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YouTube is making bold moves as the entertainment industry resumes live music and events. This week the company announced a first naming rights agreement with Hollywood Park sports and entertainment venue that will name the 300-acre, 6,000-seat destination YouTube Theater.
The extensive, multi-year partnership is the first of its kind for YouTube, according to a company announcement. As the performance venue opens in mid-summer for concerts, awards shows, YouTube creator events and more, the company will bring artists and fans together in a new fashion that inspires the next generation of creators.
“YouTube Theater will drive the uniqueness of YouTube by combining physical, ‘in real life’ events that bring creators and fans together, while simultaneously sharing that same event experience with our two billion global monthly users through livestreams and VOD content,” said Angela Courtin, vice president of brand marketing at YouTube, in a statement. “YouTube creators and artists are the heart of YouTube, and YouTube Theater adds to the portfolio of opportunities to drive their creativity, build their businesses, grow their communities and so much more.”
Los Angeles Rams owner and chairman E. Stanley Kroenke is growing Hollywood Park mixed-use development, which houses YouTube Theater, in Inglewood, California. The venue will feature state-of-the-art technology, premium finishes and a variety of live entertainment events. In addition, Hollywood Park has teamed up with Live Nation for an exclusive, multi-year booking agreement. Confirmed names through 2022 include Caifanes, Los Angeles Azules, Pitbull, Black Pumas, Devo, Trippie Redd, Alejandro Sanz, Christian Nodal and Louis Tomlinson.
"When he set out to build YouTube Theater, Stan Kroenke envisioned an intimate, world-class venue that exemplified three core aspects: technology, creativity, and entertainment. We cannot imagine a better partner to help us bring this vision to life than YouTube," said Jason Gannon, managing director of SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park, in a statement.
Due in part to the low barrier to entry, YouTube was an instrumental driver of the creator economy, or 50 million people who consider themselves to be “creators.” Now the company’s creator economy, or users building brands on the platform, is growing more profitable than ever.
YouTube Senior Director of Creator Partnerships, Jamie Byrne, says that YouTube’s Partner Program in many ways sparked the modern-day creator economy. The program, which launched 13 years ago, began sharing ad revenues with artists for the first time. Early this year the platform reported that it has paid more than $30 billion to creators, artists and media companies over the past three years.
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According to Byrne, most creators today still consider YouTube to be their home base. From cultivating fans among the platform’s two billion regular monthly users, to leveraging new monetization opportunities like digital goods and paid YouTube shopping, creators have become what he calls “next generation multi-media brands.” In addition, the company’s partner support operation leads millions of creators in receiving direct resources from individual partner managers.
“We’re really excited about the creator landscape … we’re 15, 16 years in, and it just seems to continue to be accelerating,” Byrne says. “When we talk to creators, they really inspire to be YouTube creators to get access to reach, robust monetization and incredible support that we offer to them.”
Bryne says that, in 2006, YouTube was known as a user generated content platform. Since then, he says that the media, advertising and entertainment industries have come to recognize the power and influence that creators have in shaping culture, influencing purchase decisions like through brand integrations, driving engagement and sharing information.
Creator Dante Williams, known as Dtay Known, joined YouTube in 2014 and has since built a following of 1.77M subscribers. He favors the platform for its flexibility in terms of video length. Once the artist began posting consistently each month, he says that his audience grew exponentially.
“I’ve seen things get more competitive, and it’s important to be consistent and listen to your audience to use their feedback to refine your brand,” Williams says.
Brian Mandler, co-founder of The Network Effect short-form media company, manages short form creators on YouTube. He says that all creators seeking to make it a career must first build a personal community, not just subscribers, through back-and-forth, consistent dialogue. YouTube Shorts has attracted many creators to the platform, he explains, and once they built traction and audience, successful artists find themselves adapting to long-form content as well.
“There is this new generation of creators that are now starting to see success on YouTube … there is an insatiable appetite to build audiences. This new creator ecosystem, there is a long-term safety with YouTube that not only keeps them coming back, but also excites them in building an audience,” Mandler says.
As creators embrace YouTube Theater’s innovative features, along with YouTube’s new tools like YouTube Shorts, they will be inspired to develop new content strategy that supports a dedicated fan base. Ultimately, this will empower them to expand into new passion areas and arms of business.
