Michael
I Love YTtalk
Network Name: Creative Nation MCN
Time With Network: 1+ years
Total Contract Renewals: N/A
Creative Nation Network Review:
Over the past year and a half or so Creative Nation has never lived up to expectations and has largely been a big let down, if you want to learn why I don't recommend YouTube creators partnering with them be sure to read on.
One of the most important things and fairly simple things a network can get right is paying on time and as part of a regular schedule and this is something they have struggled with for as long as they have been around. It is a monthly chase in order to receive your YouTube earnings and a cycle you don't want to be a part of.
Quick Cons
Their main issue/con is paying on time, receiving a payment on time is as rare as an eclipse and unfortunately creators and businesses lose out every time this is the case. Please see the payments section of this thread for more information on my experience with payment issues over the course of a year and a half or so, there is quite the story to read there. If you don't care at all about receiving your payments on time then you may enjoy their other services which I mention in the features section in a little more detail. They are unreliable to say the least.
Quick Pros
Their main pro is that once your channel reaches a certain size (over 2 million views per month I believe - could have changed) they can sell ads on your channel which goes on top of your YouTube revenue. This is something other MCN's are currently able to offer too but whether they perform as well as theirs I do not know. This is the only thing that has kept me from unlinking and this is likely the case for many of their partnered channels who receive it who haven't already. The extra on top does come in useful when running a channel but I am unsure if it is worth the hassle any more.
Personally I use Cnation as a payment processor as an alternative to using Google Adsense like many other partners of networks, they offer a decent revenue share (90%+ depending on channel size) but many networks are able to offer the same revenue shares as them now so they no longer stand out against the competition in that area which was once their strongest selling point for creators.
Main Review Points
For most creators I would not recommend partnering with them if you are even slightly serious about your channel, timely payments are rare and as with most networks they lack features that are of value and that can be used well. If you have a smaller channel and do not care about getting paid on time or features and just want a payment processor then it could be the right one for you.
Payments
Getting paid on time has always been an issue and a major one at that especially when you rely on them as an Adsense alternative.
Every few months since partnering with them payments have been late by up to a month from when they are supposed to be paid (the 8th of each month) with one payment not being paid out which was due in October 2015 until May 2016 which was shocking to say the least, such a delay is really concerning, it makes you wonder what would make it take that long to sort out and chasing it was a nightmare, this specific issue affected the whole network of channels receiving direct sales payments and was not an isolated case. Other times I have not received payments on time as per the contract and the support I have received has been rather poor when doing the monthly chase.
Creators usually expect to be paid as part of a proper payment schedule in order to grow their channels and invest back into what they love doing but when payments are late as they are with CNation it becomes harder to do so. I would certainly not advise relying on receiving timely payments from them for important bills such as rent, electricity or any other important monthly channel expenses. It is terrible not knowing where you stand and I cannot recommend the same experience to others.
I would understand that some months there may be issues with PayPal or Transferwise, (the company they use to complete bank transfer payments to creators) things do happen, but these issues are almost consistent to the point where you can almost guarantee yourself a payment issue each month. They really need to sort out their payment schedule before the network loses out to those who pay regularly and on time.
I mention payments a lot within this review because they are issues which should only ever happen as one off problems usually with a frequency about the same amount of times you would expect a website to go down temporarily, a couple or a few times a year at the most with some years free of any down time.
Support Rating:
There are four methods that I am aware of for requesting support from them, one is direct contact via email with them, one is Skype, one their forums and the other is using the tickets system within the Creative Nation Dashboard.
Email Support
The support provided via email can be quick every so often but the vast majority of the time you will not be receiving a clear answer with "shoulds" and "coulds" being used when asking if payments will be going out on the same day, any kind of clear definite answer is fairly rare when using any of the support methods and when you do get an answer I have found that a lot of the time it is incorrect information and the run around begins.
It is hard to take supports word for it when payments are said to go out on a specific day and they rarely do and at this point I take anything they say regarding payments with a pinch of salt. It is sad but true.
A lot of the time I feel ignored when using their support.
Ticket Support
Their ticket support can be confusing to use at first but let's review how fast tickets are dealt with as that is important for a lot of us. The tickets I have sent in the past were usually answered by Mark within 24 hours on working days (Monday - Friday) but as of late they have been going for a good few days before being answered, Mark usually responded with clearer answers than the rest of the team when asking questions and would usually escalate the ticket to the payments team if he was unable to help directly.
Overall the ticket responses are average but the staff doing ticket support seem to be working with limited resources to deal with queries regarding payments immediately themselves (this doesnt surprise me but it would be a lot better if there was better communication within the whole company), I give Mark his credit where it is due, his job must be hard having to deal with clients asking questions and being unable to answer with clear answers through no fault of his own.
Tickets that are not related to payments tend to be answered quickly within 24-48 hours.
