Online Youtube (etc) Guitar/Amp/Pedal shows...when will the bubble 'burst'.....

Musicman20

I think we are at a golden age of being able to see/hear and experience new musical technology as it hits.

I have no idea how people gather revenue from YouTube, but I'm well aware there are some that manage to make a living out of it.

However, over the past year I think it is becoming saturated. 40 minute review videos about new Gibson Les Paul Tributes from every single musical YouTube outlet.

Also, let us not forget, anyone with a half decent iPhone/Smartphone and some basic recording skills/editing skills can do exactly the same and try to take some of the market.

How long do we think this will go on? Does any contribute to the Patreon requests?

I personally don't, and I never will. We pay to view TV/Sky/Netflix.

I might be completely alone here (and cynical) but as soon as I hear someone asking for money and telling me hard it is to video themselves playing video games for 4 hours straight, I switch off.

It's great for newcomers and for those wishing to learn more about music, I agree. 

But, is it just one big advert? 

Strangefan

I agree with the asking for money bit, however people clearly enjoy them and feel they're informative, before we had magazines which we would pay £5.50 for, now thanks to the Web and you tube  we have up to the minute honest (sometimes) reviews we don't have to wait a month for, which really is a good thing. 

absolutpepper

I guess it's quite subjective. In terms of it being an advert I dare say a lot are (hello PGS) but I have no issue with that to be honest as long as the channel is up front about it. Andertons sometimes are a bit cringey and salesmen-y but what do you expect from a guy that owns a shop and makes a living selling these products. I'm not the biggest chappers fan, however I do have to commend him that if he puts up a vid for a paid for product placement or he is doing one of his own products he's very upfront in telling the viewer that it's essentially an advert.

CarpeDiem

A lot of the reviews are sponsored and, as a result, many are adverts. Also, the experienced musicians know how to set up the equipment to get the best results. They also sometimes use other gear to make it sound better, eg one I saw the guy was using an attenuator on the amp when demonstrating a drive pedal. I tend to watch pro and amateur reviews to get a more real-world view.

paulnb57

I tend to have a few YouTubers I follow and while they are entertaining, I would never do the Patreon thing. Advertising is a pain, especially in the middle of a video, but it keeps the content free. 

Fuengi

Videos make revenue by viewers either watching adverts (not skipping) or clicking through. 

I don't use Patreon but for those YouTubers I like I will happily let the as run or click through so that they get a few pennies each time. 

Like and subscribe also helps them and costs you nothing. 

JDE

While gear has got *a bit* more complex, most pedals can display everything they have to offer in 5 minutes. Obviously things like AxeFX, Helix, Timeline etc its fair enough to go on a bit, but the day I spend 45 minutes of my life watching a video about a Klone is the day I retire from using the internet. 

Anyone remember what it was like 15 years ago? "This is the warrenty card. Here's the manual. This is a sheet showing what other pedals they sell. This is where you plug the cable in." Wanna go back to that? Yeah, thought not.

digitalscream

I think the bubble will burst when somebody does a one hour video explaining about expression pedals.

Oh, wait...

Shark_Eyes

I think there's still a fair bit of life in the concept, I think its just going to get more and more niche.
If you look at knobs channel he's usually covering fairly esoteric stuff with an emphasis on sounds and visual presentation. Compare his review of the Earthquaker Devices Rainbow Machine to the PGS one.

guitarfishbay

It does take time to do a good video. I don't blanket agree that the creators shouldn't be compensated.

Keith Merrow has said that some videos take him up to a week to plan, write, arrange, record, film, edit. 

Sure channels such as PGS are adverts - but give it a go and try and make something that slick. It takes time and skill.

Recording music can be very cheap these days too - still a big gap between good pro and basic amateur, videos are no different.

YouTube is full of pretty mediocre guitar content, don't get me started on trying to find a bass demo that isn't out of time slapping. I don't agree the average person can just grab their iPhone and immediately create good content by virtue of owning some equipment, takes more than that.

Regarding money it's simple - if viewers don't pay then the other source is advertising, be that via channel views (less likely in guitar vs games) or direct tie ins with companies. It's just a simple game of numbers. Viewers by and large have decided they won't pay, so yeah a lot of stuff is adverts, or people hoping to eventually get paid by companies for doing it. That bubble may well burst, though it's not clear how many actually are in it and making money currently, I would wager not a huge number 

Jack_

I've stopped watching pretty much all YouTube guitar videos, because they're all far too long. I'm not short of time, I just don't have the attention span.

Drew_TNBD

digitalscream said:

I think the bubble will burst when somebody does a one hour video explaining about expression pedals.

Oh, wait...

Nah that's just TPS jumping the shark

JDE

I think TPS is pretty good entertainment. They both seem like genuinely likeable blokes, which is totally rare on the internet (look at all us losers). I'm sure I've met the big one at some point, buying or selling gear. 

BBBlues

I assume any well put together gear demo is an advert. It's a huge marketing strategy nowadays. My mate just got given a 3k lawn mower and he has to post to Facebook and YouTube once a week to give "updates". If you didn't know he was given it it'd be hard to tell from the videos it's an advert.

