The competition between Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and YouTube is heating up as Amazon launches Amazon Video Direct, a new self-service program for creators to upload their own videos. Amazon made the announcement yesterday, revealing the new addition to its video offerings.
Amazon Video Direct (AVD) will allow video creators and producers to get their work in front of tens of millions of Amazon Prime customers and to earn royalties based on the number of hours streamed. As an added benefit, the videos can be made available to rent or to own, can be shown ad-free, or offered as an add-on subscription, giving creators an eager audience, freedom and revenue-generating opportunities.
AVD is available anywhere that Amazon Video is available – U.S., Germany, Austria, U.K. and Japan – and on all supported devices including Fire TV, smartphones, tablets, game consoles, smart TVs and online.
Amazon simultaneously launched its AVD Stars program which will distribute a share of $1,000,000 per month as a bonus to the top 100 titles included with Prime through Amazon Video Direct. This bonus is in addition to other revenue earned. The measurement of “top 100 titles” will be based on global customer engagement, and titles included in Prime will be automatically eligible. The first bonus will be paid based on activity from June 1 to June 30, 2016.
“It’s an amazing time to be a content creator,” said Jim Freeman, Vice President of Amazon Video in the announcement. “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.”
At launch, Amazon Direct Video has partnered with Condé 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. Videos from those partners is now available on Amazon Video.
“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 in the Amazon announcement.
“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,” Goldwyn added.
Videos from the AVD program join hundreds of thousands of movies and TV shows, Amazon Original Series, monthly subscriptions to SHOWTIME and STARZ, and new releases already available through Amazon Prime.
Insider Take:
We’d love to be a fly on the wall of Jeff Bezos’ office as Amazon wheels and deals to keep its place in the ever-competitive streaming video market. While not everything Bezos touches turns to gold, he isn’t a billionaire because he has lousy ideas. He is willing to let his team experiment with new ideas and to keep pushing the envelope. Time and time again, Bezos’ ideas have paid off, and this looks like another winner.
But it needs to be. As we’ve said many times before, the streaming video market gets more crowded every week with new players entering all the time. To remain at the top of the heap, or at least close to it, Amazon and competitors like Netflix, Hulu and YouTube need to offer something different than the other guy. In many cases, that means unique content. Amazon is offering powerful incentives to entice creators to choose them over YouTube.
Being successful also means forging exclusive partnerships and being able to differentiate themselves from what everyone else is doing. Price alone is not enough to give one company an edge over another. The successful companies will blaze a trail to the next new opportunity and not wait to copy what the others are doing. They will set the pace, and Bezos and company hope to lead the way.
