How much money do youtubers actually make?

ToneControl

What bothers me (aside from Jealousy) is the same as with X-Factor:
It encourages kids to think they don't need to worry about school or work, because they can just "make it big" because they've seen Zoella do it, and so why bother putting any long-term effort into school, or learning to play an instrument, if you can just turn up and sing, or vlog your shopping trips.

Handsome_Chris

What shopping tips?!

Emp_Fab

Send him down the mines !!!  ....and stream it onYouTube.  I'd pay to watch that.

ToneControl

Handsome_Chris said:

What shopping tips?!

trips

they video their "haul" when they get home

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haul_video

JAYJO

RobDavies said:

A girl I work with has a YouTube channel based around her and her husband's travels around the Uk and Europe in the VW California camper van. 
They've got 10k+ subscribers and over a million total views - I know they make a few quid but put it this way, they still have to turn up to work every day. 
What they do get though, is masses of free stuff from leisure companies (which they review) kayaks, paddle boards, wet suits, van tyres, all kinds of camping equipment....

It's definitely worthwhile...

I must admit i watch those type of vids . I find them relaxing and they give me the push i need to face taking the family camping. Once im motivated i love it.

jonnyburgo

My nephew wants to be a full time YouTube gamer, he spends hours every day gaming and has the personality and communication skills of a cricket bat. He’ll probably make it.

JAYJO

ToneControl said:

What bothers me (aside from Jealousy) is the same as with X-Factor:
It encourages kids to think they don't need to worry about school or work, because they can just "make it big" because they've seen Zoella do it, and so why bother putting any long-term effort into school, or learning to play an instrument, if you can just turn up and sing, or vlog your shopping trips.

When we were kids Round R Way we believed we would all go to work on the docks.
 like our dads we could earn more than our teachers and spend our days in the pub.
Then Margaret Thatcher said NOOOOOO! . 2 yts schemes later i got a job in a factory £5 a week more than the YTS. (£30)"Take it screamed everyone  Its a job"!. Fast forward 34 years and im still here. Moneys poor but the employment has kept me insane. 

Myranda

Some youtubers make enough money to employ multiple staff... but you need a hook to get people watching you - if you have people watching every video then you can start making money...

And frequency helps - daily videos means steady income, weekly videos will depend heavily on the per-video-views

darthed1981

Handsome_Chris said:

As has been said before, there is a lot of work put in to YouTubeing.  It's not necessarily an easy route to riches although using it to promote stuff that you're selling can be viable.  For example, I have enjoyed Leo Marichilio's work so much that I've subscribed to his Patreon account.  This that I get access to DLC.

The money is there to be made, but the work has to be done.

Been wondering about this.

If you subscribe what do you get?  Can you download all his work?  If you do, do you need to stay subscribed forever?

darthed1981

ToneControl said:

What bothers me (aside from Jealousy) is the same as with X-Factor:
It encourages kids to think they don't need to worry about school or work, because they can just "make it big" because they've seen Zoella do it, and so why bother putting any long-term effort into school, or learning to play an instrument, if you can just turn up and sing, or vlog your shopping trips.

They would be learning the wrong lesson though.

A good Youtube video takes quite a lot of time and work to put together.  The best have production values and quality that would have been the envy of most TV twenty years ago.  After all this there is no guarantee of a return on your investment.

Building a brand and a following is even more difficult.  Zoella succeeded because she did what she did best and first.

The X-factor contestants to continue a career in "music" need to work their asses off, they don't have it easy.  Most end up on the pubs and clubs circuit, same as most bands.

VimFuego

the whole youtube thing kinda makes me feel a bit like this: 

Modulus_Amps

Lev said:

RiftAmps said:

Enter a username into here to see estimated earnings/stats

https://socialblade.com/youtube

Essentially, to make a living you need to hit big numbers consistantly with regular uploads

Wow, Pete Thorn only makes about €16k a year from YT, which isn't a huge figure given the amount of work he puts into his videos. Obviously he has other income sources too.

hmmm.. Interesting if that is true, I would have thought it much higher. I suspect the youtube payment is not his main income anyway, charging for demo videos and being a guitarist for hire probably covers enough bases... then he gets a bit from Suhr too I am sure. not having all your eggs in one basket is a good idea.

