Amazon Direct Video Takes on Google's YouTube

[dgstorm]

There's a new player in the world of user created cat videos. Amazon takes direct aim at Google by introducing their own competitor to YouTube. It's called Amazon Direct Video and it aims to take user-generated video hosting service to a new level.

That's obviously an ambitious goal considering how much YouTube owns that space, but if anyone can give YouTube a run for its money, Amazon might be the one to do it. The Amazon Direct Video service will offer various ways for content creators to monetize their videos. This includes making them available under an ad-based program like YouTube, but also includes the ability to sell or rent your vids directly on Amazon Prime Video.

Amazon's program also includes something called AVD Stars which gives budding videographers a piece of the $1 million Amazon will put up every month. This chunk of community change is beyond any revenue generated from their videos. Here's a link to the new service for folks who want to check it out: Amazon Video Direct. Will AVD be able to stand up to the juggernaut that is YouTube?

Below we have Amazon's full press release in the thread.

 

[dgstorm]

Here's that Amazon press release,

"Amazon Announces Amazon Video Direct, Giving Video Providers a Self-Service Program to Reach Amazon Customers, Including Tens of Millions of Prime Members

Creators and storytellers from around the world can now make their videos available to customers as part of Prime Video and earn royalties based on hours streamed

Videos can also be made available to rent or own, to view free with ads, or packaged together and offered as an add-on subscription

Customers in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and Japan now have access to new movies, TV shows, docu-series and music videos from content creators

The Amazon Video Direct Stars program also launches today, giving video providers the opportunity to earn a monthly bonus based on customer engagement

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May 10, 2016– (NASDAQ:AMZN)—Amazon today announced an enhancement to Amazon Video: introducing Amazon Video Direct (AVD), a new self-service program for creators and storytellers to make their video content available to Amazon customers, including tens of millions of Prime members. Amazon Video is the only streaming service to offer customers unlimited access to tens of thousands of movies and TV episodes, including award-winning Amazon Original Series, through Prime Video; monthly subscriptions to SHOWTIME, STARZ, and more; and hundreds of thousands of titles including new-release movies and current TV shows for rent or purchase. With AVD, starting today, video providers have flexible self-service options for distributing their content:

Included in Prime Video at no additional charge to tens of millions of Prime members
Available as an add-on subscription through the Streaming Partners Program
Offered as a one-time rental price or a one-time purchase price
Available to all Amazon customers ad-supported
Specific benefits of Amazon Video Direct include:

Access to Amazon’s most engaged streaming audience—video providers can distribute their content directly to tens of millions of Prime members and earn royalties based on minutes streamed
Choice of how to share titles—video providers can utilize the different options Amazon Video uses to share content to customers
Expanded customer reach—video providers can choose to make their titles available in any country where Amazon Video is available—theUnited States, Germany, Austria, United Kingdom and Japan; with support for all the devices Amazon Video is available on—Fire TV, Fire and other iOS and Android tablets, connected TVs, game consoles, iOS and Android phones, and laptops
Insightful performance metrics—video providers are given performance metrics, such as number of minutes a title was streamed, projected revenue, payment history, or number of subscribers, so they can optimize the way they offer and promote content to customers; video providers have full control and the flexibility to make changes based on these metrics
“It’s an amazing time to be a content creator,” said Jim Freeman, Vice President of Amazon Video. “There are more options for distribution than ever before and with Amazon Video Direct, for the first time, there’s a self-service option for video providers to get their content into a premium streaming subscription service. We’re excited to make it even easier for content creators to find an audience, and for that audience to find great content.”

Also launching today is the AVD Stars program, which gives video creators a share of one million dollars per month based on customer engagement with their title. Here’s how the program works: Amazon will distribute to creators a monthly bonus from the one million dollar monthly fund, based on the Top 100 AVD titles in Prime Video, in addition to any other revenue earned. Video creators and providers who use AVD to make their titles available in Prime Video will automatically be enrolled. The AVD Stars program launches today and the one million dollar monthly fund will make its first bonus distributions based on streaming activity from June 1st to June 30th.

“We are thrilled to bring a selection of our premium original series, including Emmy nominated Vanity, to one of the premiere ad-free subscription services,” said Mia Goldwyn, Chief Content Officer, StyleHaul. “We believe Amazon Prime members will enjoy the unique female voices featured in our content and be inspired by the fashion and beauty that our brand embodies.”

“Amazon Video Direct helps us reach fans of our beloved preschool brands, including classic Thomas & Friends, Barney & Friends, Angelina Ballerina, Fireman Sam and Pingu, and get the content in front of Prime members faster than ever and into new territories,” said Andrea Carpenter, Senior Director, Global Content Marketing and Distribution, Mattel. “The upload and publishing process is easy and fast, and we can directly monitor our streaming performance through our online dashboard.”

“As a major, independently owned and operated motion-picture company, we’re excited to have the ability to distribute our films to Amazon customers around the globe,” said Peter Goldwyn, President of Samuel Goldwyn Films. “With Amazon Video Direct, we have the control to create the unique distribution strategies that reflect the changing ways in which our audiences discover our films. We can seamlessly make all our movies like Hyena Road, Somm: into the Bottle, Havana Motor Club, available to watch when and where our audiences want them. With Amazon Prime Video we have found an amazing home for films like The Benefactor with Richard Gere and Takeshi Miike’s Yakuza Apocalypse.”

