While we all know Australians love to watch YouTube, less well known are the stories of the Australian YouTube creators who are making uniquely Aussie content for both local and global audiences. Australian content on YouTube is wildly popular among overseas audiences, with more than 90% of views coming from overseas in 2016. This provides Australian YouTube creators with access to a global audience. In the process, they are building real businesses around their YouTube channels, which have become central to their ongoing success.
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| Josiah Brooks from Draw with Jazza |
This has allowed talented YouTube creators like Josiah Brooks (aka Draw with Jazza) to earn a living from his art content. Josiah started his YouTube channel in 2012 hoping that it would one day help to pay his bills. Five years later he has two million subscribers, and his videos have been viewed more than 220 million times.
In his words: "YouTube has made it possible for me to run an art entertainment channel from regional Victoria, which reaches a large global audience and provides a substantial income. My channel began within a 'niche', producing specialized content, although over time I've have been able to shift towards the mainstream and compete with some of the world's top YouTube channels."
As well as Josiah’s video content, which is sponsored by major brands like Adobe and Disney, Josiah has also been able to monetise his YouTube success through his best selling App, ‘Jazza’s Arty Games’, and an online store hosted on his website.
Here he’s been able to sell artwork, games, reference packs and e-books. He’s even selling his ‘signature photoshop brushes’ allowing viewers on his YouTube channel to develop advanced skills in digital art.
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| Brothers Danny and Michael Philippou from The Racka Racka |
This type of success is only possible because of the high quality and engaging content Australian creators are producing on YouTube. Danny and Michael Philippou, the twin brothers from Adelaide behind The Racka Racka, have built a fanbase of more than four million subscribers on YouTube and their content has been viewed more than 500 million times. They have been described by the CEO of Screen Australia as the “most successful content creators in the country”.
The Racka Racka features in the top ten most subscribed channels in Australia and is reaching a global audience through YouTube.
As they say: “Without YouTube we wouldn't be anywhere. Before it we were struggling to be noticed or seen. YouTube gave us access to millions of people and the opportunities it has provided us are incredible!”
Being able to reach a global audience is a massive advantage for Australian content creators. And this is leading to an explosion in the amount of Australian content being produced. In 2016, more than 550,000 hours of video was uploaded by Australian creators to YouTube.
Put another way, every minute more than one hour of content is uploaded to Australian YouTube channels. With YouTube’s global reach the possibilities for Australian creators are endless!