Just under a year ago I joined the team here at Coil with the goal of trying to figure out how to increase the revenue that creators can make, without them being forced to conform to the whims of advertisers and the arbitrary algorithms of today's dominant content platforms. Simultaneously, I witnessed people’s lives being upended by a global pandemic and turning their online side hustles into their main sources of income. Creators were monetizing their fan bases and IG followers; constantly evolving new ways to keep doing what they love even as theaters, studios, and clubs shut down. Meanwhile, the market caps of a few massive tech companies surged to all-time highs. It’s overtly clear now that the people carrying the bags uphill for the large media platforms are the folks being valued the least --the creators themselves.
We want to give freedom back to creators. The freedom to own your content and keep 100% of the revenue it generates. The freedom to switch platforms without having to start from scratch each time. If this sounds utopian we're here to prove that it is possible. You, the creators, have made big tech platforms powerful but you are also the ones who can take that power away and adopt open alternatives designed to serve you.
In order to raise awareness about the technology and to experiment with new ideas around monetization, we decided that it's time to make our own content. This means us directly distributing and co-producing some content experiments with some of the best up and coming talent we could find.
With that in mind we’re kicking off unique creator-driven content series called Coil Experiments, each one designed to test different formats and types of content. We’re excited to bring them to the world and introduce you to some incredible artists. The goal here is to learn what it's like to make money as a creator and use that experience to help inform and test new and existing Coil products and features. We want to make sure we’re solving these problems from the bottom up and not the top down, allowing creators the widest opportunities to showcase their true selves.
Our first experiment launches today, it’s called The Twist. It’s a weekly free for all news show commenting on whatever is making waves on the internet. It’s hosted by @cristalmarie, who has been creating amazing content at the intersection of music, gaming, anime, and pop culture for years. One of the best parts of these experiments is bringing exposure to talented folks ready to pop.
You can view the first episode of The Twist today on Coil’s new Cinnamon channel (@coil) and on our YouTube channel (@coilhq) Follow us on Twitter and Cinnamon to be alerted to future episodes and new Coil Experiments @coil. If you have any ideas for shows, podcasts, films, honestly whatever, please reach out to me. I’d love to talk.
Watch Episode 1 of THE TWIST on Cinnamon: here
- Tom McLeod, Chief Content Officer @Coil
