What is considered a "good" contract?

[wolfpackfilms]

Hi all,

My YouTube channels USN Films (50k subs, 7 million views) and PDK Films (109k subs, 69 million views) partnered with Collective Digital Studio in August, but two weeks ago I terminated the contract. I negotiated the contract to a 80-20 revenue split for preroll ads, and 70-30 for integration deals. The thing is, they never got me any integration deals, and I was fed up with them for not paying me on time, or giving me any of the services they offered (graphic design, etc.).

Anyway, my channels are pretty big, and I know I need a network to get into integration deals (or brand deals, whatever you call them). However, I'm reluctant to join another network, cause i'm not trying to get shafted again.

What are some things that you guys have in your contract? Like do you have set CPMs? My channels average a $5CPM, so would I be able to negotiate a constant CPM with a network? If so, how much is reasonable? Also, what about mandating a certain amount of integration deals? something like "1 integration deal per month" or something like that. Are these requests doable? What do you guys have on your contracts?

Thanks

 

[Daniel]

There are fixed CPM contracts that can be arranged through some networks if you ask for it. It tends to be around the lower side, just a heads up at that, I've seen is usually around $3-4 at a fixed rate. It's best to just talk to different network representatives and ask them what they could offer you and ask them what you are looking for.

At your size, you might want to look at Creative Nation, OmniaMedia or Bigframe would be my top three. I know they have good offers in place for larger channels.[DOUBLEPOST=1384815215,1384815107][/DOUBLEPOST]@uberdanger and @Flammy may be of help here, they are both with OmniaMedia and could possibly tell you a bit about what they get from their contract.

 

[uberdanger]

This depends entirely on your channel, size, content and so on. There are only 5 things you wanna look for in a network:

CPM:
CPM = cost per mile, as in how much do you earn per 1000 monetised views. Don't EVER agree to a fixed CPM, an unlimited CPM can also vary greatly depending on your channel. Try asking 5-10 partners from the network what their CPM is, and how THEY feel about the network.

Revenue share:
This also depends on your channel, however I'd say for smaller channels it's great to go with networks such as curse who offer a decent CPM with a 90/10. You should never go below 70, that's an ironclad rule.

Support/care for the individual partner:
For example a network like Viso/bbtv, or Machinima doesn't care about the individual partner at all, or what they want. The network just wants money. Try asking several partners how they get treated, and how the network helps them.

How they could help your channel grow:
Do they have promotion? Do they have any big partners that they could hook up collabs with? If so that's something you should consider.

Influence: Basically how many contacts do they have, can they message Youtube directly!? Are they willing to do so to fix an issue you are having.


Some of the most overlooked things are the most important, I have had copyright strikes REMOVED from my channel, because my network had enough influence to change the mind of the people holding the copyright. I can't say what "a good contract is" since it's always subjective. You need to keep all theese things in mind though, before choosing a network/contract.

Generally try to settle for 1 year max, you may turn out to dislike the network after a while, something unexpected might come up. Theese are a few networks you should NEVER consider signing with: AwesomenessTV, Machinima, TGN, RPM, BroadbandTV. They are a few I could list off the top of my head, but do research before even considering signing that contract.

I have had poor experiences with Yeousch through Fullscreen, so I can't recommend them, however @Wreckless Eating has had good experiences directly through Fullscreen, and I trust his work as to how they treat him as a partner. They might not treat all channels equally depending on size.

I'm currently with Omnia Media and couldn't be happier, I have a partner manager who pretty much always answers within 10 seconds (I don't f*****g know how Austin, you're starting to creep me out) and they generally settle any dispute easily. I couldn't change my name back due to google+, and it seemed like I was generally ******. But now I have the UberDanger name back since they contacted Youtube directly.

I don't wanna advertise or anything, but theese are my unbiased opinions on networks based on the knowledge that I have. Feel free to ask any questions.

 

[wolfpackfilms]

This depends entirely on your channel, size, content and so on. There are only 5 things you wanna look for in a network:

CPM:
CPM = cost per mile, as in how much do you earn per 1000 monetised views. Don't EVER agree to a fixed CPM, an unlimited CPM can also vary greatly depending on your channel. Try asking 5-10 partners from the network what their CPM is, and how THEY feel about the network.

Revenue share:
This also depends on your channel, however I'd say for smaller channels it's great to go with networks such as curse who offer a decent CPM with a 90/10. You should never go below 70, that's an ironclad rule.

Support/care for the individual partner:
For example a network like Viso/bbtv, or Machinima doesn't care about the individual partner at all, or what they want. The network just wants money. Try asking several partners how they get treated, and how the network helps them.

How they could help your channel grow:
Do they have promotion? Do they have any big partners that they could hook up collabs with? If so that's something you should consider.

Influence: Basically how many contacts do they have, can they message Youtube directly!? Are they willing to do so to fix an issue you are having.


Some of the most overlooked things are the most important, I have had copyright strikes REMOVED from my channel, because my network had enough influence to change the mind of the people holding the copyright. I can't say what "a good contract is" since it's always subjective. You need to keep all theese things in mind though, before choosing a network/contract.

