in the creator’s success by buying a fraction of ownership in either a video or a channel or some part of the creators catalogue. This exists in the real world such as real-estate and many other areas of business, however this is the direction of where the internet is going towards.
Defined as “a method in which several unrelated parties can share in the ownership of high value asset. Examples: jet, yacht, or a piece of real-estate.”
How are we going to see this in video content exactly?
Well a creator can first gauge interest with their audience by asking on any platform to vote based on how many “likes” – to determine if there is interest in a piece of content be made.
Through the process of making the content they can figure out the costs and can go different routes to organize how to get the funding they need through traditional methods. For example selling merchandise online or through brand partnerships. Another route that is being discussed possibly is by selling a percentage of the future adsense earnings from what the content will bring in by the audience who invests in it, and be monetized by it for the rest of time. That is potentially huge and lucrative!
The ownership is not in the content exactly but in the portion of the adsense earnings.
Creators would gauge interest and see if there is a piece of content that people will want to see and actually put money against it. Very similar to what we see in crowdfunding, like Kickstarter, Patreon in which a user pledges money to support the creator. With those services you are supporting the creator work but also receiving something in return in the end and is seen as a clear transaction.
However this new likely method will allow the creator to raise capital for the content but it creates a community of people who are incentivized in the success of the content. So when it comes out the investor (viewer) will be driven to share it even more.
The audience has a feeling of vested interest in a creator that it makes it a more tangible experience. Each vested viewer who helps out, feels like they helped to produce the content in some way or form and feel connected to the success of that piece. The investor has incentive that once that content comes out to share, that they are going to share it with everyone they know because of the fact that the investors are connected to the success of it and receive royalties as well.
Fans come together to finance a creator but this goes a little bit further. The investor is supporting the creator but as they grow the investor grows too because they are actually part of this piece of content. Audience and creators can all share in the same thing because you are invested in the entire trajectory of the creator.
- OWNERSHIP VALUE
People will want to feel a part of something and have ownership, thus ownership matters. (Think of crypto and NFTs)
Ownership matters because something is rare and people want to own it, they do not want to use it. Utility does not mean ownership. You buy that item for what it says about you as a person and to be connected to other people who care about that special thing in a similar type of way.
Colin & Samir
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