October 31, 2006

Video Sites Pay Videographers

Video sharing sites, despite the fact that they usually don't make money, are beginning to pay videographers based upon the number of times their videos are viewed. In the case of video sites that sell ads, this revenue-split is being implemented in order to attract the top videos.

Cnet has a good overview of this trend in "Google Shares Wealth with Videographers."

These new financial opportunities for amateur and professional videographers leads me back to a question I've been wondering about for quite awhile: How can choreographers, dancers and dance companies generate revenue via online distribution of video?

What type of programming will the general public actually buy? Can you sell the Nutcracker? Can you sell dance class instruction videos? Can you sell mini-documentaries? Do new categories of dance videos need to be created in order to grow an online market?

For example, what types of pre-performance and post-performance videos might be of interest to dance audiences?

How should dance instruction videos be modified for sale over the Internet?

Are there ways to package dance videos in a subscription model so that buyers receive a video once a week or so?

I haven't seen much experimentation when it comes to offering dance videos online. Hopefully as web sharing sites begin to pay creators of video content, there will be more entrepreneurial efforts in this sphere to see what will work.

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