After seven years of continuously uploading videos, the ~30MM subscribers Rubén Doblas (alias Rubius) decided to take a rest from YouTube.
Arguing it was harder and harder for him to sit in front of his camera, Rubius announced a couple of days ago on a video (which has already more than 7MM views) that he is stepping away for a while from the hegemonic user generated video platform. According to Statsheep, Rubius is making more than $16MM USD a year.
Rubén is not the only YouTuber who is leaving the platform or taking a rest. Some months ago Fernafloo (~27MM subscribers) took some time away as well, coming back recently but at a slower tempo “I’m exhausted after never ending cycles of shooting and editing” Being a YouTuber is not an easy task, Fernafloo and Rubius both started publishing in the platform in their early 20’s and engaged a frenetic pace to keep the interest of their growing fan bases. YouTube is oversaturated with content creators looking for fame, and your brain — and production resources — should be working 24/7 to serve the masses in order to remain being one of the ‘popular’ guys in the club. It is easy then to end up burned up or to come out with really bad ideas, such as Logan Paul’s (~17MM subs) when he decided to make a video in front of a hanging dead man in Japan last year.
Barely some months ago, another popular YouTuber, Jordi Wild (~7MM subscribers) left the platform as well. He complained on how stressful it is to satisfy the demand of his followers — and YouTube itself — and how the platform demonetized his channel by applying new rules.
“Half a year ago I lost 80% of my monthly revenues. Imagine yourself earning 1000 Euros/mo and from night to day your boss tells you’re going to earn 200 Euros”
Wild added “I’ve been speaking with other YouTubers as well and they want to leave the platform, build up something new… let’s see what’s going to happen then.”
It seems that YouTubers need a new life plan, either doing something different (Rubius is focused on the animated TV show he’s created for Movistar in Spain, Logan Paul has his own clothing brand Maverick) or looking for new platforms to upload content — many YouTubers are switching to the Twitch model. Yet, the supply of new platforms is really small. The potential of #blockchainment — entertainment platforms based on blockchain — to disrupt the market and make a difference is huge. And the timing is perfect.