AVD launch partners include: Conde Nast Entertainment, HowStuffWorks, Samuel Goldwyn Films, The Guardian, Mashable, Mattel, StyleHaul, Kin Community, Jash, Business Insider, Machinima, TYT Network, Baby Einstein, CJ Entertainment America, Xive TV, Synergetic Distribution, Kino Nation, Journeyman Pictures, and Pro Guitar Lessons. Content from these providers can be found now on Amazon Video.

To learn more about Amazon Video Direct, visithttp://videodirect.amazon.com. Content creators and storytellers can start distributing their premium content today.

About Amazon Video

Amazon Video is a premium on-demand entertainment service that offers customers the greatest choice in what to watch, and how to watch it. Amazon Video is the only service that provides all of the following:

Prime Video: Thousands of movies and TV shows, including popular licensed content plus critically-acclaimed and award-winning Amazon Original Series and Movies from Amazon Studios like Transparent, The Man in the High Castle, kids series Tumble Leaf and Chi Raq, available for unlimited streaming as part of an Amazon Prime membership
Add-on Subscriptions: Dozens of subscriptions to networks like SHOWTIME, STARZ and more, available to Amazon Prime members as add-ons to their membership
Rent or Own: Hundreds of thousands of titles, including new-release movies and current TV shows available for on-demand rental or purchase for all Amazon customers
Instant Access: Instantly watch anytime, anywhere through the Amazon Video app on TVs, mobile devices, Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, and Fire tablets, or online. For a list of all compatible devices visitAmazon Video: Watch Anywhere
Premium Features: Top features like 4K Ultra HD, High Dynamic Range (HDR) and the only streaming service to offer mobile downloads for offline viewing
In addition to Prime Video, the Prime membership includes unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of items across all categories, more than one million songs and thousands of playlists and stations with Prime Music, early access to select Lightning Deals all year long, free secure, unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive with Prime Photos, access to borrow books with the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, and more. To sign-up for Prime or to find out more visit:http://www.amazon.com/prime.

About Amazon

Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visitAbout Amazon."

 

[pc747]

Nothing wrong with a little competition. Especially since there have been several YTers questioning the way YT handles violations.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[cr6]

If anyone could compete with YouTube it would be Amazon. They have the infrastructure & funding already in place. More power to em!

S5 tap'n

 

[Jonny Kansas]

While I can agree that competition is good and can also agree that Amazon has the resources to make a real go of this, I don't find myself very interested in the service at this point. Maybe it'll gain some ground and I'll be changing my tune, but I also only recently REALLY got into YouTube from both a creator and a viewer perspective.

 

[Mustang02]

I'm way behind the ball on this. Just started watching YouTube videos this year.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I'm way behind the ball on this. Just started watching YouTube videos this year.

I only started watching them regularly this year. I've uploaded some of my own videos for several years now & watched the occasional video, but only in the last 6 months or so have I really subscribed to some channels & started following them for real.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[cr6]

Been a fan of YouTube since its inception. Sure there's a lot of crap on YT, but there's also a lot of great content as well. I suppose the same can be said with Facebook. Since I'm not on Facebook and refuse to join, maybe there's a correlation there....we all choose to waste our time in different ways. [emoji2]

S5 tap'n

 

[johnomaz]

The only loyalty I have with youtube is that I get youtube red included with my google music subscription. If someone I subscribe to goes to amazon's new service, I would watch it there. But I don't how amazon would become a replacement. I mean, wouldn't that person just upload to both services now? What incentive would there be to completely leave one service for another?

 

[Jonny Kansas]

The only loyalty I have with youtube is that I get youtube red included with my google music subscription. If someone I subscribe to goes to amazon's new service, I would watch it there. But I don't how amazon would become a replacement. I mean, wouldn't that person just upload to both services now? What incentive would there be to completely leave one service for another?

As a fledgling YT creator, I was actually just thinking about that. Currently, I don't use ads on my videos. I'm trying to figure out exactly where the channel is gonna go & build an audience before trying to make some money on it.

If I could continue to do that there, while making some money on this new service, I might upload to both. It'll be more even ground starting out on Amazon's service, so I might be a nobody both places, but I'm willing to bet there'll be more nobodies on Amazon's service & less big "stars", at least starting out.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[Miklb58]

What is YouTube?



[emoji6] just kidding...


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[Miklb58]

I would dig it if Amazon offered no ads for Prime members.

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[johnomaz]

As a fledgling YT creator, I was actually just thinking about that. Currently, I don't use ads on my videos. I'm trying to figure out exactly where the channel is gonna go & build an audience before trying to make some money on it.

If I could continue to do that there, while making some money on this new service, I might upload to both. It'll be more even ground starting out on Amazon's service, so I might be a nobody both places, but I'm willing to bet there'll be more nobodies on Amazon's service & less big "stars", at least starting out.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

I've found I like more of the smaller channels with maybe 10,000 followers instead of hundreds of thousands or even millions. The content tends to stay on topic and is consistent. Sure, the people may not be as comfortable sounding but the content is usually good. Its also nice to see them grow into it.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I've found I like more of the smaller channels with maybe 10,000 followers instead of hundreds of thousands or even millions. The content tends to stay on topic and is consistent. Sure, the people may not be as comfortable sounding but the content is usually good. Its also nice to see them grow into it.

You'd love my channel then! I've got like 20 subscribers so far. Haha

 

[xeene]

YouTube to me is like a video encyclopedia oh how to do things. I doubt amazon can compete with its popularity as amazon is absent from global Internet stage. You can't order or subscribe or purchase anything in non 1st world countries. People in Africa, Asia or Latin Americ mostly aren't aware that amazon exists.