View to a killing
Young South Africans cash in on YouTube
Sibu Mpanza dropped out of university three years ago to talk politics, religion and sexuality on YouTube.
For Mpanza, a BSc degree didn’t hold the same allure as the potentially lucrative online video service — a platform that gave him the freedom to speak his mind, entertain his now nearly 6 000 subscribers and bare his soul.
YouTube, owned by Google, is the chosen platform of another self-starter, Aqeelah Harron-Ally, a makeup artist and fashion blogger whose tips and tricks on how to dress modestly but trendily have attracted more than 7 500 subscribers.
Mpanza and Harron-Ally are among scores of young South Africans following in the footsteps of YouTube “guru” Caspar Lee — the 23-year-old expat who was recently a guest of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth as an ambassador and supporter of The Queen’s Young Leaders programme. Buckingham Palace The UK-based vlogger — estimated to be worth around $2-million (about R26-million) — has amassed an enviable 1.9 million subscribers for his morecaspar channel, giving him bragging rights as hosting one of South Africa’s most viewed channels on YouTube.
His original channel, dicasp, boasts an estimated seven million viewers.
He has made videos with celebrities such as Zac Efron, The Rock and Chris Pratt.
When Lee, once a Knysna local, was 16, a teacher told him not to waste his time posting videos on YouTube. But he pushed on.
“I would rather not say her name, but I’m kind of grateful she said what she said as it had the reverse reaction to what she intended. It made me try even harder!” Lee told the Sunday Times.
“Going to Buckingham Palace is the most surreal experience I’ve ever had,” he said.
“I want to keep doing charitable things that will one day feel deserving of a meeting with the queen,” he said.
Google South Africa said this week that YouTube was growing locally.
“Watch time is growing by 65% year on year, and mobile watch time is growing 114% year on year — this means that not only are more and more South Africans watching YouTube, but they’re watching it on their smartphones a lot of the time,” said Mich Atagana, Google South Africa’s spokeswoman. Original content Over the past seven years, YouTube has paid out more than $1-billion to vlog creators worldwide.
Atagana said determining the average income generated through YouTube channels was “more difficult” because “creators not only earn revenue from advertising on the channel but through partnerships with brands and other activities”.
Income is usually generated from advertisements, paid subscriptions and merchandise.
“Advertising revenue is shared between the platform and the creator, with the exact split varying, based on a number of factors including the type of advertising and pricing of adverts appearing within a video,” said Atagana.
She said the key to YouTube success was originality.
“A lot of budding YouTubers look at what is currently popular on the online video service, and copy it.
“But being original and creating content that only you can deliver is a far safer, and more interesting, path to YouTube success.” Just ask Mpanza. “If you have the right audience and you know how to work in collaboration with brands and companies, then it can be lucrative,” he said.
Harron-Ally is coming into her own on YouTube with her Fashion Breed channel. One of her videos on how to dress modestly received 211 000 views and another, 105 000.
“I definitely believe YouTube is lucrative and, as the internet becomes faster and more accessible, people don’t see why they should read online or look at pictures as much when they could literally have a regular person explain things to them, often in an easy and relatable way,” she said.
Moyin Oloruntoba — whose youth culture and entertainment channel The A1 has reached 6 000 subscribers and 1.6 million views — said that being a full-time YouTuber isn’t easy.
“YouTube is still finding its feet in South Africa. Some brands don’t understand it yet or the power it has. But I do believe its picking up and can be a long-term career, ” she said.
Jonas Lekganyane, creator of Rams Comics, which provides a hilarious take on South Africa’s sociopolitical landscape to its more than 104 000 subscribers, said consistency was the key to YouTube success.
“Whether it’s about your concepts or your uploads, you need to be as consistent and possible,” he said.