Yesterday I uploaded a new video to our YouTube channel, unboxing of the Nyko Playpad. It’s a video I created entirely myself, not using any 3rd party materials beside background music which was under Creative Commons license.

YouTube rejected that video for monetization. I removed the background music, leaving a piece of content that is 100% my own, and uploaded it again.

And again, the video got rejected for monetization.

I’m not part of a network and have no tools to fight this decision beside the basic form in YouTube’s system. It seems that earning ad revenue has become increasingly difficult in this period of copyright paranoia, when Google tries to appease big corporations on the expense of independent creators.

Other videos, such as my Now Loading: Kingdoms of Amalur, got rejected as well, despite clearly falling under Fair Use laws. The Shadowrun Dragonsfall video, on the other hand, was approved – An indie game vs. an EA title.

I hold no faith in YouTube driving my income in the future. It seems to me the golden age of YouTubers is nearing its end. A majority of successful YouTube channels are now part of large networks that has pull with the Google overlords.

So, like many others, I turn to other sources to support my creation: Patreon. For some time now you are able to directly support IceL.me’s activities through our Patreon page.

In Patreon you can support creators for the work they’re actually doing, e.g. per an article, a video or a song. Creators set milestones to track their progress, and offer rewards to their backers.

In honor of my annoyance with YouTube, I created the following infographic to showcase what two years of activity looks like. Enjoy.