Tycoons Row

Online video social networks is consistently growing. Not only by the number of players in the field (ex. YouTube, Brightcove, Metacafe, Revver), but possibly more importantly by the features they possess. One such feature that is provided is giving user-generated content an opportunity to profit from their creations.

urFlick, which came about around June of 2006, is an online video network which offers multiple tiers for users to generate revenue. Not only will the service allow you to generate revenue, but also share revenue, and donate revenue to charities. Evidently, this service will be beneficial to two parties:

1. The party with user-generated content that people want to see. A user must have a dedicated audience or just content that has the ability to go viral.
2. The party who seeks your content and wants to pay for it.

urFlick allows you to charge a monthly subscription service for your own personal customized channel. Think of it like having your own cable company, (if your content is that good of course). Another way urFlick allows you to make money is through set prices. You can upload multiple videos having different price categories. In addition, which caters to more of what Web2.0 is all about, and the feature I appluad is revenue sharing. This option isn’t available yet, however, members will be able to share in ad-revenue that’s generated by urFlick. Lastly, not only you have these multiple revenue sharing methods, but also, you can donate a portion of your revenue to charities. This is another option urFlick has provided & is done through Karma.
Overall, this will be a great service if they cater to indie filmmakers and partner with major brand name advertisers or companies so that there will be more value to the brand. You won’t have to see canned commercials, it will be your next door neighbor developing video for his tasty bowl of Kelloggs cornflakes, or maybe even your cousin who decided to pick up a film & record the documentary on the Life & Times of Elvis. So, I see potential for this up & coming service, however, it may not have the strong platforms or the financial backing of Brightcove or Revver but the opportunity is there.

Revenue sharing will be a premier selling point for user-generated content sites in the future. People are already use to develop content, whether it be for their own social outlet, business, or pleasure. But today, I think that people seek to create more compelling content, as well as monetize their content. The number of bloggers & blogs is consistently growing, & it’s definitely not showing signs of slower growth. The more bloggers, v-loggers there is, the more user-generated content that will be.

According to Technorati, already there are over 50 million weblogs since July 2006.