If you haven't read it yet, you might want to start with Part 1. Picking up from there:
What's next?
As a consumer, after a couple of weeks without Premium, I'm not sure how much I'll be using YouTube going forward. On the music front, I've already moved onto Apple Music. I don't like it quite as well, but I'm already paying for it as part of an Apple One Family Plan, it's ad-free, and it does the job. YouTube's ads are pretty intrusive, but I don't see myself rewarding bad behavior by giving them more of my money to pay for Premium, so I think I'll be shifting my time to other services and activities. I have plenty of podcasts to listen to, more books than I could read in my lifetime, and other services for watching video content. Even before all this went down, I was getting tired of seeing all the AI slop, clickbait, and other low quality content, and even with Premium there were still sponsor reads in video, so moving on isn't the worst thing.
As a creator, the YouTube channel isn't coming back. It sucks. I liked the platform, but even if I could come back, I don't see myself doing that. I don't trust them anymore and without clear guidance on what I did wrong, since I couldn't figure it out based on reading through the Community Guidelines, I don't see investing the time and effort in it again. Fortunately, they are far from the only platform where you can share audio and video.
I will be reviewing and editing the old videos. I can probably tighten up the drawing videos some. I need to remove the Like/Subscribe bits, and I may cut down on links just to be on the safe side. I'm also going to replace some music. I received 3 copyright claims while I was on YouTube for using music that was included with Camtasia. I have the right to use music included with the purchase of Camtasia (more on that here and here), and two of the three claims had been released at the time of my channel takedown (and humorously enough, I received an email from YouTube a few days after the second takedown that the third claim had been released, for all the good that does), but I don't want to carry the risk of another copyright claim or DMCA takedown following me onto the new platform. Without further ado...
Internet Archive
After researching several hosting options, one stood out. I'm planning to use the Internet Archive to store and host my audio and videos going forward. They provide embed code, so I can embed those here on the website , which I wasn't doing before, and also on Buy Me a Coffee, to replace the embeds from YouTube. IA's TOS seems entirely reasonable and less restrictive than YouTube's Community Guidelines, so even without the edits, I think I'm less likely to run into problems there. Sure, it doesn't have some of the same features like posts and polls, but I already have those here and at BMAC. They also don't have the monetization features that YouTube does, but I was unlikely to get that kind of viewership, and it also wasn't what I was chasing. My business is writing, illustrating, and creating books (and maybe selling a few). I was creating videos and audio as an outlet, as legacy, and to put some content out there that was wholesome, uplifting, and appropriate for children. That was the goal, anyway. And I can still do that, even without YouTube.
Buy Me a Coffee
I already set BMAC back to being just a tip jar, and also a storefront. The memberships have been removed. Without the private videos, I just don't see there's enough value add to justify. Plus, it was an experiment. I know a lot of people have private content behind a paywall, so I tried it, too, but it didn't sit well with me. There are too many subscriptions out there instead of outright purchases. I'd rather just put the content out there for all. As I posted a long time ago, money's tight for many. A lot of people are struggling. If I can bring some joy or contentment, that's great. Enjoy the content. If you think it's worth it and can afford it, buy me a coffee. If not, don't feel bad about it. Plus, having the pressure of producing on a schedule to make the membership worthwhile was an added stressor on me. Less stress is good.
Spotify
Looking forward
Those are my immediate plans. I'm not going to stress over the schedule, so videos will go up as I have time. I'll focus first on the old ones that were already published or scheduled on YouTube. I have some recorded ones that hadn't been edited yet. After those are done, I'll get back to recording new ones. Still more illustration work to be done on the next book and then layout. Before the YouTube channel was taken down, the poll for next book to read was in favor of The Adventures of Pinocchio, so I'll start on that after finishing The Adventures of Paddy Beaver. I also have some holiday readings planned for Halloween and Christmas that I'm looking forward to. Future book polls will be either here or on BMAC, tba.
Anyway, thanks for reading and joining me on this journey. If I ever get closure with my YouTube account, I'll post a part 3 with an update. Until then, stay safe.
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