Also in regards to his influence and reach. Most of RMR video’s that went over 100K views are old ones with TE products. ‘Only’ 5 of his videos have gone over 1 million. Compare that to say, Andrew Huang, whose videos are consistently going around 100K per video and you’ll see why Andrew gets better deals than RMR.
Companies want to see a channel is stable, they will pay money if your platform provides consistency in view count.
I guess the people who value the content should be the ones to pay for it - he has a lot of subscribers and a ton of supportive comments on the video, if they all joined his Patreon he’d probably make a fair income.
I used to buy magazines because I wanted to read reviews, the onus to pay the magazine was with the customer of the magazine not the manufacturers of the products featured, unless they took out ads in the magazine. Maybe he should consider asking them to advertise on his videos before publishing them.
I find it absurd when people make themselves public figures and clearly have monetary interests in mind for doing so, start making critical statements on how the companies creating the products and their audiences should perceive and treat them while at the same time they should somehow be sheltered from any critique. And if there is critique it’s labelled as toxic.
This “good vibes only” positivity economy is ridiculous, counterproductive and infantile imo.
Consenting adults should be resilient enough to deal with some negativity as well.
If you see someone constantly making statements you don’t like, why not use the block function and get on with your life?
Seriously. I’m so much more interested in what RMR puts out specifically because he exposes a bit more of his feelings and struggles than others. Some of that isn’t going to be pretty, as I think he’d readily admit. Right, good, bad, ugly, whatever, I’m glad he’s doing his thing.
I reckon the “current sounds” thread on here has probably sold more gear than all the YouTube people put together.
Maybe it’s about time we got our due…
Fuck you Elektron, pay us!
FTFY
How do you know they’re not…?
I think most of us can agree when a new piece of kit is released we all rush on YouTube to see what’s it’s like etc and whether it’s for us. Without these guys there wouldn’t be a lot to watch. Me personally I sympathise with him. If a company want him to demo some gear, pay him and then he can send it back. He doesn’t want a pile of free gear he wants paying for his time and effort. I certainly haven’t got the time to do this sort of thing and appreciate people that do and I wouldn’t expect them to do it for nothing.
I generally really like RMR’s videos and think he’s one of the best Synthtubers out there. I do think it’s a pretty thankless job if you want it to be your main source of income. Regarding synth companies not paying YouTube personalities enough, from my point of view the videos are more useful for me, not them. They can be a source of entertainment, a buyer’s guide, educational, or a mixture of all three. But what they’re not is ‘I saw RMR’s video on this synth, so I spent £1k just because of it’. Before I buy a piece of gear I will have read loads of reviews and watched several such YouTube videos, sought out deals, and checked forums like this one for the hype and the feedback. So I can see why synth companies are reluctant to pay decent money to a single YouTuber to make a review video - it’s hard to narrow down a purchase to one source.
It’s a shame that RDR can’t make what he sees is a proper income from YouTube, but he does have a ‘name’ so is able to do Patreon and doubtless other things too. I wish him well in becoming happier during 2023, as it would be pretty unfortunate if he stopped making videos. When I dipped my toes into YouTube very gingerly in 2022 (I made a few Drambo tutorials!), I was fortunate enough that I’m gainfully employed so it was just a bit of fun and I didn’t care if I never earned any money or got many subscribers. I was surprised at how many people did subscribe to me in short order, even though the number was obviously totally tiny compared to the big boys. I’ll probably make some more stuff in 2023 when it appeals to me, but never with the thought that it will lead anywhere… it’s just for my own enjoyment to prove I can make something! And that enjoyment factor seems to be what’s missing in the Synthfluencer game currently, unfortunately.
This seems like a model of a way forward for an artist/company’s symbiotic relationship. It’s also one that mostly leaves out “synthfluencers,” so I’m sure they wouldn’t go for it.
I really, really would have liked to have heard the numbers and terms in RMR’s video (which he cut), because the video in it’s current state doesn’t offer any solution and is more or less just a call to arms to form SOMETHING resembling a union amongst synth YouTubers.
I’ve also noted that many on here have mentioned that the influencer position will crash and burn, and just wanna come out against that notion. I think there is absolutely no way around influencers of all types becoming the primary source of advertising in the 21st century, and I think they will only get far more prominent in the future.
I’ve sympathy for Jeremy (and others) , I do think they work hard, and don’t get much in return.
they have many skills, experience and indeed an audience.
but I also have sympathy for (some of) the brands.
Im sure the big names (eg Roland/Yamaha) could pay more,
but also RMR represents a lot of pretty small brands ( * ) , and you would need to hear their voice (on cost/margins/profits and also market size !) to understand if there is more $ in the kitty for marketing. I suspect many were attracted to YouTube because they did not have the budget to do in other ways.
frankly, RMR makes light of the costs of a products research, development and production costs. esp. given the rising manufacturing and delivery problems recent years have had on these smaller brands.
