14 STREAMPUNK OP Talent
The name ‘YouTuber’ itself may even be a misnomer. These internet-first talents move from platform to platform, leveraging the benefits of each. If a platform helps improve their content and grow their followers, they stick with it. If not, they abandon it. YouTube has proved to be a stable platform, which is ideal for presenting content to an audience and interacting with followers. “If these stars went onto TikTok they would be huge on TikTok, or on Facebook. They would be great on any channel. But they don’t want to spread themselves too thin and they don’t have too much interest on the nuances of each platform. These guys are so well known, their fans will follow them where they go. Different messages work on different platforms. Your ten-minute content goes on YouTube, ten- second content goes on Instagram. “Our guys rarely post on Snapchat anymore. They all grew huge audiences on Snapchat, but then they realised their audience is on Instagram, where there’s the same functionality,” Chivers explains. Being a major YouTube presence doesn’t happen in a vacuum either. Many talents may have started out alone in their bedroom with a single webcam, but once they reach a certain level, many have additional help, including production
YOU CAN’T JUST STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND SAY, ‘I’M GOING TO BE A YOUTUBER’. IT HAS TO CHOOSE YOU
and editing teams. KSI has formed a solid production team around him, producing first-rate videos that rival those concocted by big ad agencies and production houses. “The top guys are bringing people in now – particularly editors – and a lot of them have creative concept people, too,” clarifies Chivers. “Some of them have two to three editors each. They are churning out so much content. When they find an editor who can replicate their style, it gives them time to have a bit of a life. Ali-A lives with his girlfriend, Clare Siobhan [herself a major YouTube star and also an OP Talent client]. With an editor, they can now spend time with each other on a Saturday and have a life outside YouTube.” YOUTUBE CHOOSES YOU A generation ago, when kids dreamed of celebrity, they dreamed of being sports heroes or recording artists. Today, they dream of being YouTubers. But to
succeed, it takes more than just an internet connection and a dose of narcissism. “It is 100% about hard work,” insists Chivers. “You have to be uploading regularly. It has to be of a good standard and it has to be completely original. You can’t be rehashing what everybody else on the internet is doing. And it does take a bit of investment. And it is about being patient – there is an element of luck to it. It’s no different from times gone by. But once people get noticed, it will snowball and snowball. In Ali-A’s first year, he got a few hundred subscribers. It took him three years to get to ten thousand subscribers, but people don’t want to wait these days.” In short, being a YouTuber is no different from any other job in the creative industry. It’s down to hard graft and luck – and most importantly, a love for the work, concludes Chivers. “You can’t just stop what you’re doing and say, ‘I’m going to be a YouTuber’. It has to choose you.”
SONIC YOUTH YouTubers KSI (Olajide William Olatunji) and Randolph (Andrew Shane) diversified by recording the album New Age
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