YouTube Red, Google’s new subscription streaming service offers consumers (and pirates) ad free content to watch (and steal).
YouTube has decided to enter the subscription streaming fray with the announcement yesterday of its new (ad-free) premium channel, YouTube Red. Despite the unfortunate choice of a name —similar to a rather notorious porn site that has both the word “red” and “tube” in its title– YouTube is hoping its new endeavor will catch some of the ad-free streaming mojo enjoyed by the popular subscription based offerings of Netflix, HULU, and Amazon Prime. And, like the others, YouTube will develop its own slate of “YouTube Originals.”
This isn’t the first time YouTube has taken steps to compete head-to-head against streaming services. Earlier this year, when it announced the launch of its subscription-based Music Key service (designed to compete with the likes of Spotify and Pandora) YouTube quickly earned reputation as a bully when indie musicians were threatened with losing access to the YouTube platform (and monetization) if they refused to agree to contract terms inferior to those offered major labels. The East Bay Express’s Sam Lefebvre wrote about YouTube’s aggressive tactics with musician Zoe Keating:
According to a transcript of the conversation provided by Keating, YouTube told the successful independent cellist and songwriter that, unless she opted in to YouTube’s new streaming service, Music Key, by signing a proposed contract without stipulation, her ability to earn ad revenue from the 9,696 videos featuring her songs, and their roughly 250,000 monthly views would be effectively revoked; her music would appear on Music Key anyway; and furthermore, YouTube would have to block her from uploading new material from her current account. —East Bay Express
YouTube Music Key remains in Beta
It’s worth noting that Music Key remains in the beta testing phase and apparently, for the moment, isn’t taking new sign ups. No firm date has been set for its public debut either. Guess all that licensing (asking permission) stuff is taking longer than expected eh?
With the announcement of its new service, charges that the company is, once again, using heavy-handed tactics against creators, been raised according to Tech Crunch. Apparently YouTube hasn’t changed its approach, despite the blowback from their smarmy Music Key negotiations with indie musicians:
YouTube made its top video creators an offer they literally couldn’t refuse, or they’d have their content disappear. Today YouTube confirmed that any “partner” creator who earns a cut of ad revenue but doesn’t agree to sign its revenue share deal for its new YouTube Red $9.99 ad-free subscription will have their videos hidden from public view on both the ad-supported and ad-free tiers. That includes videos by popular comedians, musicians, game commentators, and DIY instructors, though not the average person that uploads clips. —TechCrunch
YouTube also sticks to its script in offering sketchy details as to just how creators participating in this new service will be paid. According to the NY Times, YouTube officials implied that they were launching the service as a benefit to creators:
YouTube executives said they were introducing a subscription service in part to give a new revenue stream to the Internet-famous “creators,” the most popular of which already make millions of dollars a year in advertising revenue. —NY Times
What that really means, of course, is really more profit for YouTube. Not surprising–but lets not pretend they have an altruistic mission when it comes to motivations at company HQ.
Will YouTube eventually find success competing in the subscription marketplace with the likes of Netflix and Amazon? Perhaps–but it can be hard for a leopard to change its spots.
For the past ten years we’ve come to know YouTube as a pastiche of content, some original, some stolen, some mash-ups including porn, terrorist recruiting videos, murder videos, pirated movies and music, cute puppies….you name it, it’s there. Will the site’s faithful users take kindly to having to sign dubious contracts to upload their content?
While the site is hugely popular–and according to Digital Music News now accounts for 40% of music listening, but only 4% of music revenue–will people pay for something they’ve become accustomed to for free?
By creating its own original content, YouTube/Google moves into the world occupied by Hollywood and Television. Now one has to wonder how YouTube/Google will greet the swarms of pirates attracted to fresh content. I imagine it won’t be long before pirate sites around the globe will be offering up downloads, torrents and streams of YouTube Red content and I’m sure links to the stolen goods will be easy to find. Just use Google search…
Fans of the hit Netflix original series, Orange is the New Black, are standing by, like Cinderella, waiting for the clock to strike midnight on the west coast tonight. When the clock strikes twelve viewers worldwide will be able to (legally) binge watch all 13 episodes of the popular prison ensemble series. Netflix has expanded to dozens of markets in the Americas, Europe and Oceania.
While the series will undoubtedly be widely pirated, now that piracy havens like Brazil have Netflix it will be interesting to see if the problem is less widespread. In fact, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings made news last week by suggesting (with caveats) that illegal piracy actually paved the way for Netflix’s success by changing audience viewing habits.
People have grown to prefer tailoring their viewing habits to their own schedules, a key factor in why Netflix’s appeal has grown. In comments to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Hastings explained:
“I think Spain will be one of our most successful countries. There is a high rate of Internet connectivity and a population that is accustomed to the use of electronic commerce and that has shown signs of being interested in our product. We are very optimistic.”
“Well, you can call [piracy] a problem, but the truth is that it has also created a public that is now used to viewing content on the Internet.”