I suspect he’d be surprised to hear actual margins… esp compared to operating costs.
so its not only a question of what brands should pay, but also what they can afford.
demand and supply.
so its perfectly cool, Jeremy raises this… and I think also highlights its not all roses in this sector.
but perhaps, the reality is, the money is not in this sector, so he (and others) will need to continue to find other ways…
as mentioned here, many YouTubers are trying to get the audience to pay, which if its entertainment/education, that seems reasonable… albeit perhaps harder to actually do in practice.
so Ive sympathy on both sides…
basically many of the brands and the YouTubers themselves are small companies, and thats never easy.
( * ) bare in mind brands like to make themselves look bigger, more successful… partly to raise confidence for consumers.
but Im always surprised how few employees many have… and I think most just make a ‘reasonable’ salary compared to their peers.
(i.e. you have to compare a software engineer in music tech, to one in other industries)
Do we really need 50 random dudes to make a 15min clip , which fast sums up de pros and cons of any given device that is released ? Is this conent ? Do we learn something ? I learn somethin when i watch “Look mum no computer” … but all these synthfluencers… they all sound the same to me …
well their view counts tell you the answer to this…
obviously some are finding it entertaining, or interesting.
also, choice is king?
some may prefer certain styles over another … or even personality.
e.g. RMR and Loopop take things from a completely different angle.
frankly, whilst Ive cut my view time down significantly (to negligible)
Im certainly not going to say what people should or should not watch !
But the whole gig is quid-pro-quo, it’s like anyone that does reviews or unofficial demos.
A movie critic doesn’t bill the studio for writing about their movie, regardless of how many people it draws to the theatres. That’s simply not what the business model is. They make their money selling their magazine, like a youtuber makes theirs selling ad space, sponsorship deals and patrons. They get access in exchange for exposure.
Official demos are already a thing, but companies aren’t going to commission them from 20 different synthtubers, the value of which are that they’re not being paid to make the demo (which is a veil of objectivity anyway due to the quid pro quo relationship).
It seems counter intuitive to me. I think some folks get stuck in this youtube ratrace and forget what it is they even want to be doing on there.
Jeremy strikes me as someone that loves to make music and share cool stuff with people (I like his content it tends to be very genuine), I personally think he’s chasing the wrong tail.
Oh but i’m not telling anyone what to watch either … was just thinking out loud , asking myself some questions during a work break …
Q… why does RMR choose to use the term “Brand”?
that feels to me quite loaded, very much a marketing term…
I always think of it as pointing to vapour/lack of substance, to image.
but the companies he is talking about are very much manufacturing/product companies.
they are on the hard edge of engineering… not some fancy overpriced sneakers !
and his ‘job’ has been to promote/show/demonstrate their product not their image.
funny, that he should chose this term, yet then not like the term synthfluencer.
I think he addresses this complexity at one point in the video - it’s a tough thing to figure out for everyone involved, especially the smaller companies who almost certainly can’t afford to pay market rate for a video or to hire someone in-house. Even for some of the larger companies, having an in-house video team probably doesn’t make a ton of sense given the frequency that they release gear.
Regardless, I’m sympathetic to the position that he’s in. He clearly thinks that things could be done in a more ethical way that is more equitable to everyone involved.
yeah, he touches on it lightly… but doesn’t give much emphasis on it.
this is understandable…
partly he doesnt know the margins/economics involved (he says as much), but also it would undermine the message of the video… if he says they dont have any more money to spend…
but yeah, I personally sympathise on both sides.
Im not so convinced, there is a way to address it, if the money is not there…
and bringing morals/ethics into it, I think just tries to dodge the question…
if the companies involved are not making the money, then there is nothing more to share.
and this completely overlooks any concept of the fact how much YouTubers think thier services are worth to a company, and what that company believes… which may differ substantially.
It would be hilarious if after this the big music tech names, like Roland, Korg, etc started to inch up the prices on all their gear now and put out a video for us (us the people who purchase and use the gear, not YouTubers) saying something like:
“hey, we know times are tough and shit was already expensive, there’s inflation, supply chain issues, international drama between countries who produce semiconductors, etc… our $500 drum machine now actually costs $650. we’re really sorry about this, but we had to up our YouTuber budget and put all the Jeremies and Bob Eats on our payroll”
The large organisations are going to try to get as much advertising for their products as cheaply as possible, if they give Jeremy a £500 drum machine and he gets 100,000 views of his demo then I know who’s laughing and it’s certainly not Jeremy. One of his op-1 demos has over 5 million views