Last week Amazon released their Video Direct service, where users can create content and share stories (for free) with regular and Amazon Prime customers. Amazon wants to attract amateur video makers and future “Internet stars” by offering them the opportunity to make money whichever way they choose.
For instance, users can earn royalties from:
- Popularity among Prime subscribers (how many hours are they watching)
- Sharing videos (with paid ads attached) to non-prime members
- How many viewers subscribe to a channel
- Selling or renting videos to viewers
Amazon says this gives content creators full control over their videos so they can choose how they want to promote their art and how often they want to upload new content. Amazon offers performance metrics that give users the data on how long and often their videos are streamed, how many subscribers they have and how much revenue they are projected to make. Basically, Amazon handles all the business and lets the video makers focus on the content.
What’s more, videos can be shared with Amazon customers in Germany, Austria, the UK and Japan. And if you’re really looking to make this a career, determined creators have the opportunity to become an “Amazon Video Direct Star,” where top video makers are rewarded with a share of a $1 million pot for having a popular, often-watched video. Users have the opportunity to become a Video Direct Star every month.
Video Direct is up and running, and it is available on myriad devices that support Amazon, like Fire TV, tablets, phone, laptops and game consoles.