Forum Support
I have posted on their forums several times to try and get some answers as they have support forums for their partners but twice I have had my threads removed by their staff, these threads were not rude nor disrespectful and it was very clear all I was asking for was clarification regarding receiving payment from them.
Removing them has made me feel that they do not want any kind of bad news about them on their own website even simply mentioning a payment being late and asking about when it will be paid was enough for my threads to be removed, with it being a genuine question I don't understand why such content would need to be removed other than trying to hide clients issues and concerns from the public.
I certainly don't feel like a valued partner especially not receiving any kind of notification as to why they were removed nor any further support offered to help with the issue via PM, email nor any other means of contact with them.
Overall my experience of their forum support has been that they will only respond publicly to payment issues under pressured circumstances such as where the whole network of channels have not been paid on time but only after a while of holding out and not responding to emails etc
For the longest time I believed that everyone complaining who is partnered CN about not paying on time were those with football content and film trailers uploaded to their channels but it appears that some of the complaints on YTtalk, their website and other forums may hold some truth in that many partners do not get paid on time by them.
To be fair I have seen them answer members support questions that are in general or ones they don't mind answering immediately which adds to the feeling that they may be avoiding answering questions about payments. If your question is easy enough to answer in public they tend to spend their time helping with yours as a priority.
Skype
The team have Skype accounts which I added them all on but over the course of a few days found that none had accepted my requests, I am unsure if these are dead Skype accounts but I have heard that contacting them via Skype is possible and some channels have regular contact with them via it. It would have been a convenient way to get in touch with them for me but I am unsure if this is one of their official methods of support.
Features Rating:
I cannot give an in depth review of their features because I don't make use of the few that are available but to let you know about what they do offer they have a music library with some Audiomicro music available through it but unfortunately it is almost unusable with their current dashboard at the time of posting this (they are meant to be undergoing a dashboard update at the moment so it may work better within a few months or so), their forums are largely unused at present by creators and I believe using YTtalk instead would definitely be more fruitful if you wanted answers regarding anything YT related and fast.
They also offer a 30 day rolling contract meaning leaving is very easy, all it requires is a support ticket via their dashboard and your channel will be unlinked in 30 days. It is hardly a real feature but definitely a perk if you wish to leave at some point.
These three are the only features that I can think of off the top of my head and may very well be their only features at the time of typing this.
My plan at the moment is to seek a new partnership and say goodbye to the monthly inconveniences, they are not worth the bother.
In writing this I hope that some of you find this helpful. Thank you for reading and good luck with your channel(s)
Time With Network: 1+ years
Total Contract Renewals: N/A
Creative Nation Network Review:
Over the past year and a half or so Creative Nation has never lived up to expectations and has largely been a big let down, if you want to learn why I don't recommend YouTube creators partnering with them be sure to read on.
One of the most important things and fairly simple things a network can get right is paying on time and as part of a regular schedule and this is something they have struggled with for as long as they have been around. It is a monthly chase in order to receive your YouTube earnings and a cycle you don't want to be a part of.
Quick Cons
Their main issue/con is paying on time, receiving a payment on time is as rare as an eclipse and unfortunately creators and businesses lose out every time this is the case. Please see the payments section of this thread for more information on my experience with payment issues over the course of a year and a half or so, there is quite the story to read there. If you don't care at all about receiving your payments on time then you may enjoy their other services which I mention in the features section in a little more detail. They are unreliable to say the least.
Quick Pros
Their main pro is that once your channel reaches a certain size (over 2 million views per month I believe - could have changed) they can sell ads on your channel which goes on top of your YouTube revenue. This is something other MCN's are currently able to offer too but whether they perform as well as theirs I do not know. This is the only thing that has kept me from unlinking and this is likely the case for many of their partnered channels who receive it who haven't already. The extra on top does come in useful when running a channel but I am unsure if it is worth the hassle any more.
Personally I use Cnation as a payment processor as an alternative to using Google Adsense like many other partners of networks, they offer a decent revenue share (90%+ depending on channel size) but many networks are able to offer the same revenue shares as them now so they no longer stand out against the competition in that area which was once their strongest selling point for creators.
Main Review Points
For most creators I would not recommend partnering with them if you are even slightly serious about your channel, timely payments are rare and as with most networks they lack features that are of value and that can be used well. If you have a smaller channel and do not care about getting paid on time or features and just want a payment processor then it could be the right one for you.
Payments
Getting paid on time has always been an issue and a major one at that especially when you rely on them as an Adsense alternative.
Every few months since partnering with them payments have been late by up to a month from when they are supposed to be paid (the 8th of each month) with one payment not being paid out which was due in October 2015 until May 2016 which was shocking to say the least, such a delay is really concerning, it makes you wonder what would make it take that long to sort out and chasing it was a nightmare, this specific issue affected the whole network of channels receiving direct sales payments and was not an isolated case. Other times I have not received payments on time as per the contract and the support I have received has been rather poor when doing the monthly chase.
