Machinima Review

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c4geron

Loving YTtalk
Network Name: Machinima

Time With Network: A year and a half

Total Contract Renewals: 0

Review:

I'm surprised not to see a Machinima review here, so I guess I'll step forward and give you insight to my experience as a partner for more than a year now. I'll try and be as in-depth as possible to help anyone on the fence of applying for a partnership make the best decision for them.

Known as one of the leaders in the YouTube gaming industry it was an easy decision for me to apply almost two years ago to be an affiliate for Machinima. I had an account around five hundred subscribers and was really impatient trying to meet the subscriber and views per month requirements that every 'mom and pop' network demanded, so I decided to hail-mary it and apply to be an affiliate for Machinima. I was ready to start being able to monetize my videos and make some YOUTUBE MONEY SON! I went through their official application process but it was reaching out to recruiters through social media that got my foot in the door.

Though I didn't have the x-amount of subscribers or five thousand daily views my recruiter (who got promoted to head of Partner Support and Communications shortly after recruiting me) looked at the content I was producing and backed me for partnership, and I was accepted about a week and a half later. Moral of the story: Dont be afraid to apply, you never know. BELIEVE in your content.

Now in terms of payment, I've heard that Machinima offers different contracts to different users which I can only assume that the bigger your channel the better incentives and CPM but I've not seen anything to prove that claim is true, so I'll stick to what I know. Now I'm not too sure if I can disclose what exactly the specific terms of my contract are, but its sixty/forty with a three year length of contract. In regards to making that "Youtube MONAY!" however, subscribers mean incredibly little. I've heard gripes from channels five times larger than mine (subscriber wise) about their monthly payments being low and comparing it with my PayPal statement that was much larger than theirs. Very happy with the money that I do make from Machinima being such a small channel, being able to hit three figures consistently helps keep my opinion positive to Machinima in that regards.

I know that there are networks that offer better ratios to the partners but I chose the stability over quick returns which was purely personal preference. Payments are always on time, reliable and I've never had a single issues from that standpoint which is great.

For the size of my channel the support I've received has been satisfactory. I'm included on all the events and promotions that Machinima offers during game releases and E3 (higher CPM) for example however promotion is severely lacking for small channels. One of the reasons I went with Machinima is the brand recognition that they bring so including a logo or tag that I'm affiliated with Machinima helps sell my channel better to potential subscribers, but I've had no direct channel promotion support from Machinima as of today, which sucks for small channels that are struggling to grow.

I've always ran my channel refusing to 'boot lick' larger channels to help mine grown which may affect my personal experience with promotion through Machinima. There are collaboration forums that I've never really looked at because I want to stand out and do my own thing but I suppose there are avenues to look to try and hit that speed burst on channel growth from leeching off a larger user, but again no DIRECT promotion from the main Machinima channel, so beware of that. You're not going to hit that stage until you're operating a much larger channel.

Overall, its been a satisfactory experience as I near the half-way point of my partnership. I knew what I was getting into being such a small channel in a large network but I'm just happy for the opportunity. I'm not too sure what way I'm going to go when my contract is up but if you're looking to have the backing and recognition of being backed by arguably the most popular gaming network on YouTube, as well as a the stability that they offer then apply.

Overall, a 6.5/10 rating.

Support Rating:


Maybe the biggest let down as a small Machinima partner (currently around 7,000 subscribers) is the wait time on support. They use a website called Zendesk in which you use the support forum to create a topic about an issue or question you may have and they say that support will reply as soon as possible. I have had to use this method three times since I've been a partner and each time it has unfortunately taken over a week for any response to be made.

I understand having thousands of partners to attend to will create longer support times than networks with far less content creators but to put it politely, patience is necessary when looking for support from the Machinima team.

4.5/10

Features Rating:


There is a Twitter account called Machinima Insider that helps somewhat in channel promotion but to its effectiveness I can't speak too, but it seems fairly active.

You can also have the ability to get featured on various Machinima channels which would showcase your content to millions of viewers instantly, however its not easy to achieve this as there's a massive number of videos you're trying to compete with to get the same showcase and exposure. But unlike smaller networks, getting a video featured just once could help instantly in

Console is a new platform Machinima offers partners...its kinda like the HUD to look at all your stats, payments, contracts, channel history, social media accounts, Machinima news and some forms of channel support. Personally I would say its still in the beginning phases but has potential to be incredibly useful to partners.

7/10
 
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