Why can't he just do what higher IQ gun tubers and other spicy material manhandlers do and post the spicy videos on rumble or somewhere else you don't pay for bandwidth using a private link and just give out that link using Patreon, Subscribestar or ko-fi.
Couple of things here:
YT is schizophrenic. Ian frequently posted content that was demonetized or limited on our channel. FW also, at the time of Project Lightening, had more income per view than we did. Apparently because they were in a safer ad category, but that lacks confirmation bc YT explains nothing. Point is, just because x guys don't get punished, that doesn't mean y guy is making it up.
I have had a standing suspicion that YT detects gun shots in audio, particularly full auto. Our MG vids were regularly targeted. Given that FW runs on a mass audience with lots of ad rev, a few good videos taking in less than a quarter of normal would start to show quickly.
Since FW can't guarantee ad rev on MGs, Ian likely looked to monetize them directly. Given there is little to no discovery on Rumble or Playeur, nor ad rev, he likely felt it best to keep all the funds he could. Remember, no discovery means you are the only one bringing clients. Inviting other channels means getting a small piece of each of their audiences as well. He also does not have to worry about various platforms changes.
The gatekeeping route is popular because, frankly, donations don't grow easily without a firm call to action. Being apolitical, this can be a challenge. Our own patronage has been slowly shrinking despite show improvements for 2 years now. People just sort of expect things to be free. Now thankfully, our channel isn't really mass appeal, so most viewers understand that it can't be run on ad rev. We are clearly making ammo, paying an animator, and buying up every book we can on top of the labor. This helps people feel it is worth parting with $1-5 a month, as there isn't really another way to pay for it all.
When you have shorter videos, with a much larger audience, everyone expects the ads are enough. So you have to use more special rewards marketing. Exclusive content allows you to do this without breaking your flow, or delving into skills you might not have.
I agree that exclusive content is a double edged sword.
Our solution, instead, has been to court sponsors to make up the gap. Problem is this is very low pay because we only work with products or services I will actually use myself. Garbage pays better. Our "exclusives" are that our patrons just get earlier access and, for each episode, a "podcast" on what the hell is going on behind the scenes. I have recently come up with some other solutions that avoid ransoming core material, but frankly they are taking up a lot of time and expense to get right before release.
people like Brandon Herrera just lazily show off some cool old gun, go over surface historical details and how it's built and then use it to shoot cans of White Claw, and get more views and relevancy than none other than the esteemed Gun Jesus.
For most people there is no big data difference between a normal FW video and a Herrera video on a given firearm. They want to get a vague feel of the thing, and they want to take a central fact or, more often, factoid. Some central, memetic theme they can blurt out when they see it again.
It's only SOME of FW audience that wants to compare and contrast in depth. That portion is generally the audience that overlaps with our show.
, I really hope Mugi took the kids and ran.
