There's no reason to believe that every high-end streamer would have had a lucrative white collar career if they weren't streaming. Most people making high 5 figures or 6 figures streaming are better off taking that money now and worrying about a conventional job if and when they need one
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Destiny (Twitch streamer) discusses how money is made through Twitch streaming
- Thread starter crimsonheadGCN
- Start date
DoktorEvil
Banned
Marketed the right way, it's like being an entrepreneur. You have to manage your brand, run a website and manage relationships via social media and contract partners/other content creators.
It's far from being a cashier or working a back office job, albeit it's legality hinges on the fair use laws.
He likely makes more than that and lol not very good. He's playing video games he enjoys. This thread got some salty ass, jealous dudes.
DarkConfidant
Member
$30,000 a year (if my math is correct) to play games and entertain people seems crazy good.
60 hours sounds killer, though. I think I'd want to do less hours, and start gaming for me again. But that's probably why I don't have that job.
SliceSabre
Banned
I admit the long-term viability of this is questionable and who knows when the money will stop coming in, but to call it no money is silly considering many people in this country will live their whole lives and never come come to making that kind of money even with a degree. And no most people don't have a couple of degrees or certs under their belt and there's a lot that never have the intention of having them either.
As for the money I make around ~$27k and I'm able to live relatively comfortably where I live in Ohio. If I made $70k? Please I'd be living high on the hog.
You gotta have prospective. Its like a being a millionaire and not understanding how people who make $200k can live.
brotherbean
Member
How long until we see a 30 For 30 about Youtube/Twitch streamers after the popularity wanes and the money dries up?
More power to them for figuring out a way to turn a hobby into a source of income, but I'd worry about the longevity of it as a career. But, you could say the same about anything I suppose. Either way, it's a fascinating world we live in...
More power to them for figuring out a way to turn a hobby into a source of income, but I'd worry about the longevity of it as a career. But, you could say the same about anything I suppose. Either way, it's a fascinating world we live in...
SprachBrooks
Member
Damn, I need to get into this streaming industry. Good for him, hope he manages his finances well if there is no longevity in this line of work as people seem to love pronouncing.
Diablohead
Member
everyone and their dog are trying to hop onto the stream train so good luck, it's becoming a mess.
Interesting about the guy quoted in the op saying you need 500+ regular viewers because I see a lot of streamers with only 100~ with subs and people who stream only once per month with it also, twitch became rather slack with who they give subs too about a year or so back, they might as well enable it for everyone.
SprachBrooks
Member
Lol I was joking I don't have the dedication or love gaming all that much to dedicated 60+hrs a week to this.
But to those who are willing to work hard and build a subscriber base big enough towards self-sufficiency then all power to them.
The concept of doing something and it not being a real job is quite asinine in this day and age with the permeation of varied forms of entertainment. Peopleand this is the beauty of technological advancementscan do whatever they want and make money. A 9-5 isn't the norm anymore and good riddance.
johntown
Banned
Yeah I have seen that too but sometimes they make exceptions to the so called rules. If they like your channel and think it has potential then you will get Partnered without meeting the requirements. I would say they tend to be more lax with speed runners.
It would be nice if it was enabled for everyone. It would actually give me some motivation to stream.
I think a lot of them are planning for a life after the boom. Some YouTubers that I watch have been using the money they've made to start careers away from let plays and streaming.
That being said it would be interesting to watch a "behind the controller" segment on where they end up in like a decade, whether it be good or bad.
Diablohead
Member
Makes me wish I could hit it big, but i'm just another male gamer that happens to be very average at games
perfect, that's all you need for let's plays and streaming now days anyway
Only a few big speedrunners pull in the users because they are oldbies and well known in the community, a lot of better, faster and sometimes nicer speed runners only net 30-50 users because no one knows about them.
People are being dumb with the 'get a job that has a career path' nonsense, if for whatever reason these top streamers need to find a 'normal' job do you really think someone capable of holding 15k+ viewers on a daily basis are going to struggle to find a really well paying job? Lol. Companies will be queuing up to take them.
$30,000 a year (if my math is correct) to play games and entertain people seems crazy good.
60 hours sounds killer, though. I think I'd want to do less hours, and start gaming for me again. But that's probably why I don't have that job.
how did you get that number?
benicillin
Banned
I think you're vastly overestimating how much a company would care about how many views you get on Twitch. There are maybe a handful of jobs that companies like Riot might have where a large Twitch audience would matter, but there would be no companies "queuing up" to take them.
Streaming not yet. Well I was one of the people that streamed bloodborne earlier and two (three with Yoshi) donated about 80 Euros total. I just wanted to play and never really considered getting any money so soon (streaming every day since this year with two buddys).
Our YouTube Hookah Review Site ShishaForU gave us about 200-500 Euros every month for well... Smoking hookah tobacco or reviewing products without big effort. My best friend also has a local shop now and ended his well payed banker job before that
money flows but we are also good speaker (and learned that skill by producing videos). It's also a genre that doesnt generate that many viewers like videogames e.g. We get products for free, passes for conventions, people love us etc and its really fun. Now we expand in other areas like Cooking ForU and more so that everything will pay off in the future
Reviewing things got me very good skills in speaking, marketing, how to network, video editing and more and companies love it. Just today I had to hold a presentation and everybody loved it. Video editing got me extra money, marketing helped us selling a selfmade product (was a nice month with 12000 euros more cash in the wallet) and I also get people under my hood immediately when I just met them.
So yes it's awesome but you gotta keep going and do your best
Delusibeta
Banned
In addition to the traditional large quantity of extremely jealous people, there's a bunch of rich toffs who don't know the cost of living outside of their bubble posting in this thread.
lmao seriously. People don't understand how most people actually live.
The skills you need to be able to hold that many viewers will certainly have people queing up.