Musicman20

It may well take them time and effort to get it right, but it's just like any other technology; give it time and you can learn it. I sometimes feel we are meant to be 'grateful' for it. The major players aren't doing it for free. If any of them are they need to re-think their career!

mrkb

Musicman20 said:

I personally don't, and I never will. We pay to view TV/Sky/Netflix.

That's an old school method - you pay for something in advance hoping there will be content you enjoy (similar to a magazine subscription). I much prefer YouTube and tuition website such as Justin guitar - browse for useful content that's free and reward the channel ( i.e. Buy a TPS t shirt) if I like what they are doing. That seems much more sensible to me.

guitarfishbay

Musicman20 said:

It may well take them time and effort to get it right, but it's just like any other technology; give it time and you can learn it. I sometimes feel we are meant to be 'grateful' for it. The major players aren't doing it for free. If any of them are they need to re-think their career!

Ok, and that's true for most jobs assuming the person meets the intelligence requirements they can learn it, so I don't understand your point. 

To me there's a gap in quality between those who generally do make money from it and the majority of those who don't.

The theory that anyone can learn it might be true but the reality is that they don't until they've spent a long time at it, just like any other skill... and then who pays them for that? Looks like the brands in a lot of cases, hence the adverts.

To respond to @BBBlues point - I do actually think it should legally have to be declared if something is a sponsored ad. I generally see this on YT vids, have no idea if this is supposed to happen on FB, Instagram, Twitter etc

EricTheWeary

digitalscream said:

I think the bubble will burst when somebody does a one hour video explaining about expression pedals.

Oh, wait...

I have watched that and there's not actually that much about expression pedals in it really. Or much of anything else, I just like watching Mick Taylor's pained expression at trying to cope with anything that doesn't sound like SRV or Robben Ford. 

Yes, they are ads. I remember Brett Kingman saying he doesn't put them out until they've been approved by the company that sent him the pedal. Actually, to be fair to TPS they made some obvious criticisms of the Ernie Ball pedals they'd been sent (in their above mentioned video) and yet I've seen them reviewed elsewhere in glowing terms. 
There are YouTube gear channels that have come and gone and those that never took off so it's not exactly a sure fire way to get views. Some of them are very well made -  I like Mike Hermans, for example, whose work is quite a step beyond a bloke with an iPhone. 

You get user ones but they're generally of this 'isn't this brill' or 'isn't this shit' self selecting nonsense. 

I'm not sure I've ever seen a balanced review on YouTube or have any idea who would pay for the making of such a thing. 

guitarfishbay

mrkb said:

Musicman20 said:

I personally don't, and I never will. We pay to view TV/Sky/Netflix.

That's an old school method - you pay for something in advance hoping there will be content you enjoy (similar to a magazine subscription). I much prefer YouTube and tuition website such as Justin guitar - browse for useful content that's free and reward the channel ( i.e. Buy a TPS t shirt) if I like what they are doing. That seems much more sensible to me.

Yeah this method also works

But in theory I don't see a need for a physical product to exist for them to get paid. People give money to buskers, what's the difference with chucking a PayPal donation to a YT content creator. Some people watch YT more than Netflix etc

Musicman20

guitarfishbay said:

Musicman20 said:

It may well take them time and effort to get it right, but it's just like any other technology; give it time and you can learn it. I sometimes feel we are meant to be 'grateful' for it. The major players aren't doing it for free. If any of them are they need to re-think their career!

Ok, and that's true for most jobs assuming the person meets the intelligence requirements they can learn it, so I don't understand your point. 

To me there's a gap in quality between those who generally do make money from it and the majority of those who don't.

The theory that anyone can learn it might be true but the reality is that they don't until they've spent a long time at it, just like any other skill... and then who pays them for that? Looks like the brands in a lot of cases, hence the adverts.

To respond to @BBBlues point - I do actually think it should legally have to be declared if something is a sponsored ad. I generally see this on YT vids, have no idea if this is supposed to happen on FB, Instagram, Twitter etc

I've actually found there are often very amateur people doing it who I learn more from because they do it in a less commercialised way. It's also their honest opinion most of the time.

If you browse there are young people with channels for things like Lego who clearly get something out of it and they tend to just have the released set in front of them. 

Whether someone pays them to learn a skill....thats a difficult one. It's not a traditional career and my young cousin is learning it at 12 years old...so....it's tough to negotiate what is right and wrong.

Whilst it is a growing industry the bubble will inevitably burst. 

Roland

Why would anyone spend their time making a YouTube video of a product:
1. Money, or the prospect of it.
2. Attention.
3. They want the experience.
... I'm running out of alternatives here ...

So if we want a balanced review, reasonably structured, by someone who can tune up and play a guitar, through half decent equipment, then someone somewhere is paying for it. We shouldn't expect anything else.

I used to buy Guitarist. It had reviews by competent musicians who were pleased to be given the opportunity to try out a new piece of equipment. They told you what they thought about it. Over time we saw a migration towards shorter pieces by competent writers, whose editors reminded them not to upset the advertisers. They didn't tell you any more than you could read in the marketing blurb.

Will the YouTube bubble burst? No, it will just fade in the way that paper magazine sales are fading. There will always be amateurish videos, with low viewing rates. What we'll find is a way of identifying the few that we think are worth watching.