With pressure from the advertising overlords (Unilever) and many other factions, YouTube continues to shuffle around its monetization guidelines.
Now, through the newly formed ‘YouTubers Union’ — a self-proclaimed movement that “fights for the rights of YouTube creators and users,” the platform faces some substantial pushback from creators seeking to address some of the recent changes to their livelihood.
The news comes amid reports that creators ditched YouTube at this year’s VidCon for the young, hip, new rival TikTok — a Chinese-owned karaoke-style video app. Now, some speculate an expanding market could mean trouble for Ya-Tube.
The content-for-money space is growing at a time when many content creators feel as if their wings have been clipped by YT’s fluid approach to it’s ever-changing monetization guidelines.
With rivals like Facebook, Snapchat and Patreon adding new bill-paying dimensions to their creator economy, disenfranchised ‘Tubers no longer feel chained to the internet-vid pioneer.
Nearly a quarter-million videos were uploaded to YouTube in the first week of 2019 alone. YouTube’s annual revenue is estimated to be between $16B and $25B for Peter’s sake — so you tell us.
Some creators may be miffed at YouTube’s policy changes, and the formation of a union always suggests a fire being stoked within the middle-class, but YouTube still sits atop the user-generated video throne… for now.