DoktorEvil
Banned
If they're filing for self-employment and paying their income taxes proper, I don't see how it is the IRS's business past reviewing the numbers.
Azzurri
Member
That's my point, how many of these 'kids' know anything about filling their taxes, write offs, and other forms.
NeuAscension
Banned
Self-Employment Tax is about 6% of wages. It isn't that terrible, and is offset by writing things off. There are people who have make far less than that a year working the same hours doing harder work.
benicillin
Banned
The skills at what, knowing how to hold Twitch viewers? Listen, I'm not saying they aren't talented and good at knowing how to utilize Twitch and get viewers, but knowing how to get viewers on Twitch doesn't lend itself to a whole lot else. If you're talking about basic livestreaming hardware and software knowledge it's not exactly specialized, they make it easy to do for a reason.
NeuAscension
Banned
Any halfway legitimate tax filing site will tell you everything you need to know, and walk you through the whole process. Way to stereotype streamers as tax evaders. /thumbsup
benicillin
Banned
I think it's less a question of basic tax info they'd get from Twitch for subscribers or ad rev and more a question of the donation money where it gets a lot more complicated.
Well, he's assuming they aren't paying taxes on donations.
NeuAscension
Banned
Any merchant account where you receive donations would issue you the proper tax form to file, a 1099-k i think....these things are well thought out and have been in place for decades.
matrixman92
Member
I think I could do it, if I were playing different games all the time.
If I had a channel that was only purposed to 1 or 2 games, fuck that
If I had a channel that was only purposed to 1 or 2 games, fuck that
Kenzodielocke
Banned
What the fuck ? This is huge money. If I would earn half of that in Euro, I would live a pretty nice live in germany.
Edit: ah right, you guys are in US so you're kinda fucked sometimes.
Edit: ah right, you guys are in US so you're kinda fucked sometimes.
DoktorEvil
Banned
No different from the brokers I work with in real estate.
They are responsible for their own tax filings, their own health insurance, retirement, etc.
The video streaming service would be on the hook liability wise if they were tax dodging. They are responsible in making sure their streamers know about filing and receiving a 1099.
this_multiverse
Neo Member
people get donations? I'm happy to get 2 viewers haha
matrixman92
Member
Ray(an ex roosterteeth guy) made 18k in donations alone his first day of full time streaming
Like any other job, really. Not much different than QA, being a critic, or being a journalist.
Most earnings are given as "pre-tax" so earning 100k is damned good. Oh, and 0-hour commute, 0 milage?
Everyone pays taxes.
I don't even think it would be that hard to do your taxes because even though you're getting "tips" it all comes through twitch right? Their ad dollars, subscriber dollars, and tip dollars are all from the same place.
It would probably be harder for someone waiting tables at two jobs to do their taxes, where the tips are actually tracked separately.
benicillin
Banned
They could be getting their tips from a variety of sources. Streamtip, Paypal, etc. I'm sure there are more.
DoktorEvil
Banned
So all the streamer would need from them is the 1099 to file.
I can also imagine the write off benefits to be killer, or the sponsorship opportunities.
Ivan Amiibo
Banned
who has crashed that hard? I've seen some, but only by their own hand (i.e. Siglemic stopped speed running mario 64 and pretty much pushed viewers away.)
on the other hand, older streamers like lirik and dansgaming only seem to get bigger.
This is TV for a lot of people and kids nowadays. I think if you hit critical mass and keep delivering whatever it is that people like, you can keep it going. The question is if you can keep doing it when you're 40 or 50. but for people making 6 figures, that may not be as much of a problem, if they invest right.
sixteen-bit
Member
Break offering some streaming tips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibuRVqKJ1BQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibuRVqKJ1BQ
ZombieNapoleon
Member
I think the debates earlier about the $70-100K being enough is entirely subjective. If you live in a major city or metro area, that may be just enough to earn a living if you're single. But the cost of living varies greatly just in the continental US, not to mention other places that would have streamers.
And the 60 hours a week is also subjective. For a salary job in DC I work 45-50 hours a week in the office, but take into account the commute and that turns into 55-60+ hours a week for work alone. Not to mention the added expense of gas, parking, tolls, etc. (again, varies by area you live in).
I just hope that those who choose to go for it as a career are the ambitious types that eventually push for a brand or "company" of their own. By that, I mean eventually being able to maintain a Twitch, youtube, blog, etc. where you not only bring in additional income, but develop skills that could transfer to a different career (journalism jumps to mind).
And the 60 hours a week is also subjective. For a salary job in DC I work 45-50 hours a week in the office, but take into account the commute and that turns into 55-60+ hours a week for work alone. Not to mention the added expense of gas, parking, tolls, etc. (again, varies by area you live in).
I just hope that those who choose to go for it as a career are the ambitious types that eventually push for a brand or "company" of their own. By that, I mean eventually being able to maintain a Twitch, youtube, blog, etc. where you not only bring in additional income, but develop skills that could transfer to a different career (journalism jumps to mind).
Chinese Cartoons
Banned
Even conventional jobs are insecure in today's climate. We really have a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" attitude with imposing labor and how one must work for paper, and here in America, we will be one of the first nations to crumble with these ideas in the next few decades. We're almost going right into this problem without a care of the damage we're about to create, and that totally perplexes me. I never really understood the idea of getting a "stable" job when the writing on the wall is we're going to be entering a technologically-influenced depression. People will either bit submerged by the waves coming, or be hit by the blast of them. You will either be hit directly, or be tugged by the void we make to our system that you feel the hit on some level.
I guess you can say good on people for doing what they can in this climate. Too bad it just won't last, no matter what way you look at it. Enough is going to crumble for our generation that we have a major social problem on our hands. And this problem appears to be the elephant in the room for most.
