Amazon has announced Video Direct, a new way for video providers to reach Amazon’s huge customer base. With this, content creators will have a number of new self-service ways to put their videos in front of Amazon’s millions of Prime customers. The company will be offering royalties based on the number of minutes streamed, and more.
Amazon notes that some of the benefits include:
- Access to Amazon’s most engaged streaming audience—video providers can distribute their content directly to tens of millions of Prime members and earn royalties based on minutes streamed
- Choice of how to share titles—video providers can utilize the different options Amazon Video uses to share content to customers
- Expanded customer reach—video providers can choose to make their titles available in any country where Amazon Video is available—the United States, Germany, Austria, United Kingdom and Japan; with support for all the devices Amazon Video is available on—Fire TV, Fire and other iOS and Android tablets, connected TVs, game consoles, iOS and Android phones, and laptops
- Insightful performance metrics—video providers are given performance metrics, such as number of minutes a title was streamed, projected revenue, payment history, or number of subscribers, so they can optimize the way they offer and promote content to customers; video providers have full control and the flexibility to make changes based on these metrics
It appears as though Amazon is positioning itself to offer a competitive package for creators to sway them to move from YouTube to their platform. Amazon is also launching the Amazon Video Direct Stars program, which will give creators a share of one million dollars per month based on customer engagement on their title. Full details of the Amazon Video Direct announcement can be found here.