Creators usually expect to be paid as part of a proper payment schedule in order to grow their channels and invest back into what they love doing but when payments are late as they are with CNation it becomes harder to do so. I would certainly not advise relying on receiving timely payments from them for important bills such as rent, electricity or any other important monthly channel expenses. It is terrible not knowing where you stand and I cannot recommend the same experience to others.
I would understand that some months there may be issues with PayPal or Transferwise, (the company they use to complete bank transfer payments to creators) things do happen, but these issues are almost consistent to the point where you can almost guarantee yourself a payment issue each month. They really need to sort out their payment schedule before the network loses out to those who pay regularly and on time.
I mention payments a lot within this review because they are issues which should only ever happen as one off problems usually with a frequency about the same amount of times you would expect a website to go down temporarily, a couple or a few times a year at the most with some years free of any down time.
Support Rating:
There are four methods that I am aware of for requesting support from them, one is direct contact via email with them, one is Skype, one their forums and the other is using the tickets system within the Creative Nation Dashboard.
Email Support
The support provided via email can be quick every so often but the vast majority of the time you will not be receiving a clear answer with "shoulds" and "coulds" being used when asking if payments will be going out on the same day, any kind of clear definite answer is fairly rare when using any of the support methods and when you do get an answer I have found that a lot of the time it is incorrect information and the run around begins.
It is hard to take supports word for it when payments are said to go out on a specific day and they rarely do and at this point I take anything they say regarding payments with a pinch of salt. It is sad but true.
A lot of the time I feel ignored when using their support.
Ticket Support
Their ticket support can be confusing to use at first but let's review how fast tickets are dealt with as that is important for a lot of us. The tickets I have sent in the past were usually answered by Mark within 24 hours on working days (Monday - Friday) but as of late they have been going for a good few days before being answered, Mark usually responded with clearer answers than the rest of the team when asking questions and would usually escalate the ticket to the payments team if he was unable to help directly.
Overall the ticket responses are average but the staff doing ticket support seem to be working with limited resources to deal with queries regarding payments immediately themselves (this doesnt surprise me but it would be a lot better if there was better communication within the whole company), I give Mark his credit where it is due, his job must be hard having to deal with clients asking questions and being unable to answer with clear answers through no fault of his own.
Tickets that are not related to payments tend to be answered quickly within 24-48 hours.
Forum Support
I have posted on their forums several times to try and get some answers as they have support forums for their partners but twice I have had my threads removed by their staff, these threads were not rude nor disrespectful and it was very clear all I was asking for was clarification regarding receiving payment from them.
Removing them has made me feel that they do not want any kind of bad news about them on their own website even simply mentioning a payment being late and asking about when it will be paid was enough for my threads to be removed, with it being a genuine question I don't understand why such content would need to be removed other than trying to hide clients issues and concerns from the public.
I certainly don't feel like a valued partner especially not receiving any kind of notification as to why they were removed nor any further support offered to help with the issue via PM, email nor any other means of contact with them.
Overall my experience of their forum support has been that they will only respond publicly to payment issues under pressured circumstances such as where the whole network of channels have not been paid on time but only after a while of holding out and not responding to emails etc
For the longest time I believed that everyone complaining who is partnered CN about not paying on time were those with football content and film trailers uploaded to their channels but it appears that some of the complaints on YTtalk, their website and other forums may hold some truth in that many partners do not get paid on time by them.
To be fair I have seen them answer members support questions that are in general or ones they don't mind answering immediately which adds to the feeling that they may be avoiding answering questions about payments. If your question is easy enough to answer in public they tend to spend their time helping with yours as a priority.
Skype
The team have Skype accounts which I added them all on but over the course of a few days found that none had accepted my requests, I am unsure if these are dead Skype accounts but I have heard that contacting them via Skype is possible and some channels have regular contact with them via it. It would have been a convenient way to get in touch with them for me but I am unsure if this is one of their official methods of support.
Features Rating:
I cannot give an in depth review of their features because I don't make use of the few that are available but to let you know about what they do offer they have a music library with some Audiomicro music available through it but unfortunately it is almost unusable with their current dashboard at the time of posting this (they are meant to be undergoing a dashboard update at the moment so it may work better within a few months or so), their forums are largely unused at present by creators and I believe using YTtalk instead would definitely be more fruitful if you wanted answers regarding anything YT related and fast.
They also offer a 30 day rolling contract meaning leaving is very easy, all it requires is a support ticket via their dashboard and your channel will be unlinked in 30 days. It is hardly a real feature but definitely a perk if you wish to leave at some point.
These three are the only features that I can think of off the top of my head and may very well be their only features at the time of typing this.
My plan at the moment is to seek a new partnership and say goodbye to the monthly inconveniences, they are not worth the bother.
In writing this I hope that some of you find this helpful. Thank you for reading and good luck with your channel(s)