ThorpyFX

Lev said:

RiftAmps said:

Enter a username into here to see estimated earnings/stats

https://socialblade.com/youtube

Essentially, to make a living you need to hit big numbers consistantly with regular uploads

Wow, Pete Thorn only makes about €16k a year from YT, which isn't a huge figure given the amount of work he puts into his videos. Obviously he has other income sources too.

yes but Pete charges a substantial premium for his videos.... there is a LOT of production effort that goes into them though

bingefeller

jonnyburgo said:

My nephew wants to be a full time YouTube gamer, he spends hours every day gaming and has the personality and communication skills of a cricket bat. He’ll probably make it.

Some of those gamers on Twitch make a fortune from donations.   Have you ever seen those videos where people are getting thousands in donations?  Makes me mad jealous.  I think it depends on the game too.  Some of the high level Street Fighter V streamers make very, very little.

ESBlonde

I suspect it's a bit like our branch of the enetertainment industry.
There are a few superstars that continue to earn millions, much of it on historical output (think Elvis, Elton, Paul Mac, Phil Collins etc). For each of them there are thousands of working musicians just about earning a living (including 'names' we would recognise). For each of them there are thousands of musicians that think they are professional but have other income streams to make ends meet. Finally there are the weekend warriers that earn a bit toward the expenses of thier hobby.
So they all earn in the business, but the smallest number of superstars are really earning and they remain in the public eye, the rest.....

Heartfeltdawn

roundthebend said:

I hate this trend. Nothing against those who are making money from it, but it creates an illusion that anybody can do it. There are hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of people who are not successful.

Being a YouTuber is not an ambition. Most of these people have something fairly unique, whether I can see it or not, and that's why they are popular. Kids need to focus on doing what they love, and if they have time and energy to Vlog about it then maybe they'll got the sweet spot and get rich too.

Yes it is, and it's in exactly the same way us old types idolised bands. Anyone can be in a band but the majority will fail because they're shit. The same is true of Youtubers but that doesn't stop the kids wanting to be them. You go into a school playground now and the talk is as much about individual Youtubers as it is about games like Fortnite or football.

The ones that succeed on Youtube: you can succeed being an asshole like Logan Paul. You can also succeed like Jimmy Broadbent in the sim racing world by virtue of being good at the actual racing side and possessing a personality that comes through on your videos. As much as I detest Logan Paul, he's produced a product that people flock to. It's a shit product for a shit audience but it sells. 

Gagaryn

DrJazzTap said:

 But now I'm thinking why don't I scream and make stupid videos on YouTube if the money is that good??

I like your thinking. I'm going to start playing football for Man U as I've heard the money there is even better.

digitalscream

It's worth considering that looking at folk like Pete Thorn as a barometer of what people earn on YouTube is pretty pointless; the world of "guitar stuff" is no more than a rounding error in terms of online video earnings, and I'd hazard a guess that there would be no guitar-centric channels in the top 10%.

When you get into that top 10%, you're looking at people who employ a team to look after the bulk of their work. Philip DeFranco is a good example - he's become reasonably affluent by the looks of it, and employs a team of 10-20 people to work behind-the-scenes on research, video editing and production etc. Put simply, you can't put out regular high-quality content and have another job - we've become very used to having access to free HD videos all over the place, and that's bred the feeling that it's not really worth much; the opposite is true. Making good-quality videos is hard (and extremely time-consuming), but kids these days don't see that part in exactly the same way we never saw how much work is involved in being in the top-flight bands we always aspired to.

Although, to be fair, most adults don't see the work involved either.

DrJazzTap

Thanks for all the comments guys. My nephew is very smart (he voluntarily does long division at 7am on the weekend's). He did say he'd either like to be a youtuber, an astronaut or a video game designer. I guess youtuber has replaced rock guitarist. 
I know it's a full time thing and the chance of success is one in a million. I just never figured the rewards were that lucrative.

57Deluxe

anyway - they changed the system on payouts so unless you have an instant massive following regularly you won't now get a dime.

I earned £95 from my demo vids over 5 years! Was just about to get another payout and they closed them all off for monetization