It’s not to say Netflix isn’t worried about the negative impact of piracy. There’s plenty of concern that illegal viewing could negatively impact profits. From Forbes:
Piracy has a direct effect on the attractiveness of Netflix’s exclusive programming. Subscribers may not be interested in viewing these shows at Netflix’s paid platform when they can get the same shows for free. The company even addressed this issue in its last quarterly letter to its shareholders by acknowledging piracy as one of its biggest competitors.
Countries where Netflix is available
There are also plans for Netflix to expand to big markets known as piracy hot spots including China and Russia. Will Netflix turn people away from free downloads in favor on convenient streaming options? That remains an open question. For now at least, progress is being made and more people can sit down tonight and indulge in the season 3 of Orange is the New Black. I can’t wait.
This despite the fact American audiences are increasingly diverse. Darnell Hunt, director of the Bunche Center, and the report’s lead author points out the contradiction:
Television shows that reflect American diversity and films that reflect American diversity do better at the box office, TV shows do better in terms of ratings…There’s a disconnect between what sells and what Hollywood is doing in terms of business practices.
Interview with study co-authors Darnell Hunt and Ana-Christina Ramon
Should this disconnect persist, the Hollywood business model could take a hit according to the report’s authors:
…business as usual in the Hollywood industry may soon be unsustainable. Evidence from this report (and its predecessor in the series) shows clearly that America’s increasingly diverse audiences prefer diverse content created with the input of diverse talent. Diversity sells.
Viewers like diversity, with broadcast scripted shows 41 percent to 50 percent diversely cast scoring the highest ratings in black and white households alike in 2012-13, while on cable, white and Latino viewers preferred casts with 31 percent to 40 percent diversity. Black households preferred cable shows with more than 50 percent diversity…
What about the brave new world of digital programming? Has this new “Golden Age of Television” created golden opportunities for women and minorities to shine? In a word, no. According to the report, while only 11.2% of directors for cable scripted shows are women, they fare even worse in digital, directing fewer than 10% of episodes. Figures for minority-directed programming in both categories are equally anemic. It should also be noted that female and minority representation in both above-the-line and below-the-line roles would be even more dismal were it not for programs like Netflix’s Orange is the New Black or Hulu’s East Los High.
For those concerned about this issue–and everyone who works in the business should be– it’s worth taking time to entire report, and review the compelling statistical analysis based on 2012-2013 data (from various sources) that’s broken down into following categories: theatrical films; broadcast scripted shows; broadcast reality and other shows; cable scripted shows, cable reality and other shows; digital platform and syndicated.
How to change these long-held patterns in Hollywood, or “flip the script” as the report suggests? Its authors admit there’s no “magic bullet” to cure Hollywood’s ills, noting it’s a “multi-dimensional” problem with no easy solutions.
“It’s a high-risk industry. People want to surround themselves with collaborators they’re comfortable with, which tends to mean people they’ve networked with — and nine times out of 10, they’ll look similar. It reproduces the same opportunities for the same kind of people: You’re surrounding yourself with a bunch of white men to feel comfortable.”
Real progress will require continued efforts on many fronts from executive offices to back-lots. It’s a daunting task that the report summarizes this way:
In the end, every industry stakeholder-individual and institutional-has a role to play if meaningful industry advancement is to be achieved on the diversity front. Broadcast networks must begin to treat the airwaves as a public good through which diverse content promotes profits and democracy. Studios must cast the net much more widely when they entertain pitches for film and television projects. Talent agencies must diversity their rosters, packaged products and their own ranks. The film and television academies must overhaul their memberships. The guilds must better understand their respective membership pipelines and find ways to increase access and professional development for minorities and women. Individual producers and writers must finally accept the notion that having diverse voices and perspectives in the room actually increase their odds for success.
Here’s hoping that the Bunche Center next Diversity Report gives us better news. It can’t get much worse.
WheretoWatch.com offers convenient way to find movies and TV shows
Some good news for those trying for figure out where to find their favorite movies or television shows online. Today the MPAA announced the launch of wheretowatch.com, a new site that makes searching for movies and TV shows easy.
Even better, the site isn’t limited to Hollywood fare. Its search engine offers links to streaming sites featuring a variety of independent films. In fact, when I searched for a movie I co-produced/directed, the niche lesbian comedy And Then Came Lola, I happily found 7 different options for renting and/or purchasing it. Wheretowatch.com is great news for indie filmmakers hoping to publicize their offerings.
Of course it also helps in the ongoing battle against online piracy. For $1.99 you can watch a movie. After all, it’s cheaper–and lasts longer–than a cup of coffee from Starbucks.
