Are MCNs Worth Doing?

Hey gang - I've been looking into MCN (multi-channel networks) for a while now. Maker Studios is a good example if you want to check one out. As I understand it, they take some of your ad revenue and in return they give you access to a bunch of creative materials you can use (b-roll, music etc) and offer some support in terms of graphics and most importantly promote your channel on their channel which (usually) they have already built up to have a large subscriber base.

Does anyone have experience with MCNs, or can direct me to a post that already touched on this? Do you think they're worth it?
 
MCNs are very tricky. YouTube will tell you that you need to do you homework on which on is the right one. Yes most do take your revenue the average is 60% for you and %40 for them. The most important thing is know how binding the contract is, some last years and there extremely hard to get out of.

For me personally I'm partnered with Freedom and they are great. They do take 50% to start out but as your channel grows and becomes more known than I gradually can become 110%. They start paying you extra for the money you already make. Also there is no contract you can leave your partnership when ever you want. They also have music and graphics to use.

That's my tid bit on the subject
 
They can be, as well as providing you with support, music etc, they also sell extra ads on top of your videos, which can sometimes boost your revenue. It depends on how much you make and what your expectations are from an MCN. @nationalfreakk , Freedom! don't even have an adsales team, the amount of features they have are really not worth 40 percent of all of your revenue.
 
I was with Maker before they were even called Maker (was The Station then) and was partnered and a staff writer. I have been with Fullscreen for almost 3 years. I do see a value in them, but if you are just starting out, there is literally no reason why to join one. I attribute about 5 or so percent of my success from an MCN, and I work with mine a lot. I still do 95% or so of the work, because no one will ever care more than I do about succeeding.
 
I was with Maker before they were even called Maker (was The Station then) and was partnered and a staff writer. I have been with Fullscreen for almost 3 years. I do see a value in them, but if you are just starting out, there is literally no reason why to join one. I attribute about 5 or so percent of my success from an MCN, and I work with mine a lot. I still do 95% or so of the work, because no one will ever care more than I do about succeeding.
These days, it's mostly about the revenue share increase you can see when joining one I'd say. That and the support offered, otherwise I'd agree with you one hundred percent.
 
These days, it's mostly about the revenue share increase you can see when joining one I'd say. That and the support offered, otherwise I'd agree with you one hundred percent.

They take a percentage, so as they can get a better ad amount for your views, they take a percentage. And unless you bring in views, the attention goes to the big fish, however some networks do a good job at providing resources. they have thousands of channels, and a fraction of that in employees, and of that only some of them are talent/channel support.
 
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