Dear Music Technology Brands

I don't care if it hurts. I want to have control.

Find my music here:

Connect:

[RedMeansRecording]

The intro is from Watt's Echopraxia and is directed at myself.

[Hainbach]

Good that you let that all out. I have almost entirely stopped doing demos/reviews. Only when I am really excited for something I will cover it.

[BoBeats]

This is a very important video. Having spent alot of energy trying to get companies to actually value youtubers correctly I know all too well that synth youtubers are constantly undervalued. The way forward is two part, and just like Jeremy explains one side is knowing your value (don’t sell yourself short!) and the other is us as a collective pushing for better conditions.

[reillyspitzfaden]

I really appreciate the wave of labor organizing happening right now, and I appreciate you for sticking your neck out like this

[Tyler_Durden]

I love a Jeremy that knows his worth. You put a LOT into your content and if these companies want your "stamp" on their product, they need to pay accordingly. You are worth more than the gear you tout. High time some music tech companies realize that.

[loganshirah]

"lightly unionizing" This is what guilds are for! You can draft best practices and publish them in a way that's easy for everyone to find. Members pay a small annual fee to cover organizational costs and in return have access to sample contracts, pricing advice and community support.

[IhorMedia]

All you said makes a lot of sense to me as a "whateverfluencer" I am! A ton of labor and mental work goes into making every single video. And prior to making any video, a ton of time goes to acquire the skill to make it.

I really appreciate you starting this conversation, Jeremy. ❤Also a great boost to my confidence!

[MidlifeSynthesist]

Powerful video dude💪🏼 I think a very important point you touched on is building a sense of community among creators who are doing this professionally vs as only a hobby.
Youtube as a serious and committed gig can become very isolating and lonely, so it’s nice to know we’re not out alone in the woods so to speak. Preach it! Wish you the best for 2023✌🏻

[FreeBeat]

You continue to be the most wonderful person <3

The part about day one launches and embargos almost moved me to tears. I've only been a part of two day one launches, the first being the "new" MPC Studio a few summers ago. I was so stressed, so worried, constantly doubting whether the video I had made was even going to be halfway good enough, self conscious of my thumbnail, lighting, editing, and the actual words that I spoke in the video...all for a product I would have never purchased for myself, and for a video I didn't get a goddamn cent for making. I realized that I'd been so excited to be part of a day one launch, I didn't even stop to consider if the time and effort I'd be spending was worth it for a dinky little $200 MIDI controller for a platform that I don't use. I gave them that week of stress and anxiety for free. I didn't even get a "thank you" after my video came out.

I decided right then and there that I'd never accept any product for free (regardless of it being a day one launch or not) without also getting paid for the requested content unless it was something that I specifically reached out to a company to try for myself, because I actually wanted it. My channel is microscopic in size compared to yours, but it has still felt very good replying to brands with a "no thank you." Also, just want to say that "paid review" videos shouldn't exist, and I'm glad that distinction seems to finally be catching on.

In short, if I don't personally want it, I'm not making content on it for free.

Knowing your self worth is so challenging. I've got shit thumbnails, shit lighting, and shit editing. The problem is that I often let that override my 20+ years of experience playing drums, and writing drum parts. The self consciousness I feel about those video elements almost always completely negates any confidence I have in my abilities as a musician. That has been my least favorite part of building an online presence, and is something I try so hard to forget but just can't. As my channel grows, I become more and more frightened of letting that self doubt prevent me from earning income that I know I deserve.

Sorry for the wall of text, I've just never really opened up about any of this to anyone, and this seemed like a good place to do it. You're awesome Jeremy, thank you so much for this gift of a video
❤

[j.shelton]

As someone who has created music for hire, done voiceover work, written video scripts, mixed, recorded, edited, and worked in the realm of content production for many, many years, what you do is worth not hundreds, but THOUSANDS and sometimes TENS OF THOUSANDS of dollars. As a consumer, I love new, interesting, and entertaining content. As a professional, I understand that when you don’t take care of the people who are helping to make shit happen, those people go away. I’ve always appreciated your transparency and authenticity. I sincerely hope the momentum shifts in your direction.

[sonicspecter]

The music tech industry perceives YouTubers like gear magazines.
You get the gear upfront so that you have the content before all others. You are supposed to monetize this timely advantage as part of the payment.
Problem is, that YouTubers don’t earn as much from advertisements as magazines in the old days and it’s much more effort to produce a video than to write an article.
Difficult to give advise on how to earn enough money from the channel.
Only thing I would say is: Don’t compromise on the content of your channel. Us, the people that don’t skip and watch your clips from beginning to end are the true value proposition that you have.

[Sarahill]

THIS 7:03 THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SAYING THIS! I thought I was tripping by asking for a fair rate for learning, teaching, producing, filming, editing and promoting my content 😅 I had a company tell me they pay per view, and asked me how many views would a future video would get and pay me based off that. No. I charge based off my years of experience plus current time and energy it takes to produce the content you are reaching out to use 😅

[shannonpalmer]

Hell yes to this. I’ve been an independent creative freelancer for the past 15 years, and I’ve found that in all aspects of creative work, companies will take advantage of us if they see a way to do so. At some point you set your boundaries and you find yourself only working with companies who value you and what you can do to help them. If they can’t be bothered to pay people who are good at what they do, then they’ll end up with inexperienced and incompetent people doing these things for pennies, and that’s to their detriment. I hope all of the YouTube synth community gets together on this and makes some change happen.

[Gee_aye]

Hi I got the gist of what you were saying. I understand some of what you’re saying. Just wanted to say
I bought an iPad because of the granular thing you did. Infact recently watched your Hydrasynth vids and it’s so obvious that you know a whole lot about these products. Not just the operation but the way you push these machines way beyond what the makers intended. Turning Hydrasynth into modular. You practically created a whole new machine. I think it’s good you know your worth, and I hope the instrument makers see how your skill, time and enthusiasm have been so influential in getting people like me to want to do what you can do with these machines. I wouldn’t buy them otherwise.

[MathieuStern]

Change " music " by Photography and it's 100% the same

[christianpomerleau]

Tones of respect for that stand-up! But you forgot to mention something significant; the value of the tears and sweat to reach and maintain 413k subscribers. Congratulations on showing such leadership.

[aquaticborealis]

Considering your expertise, your musicality, and your audience, I couldn’t imagine anyone paying anything less than $900/day for your expertise. That’s a bare minimum. That’s what expertise and exposure costs, at a minimum. I’ve also watched a lot of demos and reviews, and yours are among the best out there.

[chetplease]

clarity, honesty, integrity. you are a stand up guy and your intelligence, wisdom, and insight are a tremendous value add to the community.

[LiamKillen]

Wow literally just dropped a video on this exact topic.

Thanks for your take Jeremy!

[truecuckoo]

All I know is that Jeremy is the man. I’m just a dude. But Jeremy…. is the man! 💫