Internet Celebs

YouTube is no longer about uploading home videos. There are celebrities and careers made on this media and that’s something one can’t ignore. The cost of making videos have increased and the money game has also made many YouTubers around the world millionaires. 

The success of the Why this Kolaveri di is just a testimony of the impact of YouTube. But, that was five years ago. Anyone can start a channel nowadays but given that the players are many in the field, it’s more important to understand how it all works. 

Prashanth Rangaswamy’s channel Tamilcinemareview has become a force to reckon with in the digital world. His one video receives a minimum of one million views. He has over 35 million followers. He started reviewing movies as a hobby and after receiving a good response, he went ahead with making these videos and now he interviews stars and has created a business model where he has a team that works with the logistics. 

“After watching Aayirathil Oruvan in 2010, I decided to come back home and review the movie. I was doing freelancing work back then and I had time on me. Those days the only reviews one could see was on TV, which I felt was biased. There was no place that represented the audience’s perspective and that inspired me to put out a video. 

My first video received a decent response and I continued doing it. In the first year he received around one lakh views that increased to two lakhs in the second year and took a leap in the following years. He says that the income he receives from YouTube has also varied over the years. 

“Earlier I received $1.3 for a thousand views. That was good money. Now, as the years have passed and the views have multiplied, we get 70 cents to 40 cents for 1,000 views depending on the success of the video,” explains Prashanth, whose latest review on Singham received over 335,708 views. 

His popularity has grown so much that he has gotten into this full-time and has become a well-known name in the industry wherein he interviews the stars. “Now I have a team of four to five people who do the editing, lighting and the camera works for the YouTube videos,” he says. 

Rajiv Rajaram, Founder and Creative Director of ‘Put Chutney’, a channel that uploads eight to 10 videos every month says, “If you look at all the top web YouTube channel’s web series, they are often sponsored. 

“If you look at the recent Web Series Humorously Yours by The Viral Fever, it was sponsored by Fosters and One Plus 3,” says Rajiv, adding that even for Ctrl Alt Del, an original series in Tamil and English by Culture Machine’s YouTube channel Put Chutney, they were sponsored by the brands Kitkat and Mirinda. 

However, the YouTube business is yet to be explored fully. There are various layers to it. Other media, like television and print have also integrated their respective fields with the social media. The stakes have risen and so has the quality. 

Prashanth, says, “For a 30-minute video, the cost of production can be anywhere between Rs 30,000 – 50,000. That includes shooting editing and the cost of the internet.” Coming to the music industry, they too plan their releases on YouTube based on the pulse of the audience.

Santhosh Kumar, Head of Content Acquisition at Think Music says, “Depending on the music and the appeal it has with the audience, we take a decision to release a single or not. Traditionally, during the audio launch, we release all the songs. When it comes to singles, we release just one song on social media, preferably YouTube. For instance, we released the lyrical video of shoot The Kuruvi from the movie Jil Jung Juk. The video was an instant hit and till date has over 8,387,117 views. But we can’t expect the same response for every number. However, there are tracks like the Neruppu Da, Pistah from Neram and Konji Pesida Venaam which did great online.”  

There are some international YouTube stars who make a 5 – 12 million dollars say experts. Some of them promote brands and Lilly Singh, a popular name, also launched her book and has interviewed personalities like Michelle Obama and Bill Gates for her YouTube channel while they promoted their causes. When it comes to the YouTube scenes, creators of the channels like AIB and TVF have earned a celebrity status. If experts are to be believed, the stakes are going to get higher and more popular faces from Chennai will find a niche for themselves on YouTube.