Generally try to settle for 1 year max, you may turn out to dislike the network after a while, something unexpected might come up. Theese are a few networks you should NEVER consider signing with: AwesomenessTV, Machinima, TGN, RPM, BroadbandTV. They are a few I could list off the top of my head, but do research before even considering signing that contract.

I have had poor experiences with Yeousch through Fullscreen, so I can't recommend them, however @Wreckless Eating has had good experiences directly through Fullscreen, and I trust his work as to how they treat him as a partner. They might not treat all channels equally depending on size.

I'm currently with Omnia Media and couldn't be happier, I have a partner manager who pretty much always answers within 10 seconds (I don't f*****g know how Austin, you're starting to creep me out) and they generally settle any dispute easily. I couldn't change my name back due to google+, and it seemed like I was generally ******. But now I have the UberDanger name back since they contacted Youtube directly.

I don't wanna advertise or anything, but theese are my unbiased opinions on networks based on the knowledge that I have. Feel free to ask any questions.

Thank you for your very informative post. I have a few questions. Have you gotten any good integration deals through them? If so, how frequent, and how lucrative? (If you don't want to/can't disclose that information I understand). Also, did you have your YouTube url changed? As I'm interested in having my YouTube URL changed, and I know it's been done in the past.

Thank you

 

[uberdanger]

Thank you for your very informative post. I have a few questions. Have you gotten any good integration deals through them? If so, how frequent, and how lucrative? (If you don't want to/can't disclose that information I understand). Also, did you have your YouTube url changed? As I'm interested in having my YouTube URL changed, and I know it's been done in the past.

Thank you

First of all, I have no idea what you mean with "integration deals", and I can share any information I want.

 

[wolfpackfilms]

First of all, I have no idea what you mean with "integration deals", and I can share any information I want.

By integration deals, I mean like integration campaigns or brand advertising. For example, we make money from the ads that play on our videos, or alongside our videos. An integration deal is an additional way to make money by integrating a brand or product into your video. So, my videos have Nerf guns in them, if Hasbro (the company that makes Nerf guns) was paying me to be showing off their product, then that would be an integration deal. Another example would be if you talked about a product, service, or app in your video, and were paid to do that. It's essentially an additional way to make money. So i guess my question is, what other ways can you make money with your network, besides the conventional advertising that you can get through a YouTube partnership. Thanks

 

[uberdanger]

By integration deals, I mean like integration campaigns or brand advertising. For example, we make money from the ads that play on our videos, or alongside our videos. An integration deal is an additional way to make money by integrating a brand or product into your video. So, my videos have Nerf guns in them, if Hasbro (the company that makes Nerf guns) was paying me to be showing off their product, then that would be an integration deal. Another example would be if you talked about a product, service, or app in your video, and were paid to do that. It's essentially an additional way to make money. So i guess my question is, what other ways can you make money with your network, besides the conventional advertising that you can get through a YouTube partnership. Thanks

That's not called integration, that's called product placement. And I've been offered to do it, and I declined. I'm kind of against promoting things that I don't genuinely think are great. I don't promote any products that I don't stand for.

If I had to get a sponsor it would probably be Razer, or Monster.

 

[Flammy]

Thank you for your very informative post. I have a few questions. Have you gotten any good integration deals through them? If so, how frequent, and how lucrative? (If you don't want to/can't disclose that information I understand). Also, did you have your YouTube url changed? As I'm interested in having my YouTube URL changed, and I know it's been done in the past.

Thank you

I did get a new url that redirects to my own. my id is flammy5 but my network (previously mentioned Omnia) helped get youtube.com/flammy to redirect to my channel (it was abandoned) which was pretty cool.

As for product placement I know Omnia has done them in the past, haven't been interested myself.

 

[wolfpackfilms]

That's not called integration, that's called product placement. And I've been offered to do it, and I declined. I'm kind of against promoting things that I don't genuinely think are great. I don't promote any products that I don't stand for.

If I had to get a sponsor it would probably be Razer, or Monster.

Thanks for your response. Has your network offered any of these deals? And are there any other ways to make money through them besides the conventional ads that get displayed on your videos? Also, do you have a flat CPM, if so, how much?[DOUBLEPOST=1384823728,1384823702][/DOUBLEPOST]

I did get a new url that redirects to my own. my id is flammy5 but my network (previously mentioned Omnia) helped get youtube.com/flammy to redirect to my channel (it was abandoned) which was pretty cool.

As for product placement I know Omnia has done them in the past, haven't been interested myself.

Thank you, how long did it take for them to get you the URL? Thanks

 

[uberdanger]

Thanks for your response. Has your network offered any of these deals? And are there any other ways to make money through them besides the conventional ads that get displayed on your videos? Also, do you have a flat CPM, if so, how much?[DOUBLEPOST=1384823728,1384823702][/DOUBLEPOST]

Thank you, how long did it take for them to get you the URL? Thanks

You clearly didn't read what I wrote, I'll repeat.
DO NOT EVER UNDER ANY f*****g CIRCUMSTANCES AGREE TO A FLAT CPM.

Edit: It should be blatanly obvious that I'm on an unlimited CPM, and yes my network has offered theese type of deals.