From business advice segments to comedy sketches to uploads of baby animals, it seems like almost everyone has a YouTube channel- or at least an idea for one today. While there are literally millions of YouTube videos hosted across almost as many channels, sadly most creators will never see a dime of revenue despite investing hours upon hours of hard work as well as paying to advertise their channel on the giant online video platform.
While there is the occasional beauty vlogger or musician who is “discovered” on YouTube, the sad reality is that 90% of videos, regardless of their level of creativity or quality of their work, will never make a significant profit.
Despite an estimated annual revenue of close to $800 million, only the top 10% of YouTube creators see any significant profit. These channels are typically backed by corporate interests or major advertisers, putting them at a meaningful advantage ahead of the vast majority of content creators, who do not have time to invest.
Viewly is about to change all of that.
A Brand Based on Quality Content, Not Algorithms
Building on the philosophy of a patronage business model, Viewly is the first online video platform to use a decentralized content delivery network (CDN) that will allow high quality creators with a small, medium, or large following to build an audience based on the quality of their work rather than wait for YouTube to use arbitrary algorithms regarding view, watch‐time, and likes to put their videos in front of potential subscribers.
The idea behind the patronage business model is simple: creators upload content, but since there are no advertisements, fans will be able to support their favorite content creators directly through a streamlined token payment system. This eliminates the need for a content creator to reach a certain number of views before they can monetize their channel and also significantly cuts out the middleman fees. Whereas YouTube takes up to 50% of a content creator’s ad revenue, supporters will pay creators directly on Viewly. Whereas YouTube does not allow creators to monetize their channel until they reach 10,000 views, creators have the potential to turn a profit from day one on Viewly.
A Smart Blockchain: The backbone of the Patronage Business Model
Viewly accomplishes this through its decentralized backbone, the pillars of which are peer‐to‐peer hosting on the network InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) and smart‐contract‐based transactions on the blockchain.
The main benefit of the blockchain as far as content creators are concerned, is the ability to create and execute smart contracts, which can be customized between creators and fans as both see fit. Fans can choose to support content creators in a variety of ways: a small one‐time donation, recurring micro‐payments based on new content published, periodic subscription payments to favorite categories, channels, or limited access content based on a predetermined quota set between the creator and fan, or any other arrangement that both parties see fit.
Transparency, Immutability, Security, and Community
By using the blockchain and decentralizing network operations, as well as using a token system that is built on the blockchain, there is far less of a risk for security breaches as well as misappropriation of fans’ donations. Since there is no centralized body holding and managing payments, fans can be sure that their tokens are going directly to the creators and vice versa.
The blockchain application also serves as a reward, synchronization and enforcement layer for the peer‐to‐peer hosting.
More importantly, Viewly facilitates a community experience between creators and their fans. Since creators have full control over their token reward system, they can engage fans in ways never thought possible on traditional online video platforms. In addition to simple one-time or recurring donations, creators can offer creative ways to build up patronage: creating membership levels with access to unique content at each, setting up private chats as a reward, or auctioning off the opportunity for fans to be featured in an upcoming video. The possibilities are endless.
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