Streampunks: YouTube and the Rebels Remaking Media

by Robert Kyncl, Maany Peyvan

Overview

An entertainment and tech insider—YouTube’s chief business officer—delivers the first detailed account of the rise of YouTube, the creative minds who have capitalized on it to become pop culture stars, and how streaming video is revolutionizing the media world.

In the past ten years, the internet video platform YouTube has changed media and entertainment as profoundly as the invention of film, radio, and television did, more than six decades earlier. Streampunks is a firsthand account of this upstart company, examining how it evolved and where it will take us next.

Sharing behind-the-scenes stories of YouTube’s most influential stars—Streampunks like Tyler Oakley, Lilly Singh, and Casey Neistat—and the dealmakers brokering the future of entertainment like Scooter Braun and Shane Smith, Robert Kyncl uses his experiences at three of the most innovative media companies, HBO, Netflix, and YouTube, to tell the story of streaming video and this modern pop culture juggernaut. Collaborating with Google speechwriter Maany Peyvan, Kyncl explains how the new rules of entertainment are being written and how and why the media landscape is radically changing, while giving aspiring Streampunks some necessary advice to launch their own new media careers.

Kyncl persuasively argues that, despite concerns about technology impoverishing artists or undermining artistic quality, the new media revolution is actually fueling a creative boom and leading to more compelling, diverse, and immersive content. Enlightening, surprising, and thoroughly entertaining, Streampunks is a revelatory ride through the new media rebellion that is reshaping our world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062657749
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	09/05/2017
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	NOOK Book
Pages:	272
File size:	759 KB

About the Author

Robert Kyncl is the Chief Business Officer at YouTube where he oversees all commercial and creative relationships for the platform.  Previously, Robert was Vice President of Content at Netflix, where he spearheaded the company’s content acquisition for streaming TV shows and movies over the Internet.

Robert has been listed in Variety’s Dealmakers Impact Report as one of their “disruptors”, Vanity Fair’s New Establishment List, Billboard’s Power 100 List and AdWeek’s 50 List of Vital Leaders in Tech, Media and Marketing.

Robert holds a Masters of Business Administration from Pepperdine University and a B.S. in International Relations from SUNY New Paltz.  He resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two daughters.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

1 Rise of the Streampunks 1

Your Orientation to a New Class of Creators

2 ||Superwoman|| Comes to the Supermarket 11

Why Shelf Space Is the Key to Understanding How the Media Industry Works Today

3 Nerding Out 27

The Green Brothers and the Importance of Online Community Building

4 True Blue Hair 45

Tyler Oakley, Authenticity, and the Changing Nature of Celebrity

5 No Passport Necessary 65

Lilly Singh, Mr. Bean, K-Pop, and the Global Media Melting Pot

6 Show Me Something I Haven't Seen Before 79

Satire, Representation, and Bias in Online Video

7 Stick to Your Quilting 93

The Deep Appeal of Narrow Niches

8 The Struggle Is Real 115

Why Today's Stars Have to Give 110 Percent in a 24/7 World 115

9 Revenue Streams 137

Funding Creativity in the Digital Age 137

10 "This Just Uploaded . . ." 159

Vice, Storyful, and the New Business of the News Business

11 Pardon Welcome the Interruption 185

Casey Neistat Is Making Ads Great Again

12 Streampunk Rock! 211

The Fall and Rise of the Music Industry

13 What to Watch Next 235

Just When You Had Millennials Figured Out, Here Comes Gen Z

Conclusion: A Window to the World 249

Acknowledgments 253

Editorial Reviews

Discovering YouTube was the happiest accident of my life. It’s allowed me to share my comedy with the world and reach an entirely new global audience. Fans have even told me they’ve learned English from watching my show on YouTube—which is a mistake.

Conan O'Brien

“Robert’s vision is clear and compelling: the future of media will be one in which fans decide what matters.” — Reed Hastings

“Discovering YouTube was the happiest accident of my life. It’s allowed me to share my comedy with the world and reach an entirely new global audience. Fans have even told me they’ve learned English from watching my show on YouTube—which is a mistake.” — Conan O’Brien

“If you want to understand how media is changing, you need to understand YouTube. Streampunks is a fascinating look into the imaginative and determined minds of the people who are changing what we watch.” — Brian Grazer

“Thinking of starting your own new media career? Read Streampunks first. It’s a revealing, thoughtful portrait of what success in the digital age really takes.” — Michelle Phan

“I grew up in Cuba without access to the Internet. When I finally came to the United States, YouTube became my window to the world. Streampunks is an amazing description of experiences similar to mine.” — Camilla Cabello

From the Publisher

Robert’s vision is clear and compelling: the future of media will be one in which fans decide what matters.

Reed Hastings

Discovering YouTube was the happiest accident of my life. It’s allowed me to share my comedy with the world and reach an entirely new global audience. Fans have even told me they’ve learned English from watching my show on YouTube—which is a mistake.

Conan O’Brien

If you want to understand how media is changing, you need to understand YouTube. Streampunks is a fascinating look into the imaginative and determined minds of the people who are changing what we watch.

Brian Grazer

I grew up in Cuba without access to the Internet. When I finally came to the United States, YouTube became my window to the world. Streampunks is an amazing description of experiences similar to mine.

Camilla Cabello

Thinking of starting your own new media career? Read Streampunks first. It’s a revealing, thoughtful portrait of what success in the digital age really takes.

Michelle Phan