It may come as a surprise to you, but I actually own three YouTube channels. Don’t worry, you are not missing out on some secret tutorials. About a year ago I have changed a name (from Poleposition to NotEnoughTech – high five to all of you who still remember this!) and disconnected the NotEnoughTech related online stuff from my private email.
The brand owns a domain, an email server and three appropriately named YouTube channels:
- NotEnoughTech (the one you care about)
- NotEnoughGame (I stream occasionally, this is where I practice my stream setups etc )
- NotEnoughArt (I’m an artist by education actually)
While I’m not doing anything with other channels right now, I thought it would be nice to have them reserved in case I want to branch out and become a game streaming star or a speed painting sensation.
YouTube partnership program
Yesterday, YouTube sent me an email in regards to my NotEnoughArt channel. Even though the channel never been used, everything has been set to start uploading and monetising videos should I choose to. Here is the email in question:
While the NotEnoughTech is in no way affected by this (for now) it’s hard to be optimistic about the YouTube Partnership Program. This is another hurdle the new and small channels have to overcome to see a penny or two coming from their creations.
NotEnoughTech in numbers
NotEnoughTech has about 160 new subscribers per month and 1000h of watch time. The threshold set by YouTube would require you to have at least 83 subscribers a month and 333h of watch time. It’s fair to say that after 2 years of work I’m barely scraping it above the bar. I’m aware I cater to a niche, not the mainstream, but imagine all the channels like mine giving up. YouTube would become a very boring place full of makeup vloggers and cat videos.
The changes to the partnership program make me feel like YouTube aims to have fewer but bigger creators. In other words, if you are not big enough to make us money, GTFO.
I said that multiple times, I’m not milking it on YouTube. My Patreon account (thanks to your lovely support) soon will provide me with more monthly income than the earnings from the YouTube. Most of the YouTube funding options are not available in the UK, or for channels that are not ‘gaming’ which leaves people like me thinking about other options.
I class myself as a small creator, and I can tell you that getting that £60 (min payment threshold) transfer once every couple months gives me more joy than the much fatter paychecks coming from my day job. I feel for anyone just starting out, it’s harder and harder to monetise the videos on YouTube. I think we all agree that watching a 30 sec ad is a small price to pay for the access to a video solution to virtually any problem.
A tougher future for new creators
I have a strong suspicion (based on the fact that videos with ‘limited ads’ flag have very little views until they get unflagged) that videos that are not monetised are punished by the algorithm itself. If it doesn’t make YouTube’s money – there is a very little incentive for them to promote it!
YouTube policies continue to harm smaller creators while actively promoting bodies in forests continues to be a trend in 2018, that yields profit and exposure at the price of a small slap on your wrist.
I leave you with my timelapse, that one day may end up on NotEnoughART