A couple weeks ago the New York Times published a profile of Hana Beshara, founder of the notorious pirate web emporium known as NinjaVideo. The site was shuttered in 2010 and Ms. Beshara, who pocketed around $200,000 from her enterprise was sentenced to 22 months in prison for conspiracy and criminal copyright infringement. She was released last year after serving 16 months and, according to the Times piece:
She acknowledges that some of her colleagues were upset when they learned she received much of the profit from NinjaVideo, but says it wasn’t out of line with her role as the voice of the site. “People took issue with the fact that I got paid,” she said. At any rate, in her opinion, the money was insignificant. To this day, she argues that the movie business is so big that skimming a little off the top doesn’t hurt anybody. She likes to say that NinjaVideo was operating in a “gray area.”
Characterizing the business of online piracy for profit as a “gray area” may be how thieves like Ms. Beshara rationalize their criminality, but in reality it’s theft–and because it’s theft–that means there ARE victims.
These actual victims of online piracy were pretty much ignored in the NY Times piece, but thankfully Dawn Prestwich, a writer for AMC’s and Netflix’s “The Killing” provided some perspective in a guest column published this week in Variety. Ms. Prestwich pointed out that piracy’s damage extends far beyond the front offices in Hollywood.
When Hana made a TV episode available for free on her website, that was worth the equivalent of thousands of downloads that weren’t watched on a legal site. And when that happened, the entire production team that collectively created the content was adversely impacted – from the most junior production assistant on up. All positions within the hierarchy became devalued.
Ms. Prestwich takes her analysis one step further television fans may inadvertently threaten the very survival of their favorite shows when they download episodes from illegal sources rather than legit streaming sites like Netflix:
…when the audience pays for creative content, they are voicing their support with their dollars. They are saying: “this show/film/whatever has personal value. I enjoy it. It’s worth paying for.” That not only helps me as a writer, it leads to further investment in the shows audiences like.
Creating quality content costs money and doesn’t it make sense that if we want to be able to consume something we should be willing to pay something to support its creation. A newly released study by the research firm KPMG, “Film and TV title availability in the Digital Age” confirms what most of us already know to be true–consumers these days have a myriad of legit ways to find great films and television shows online.
As of December 2013, 94 percent of the most popular and critically acclaimed films were legally available in the U.S. through online video-on-demand (VOD) services. The same study also finds that that 85 percent of the most popular and critically acclaimed television titles were available in the U.S. through online video services. This study is the latest reminder that today it’s easier than ever to watch the shows and movies you love legally online. –MPAA
For the cost of a couple lattes at Starbucks you can have a monthly subscription to a streaming service like Netflix or Amazon Prime. Seems like a small price to pay to support those who create the works we enjoy.
LGBT pirate blogs that claim to love the films and shows that reflect their lives, yet undermine creators ability to make more
It’s bad enough seeing indie LGBT films pirated via torrent sites like Pirate Bay and cyberlockers like Mega, but it’s particularly galling to see supposed fans of LGBT films operating websites that think nothing of undermining filmmakers from their own community. Time after time fans of LGBT films ask why more films reflecting their lives aren’t made, yet many of those same fans think nothing of pirating the LGBT films that are made effectively cannibalizing their own filmmakers.
LGBT films are usually made outside the Hollywood system and depend entirely on grassroots funding efforts to cover production costs. When these films are pirated, recouping expenses is made more difficult and threatens the filmmaker’s ability to create more films.
Much is made about the democratization of filmmaking through increasingly affordable technology. Yet no matter whether a film is shot on 35 mm or digital, it still costs money to create. Money–to pay for cast and crew, equipment and permits, insurance and meals–does not fall from the heavens. There’s also the cost of pre-production: planning, script development and completion, casting, location scouting, scheduling, hiring a crew, etc. After the film is shot, taking weeks or months, there are post-production costs to consider. These include editing, sound-mixing, music, special FX, color-correction and mastering. This entire process takes time and money. People who create indie films aren’t in it to get rich. They are driven by a passion to create and give voice to untold stories but it doesn’t come free. There are debts to be paid.
Unfortunately, this disconnect between those who create and those who consume threatens to gradually the diversity of voices (and choices) available. Fans may not miss what’s not made until it’s too late…As they say, actions speak louder than words. You can’t claim to support LGBT indie film yet download or stream illegal copies of those same films. However, as I surf the web and explore the many blogs dedicated to LGBT film, too often I find this hypocrisy in full bloom
The blog “Popcorn ‘N Tits” is part of the PNT Tv Network, “a femqueer entertainment website where you can find webseries, movies, music and literary articles that reflect our lives.” It’s beyond ironic, and rather sad that operators choose to exploit the very content they claim to love. Ironically one of their partner blogs features this plea,
This blog is dedicated to support the art of filmmaking. You love watching our movies, shorts, and web-series but filmmakers need money to make that happen. You can do this by donating to these projects, no matter how small the sum.
So true, yet this same blog network apparently doesn’t see the disconnect when it includes a site that apparently pirates movies and tv shows at will (see graphics below). Note this is only one example of many I’ve found during my web wanderings.
As an indie film and broadcast journalism veteran, I'll share my perspectives on issues of interest to the creative community and beyond--Ellen Seidler
