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Vimeo On Demand
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Vimeo today launched its open self-distribution service, Vimeo On Demand. Available now to all Vimeo PRO members, Vimeo On Demand empowers creators to sell their works directly to their audiences and retain a 90 percent share of the revenue after transaction costs. In addition to its creator-friendly revenue share, Vimeo On Demand gives creators the flexibility and control to choose their price; select country-by-country availability; customize their page design; and offer content on Vimeo, their own website, or both.

    "Vimeo is committed to empowering creators with tools to display and distribute their work in beautiful HD quality," said Vimeo CEO, Kerry Trainor. "With the addition of Vimeo On Demand, creators can now use Vimeo to control the way they earn revenue and retain a significant portion of the proceeds."

    Videos purchased through Vimeo On Demand are accessible across devices, connecting creators to Vimeo's 93 million monthly viewers across desktop, mobile (Android/iOs/Windows), connected TV devices (Apple TV/Roku/Google TV/Xbox Live), and major smart TV platforms (Samsung/Panasonic/Phillips).

    "What used to be a confusing and labor-intensive process is now open and simple with Vimeo On Demand," said Blake Whitman, Vice President of Creative Development. "We always strive to provide our community and visitors with the best experience possible, and this opens up a new world of viewable content and support for creators. We are proud of this first phase of Vimeo On Demand, and we're already working on another suite of creator-focused features to release in the near future."

    Vimeo On Demand will launch at the SXSW Interactive + Film Festival with a screening of It's Such a Beautiful Day, the latest work by Academy Award-nominated animator and self-distribution pioneer Don Hertzfeldt. The film will screen on Tuesday, March 12, at the Vimeo Theater at SXSW from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., and will be followed by a Q&A with Don Hertzfeldt and Vimeo CEO Kerry Trainor. Vimeo is thrilled to offer the newly re-mastered and expanded version of It's Such a Beautiful Day, which brings together the entire tragicomic story of a troubled man named Bill, for $2 rental or $6 sale, exclusively through Vimeo On Demand.

    Via: http://vimeo.com/ondemand

  • 82 Replies sorted by
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Vimeo is getting ready to go 4K: The IAC-owned video platform started to roll out adaptive bitrate streaming across its service Thursday, which will allow it to stream videos with a resolution of up to 4K video to its viewers. “We launched 4K upload support for PRO members last year, and now, as we start to see more widespread adoption of 4K-enabled screens in the market, we’re excited to roll out adaptive streaming across Vimeo,” said Vimeo CEO Andrew Pile.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Vimeo are offering 20% off with code BFCM20 on Vimeo PRO

    https://vimeo.com/upgrade

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Vimeo On Demand Selling Handbook - https://f.vimeocdn.com/downloads/vod_selling-handbook.pdf

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Info about few stats and similar updates - http://vimeo.com/blog/post:633

  • DouglasHornDouglasHorn

    @Kit_L - Thanks for the great information. I think someday PayPal - or someone will figure out meaningful micro payments.

    I'd heard a bit about Vimeo's accounting in my research. I vastly prefer Reelhouse in this way because the PayPal transaction is direct between the customer and me. (Reelhouse then charges its 6% of gross.) However, it makes micropayments all the more important. I sell many of my short films for US$3. I was doing 48-hour rentals for $1, but with standard PayPal rates, too much of the money goes to transaction fees.

  • Kit_LKit_L

    Just a quick update; I have six programs up on VOD and all are selling. Three problems:

    1. As Vimeo has an arrangement with PP, they (Vimeo) keep all income for 30 days minimum; this means that we have both wasted out time getting the micropayments to work (as far as Vimeo is concerned) because we believe that we will be charged by PP on the whole amount that Vimeo will remit to us (and not the micropayment rate on each transaction); we have not received any paper work from PP (though our clients have). So, Vimeo will hold the money and use PP to transfer it to us in one lump, and we believe that this is where the normal rate will apply.

    2. The info. Doug cites above is inaccurate; once a micropayment scheme applies to an account, it applies to all transactions independent of value; we have proved this ourselves on our two accounts. The solution is two accounts (this is what we do). We will only use the micropayment account for small-value downloads from one of our sites and once Vimeo has remitted the first payments to us, we will calculate all the charges and get back to you here. Presently, their calculations (seen on the VOD performance page on each program) shows that they take ~20%, not the 10% advertised. Still, as they handle the whole back end, OK by me. I have not done the math but there will be a point where the two schemes take the same amount, and then the 5% one will be the more expensive for all values after that.

    One difficulty is that there is no way on Vimeo (or any other platform, AFAIK) where I can nominate accounts by product value. It's moot with Vimeo, because all the income goes into their account; and will be sent to me in one transaction; and that will accrue the 3% + 30¢, we believe.

    One further problem is the uploading process: we are on a 1MB upload connection here; one programs whose upload failed is 1.67GB. Deleting this program from the VOD area of Vimeo does not delete it from Vimeo; we have had discussions about this; the point is that VOD is in no way quarantined from ordinary Vimeo; users need to know that deletion (for example) has to happen in two places for it to actually happen. And Settings for each location, for each program, are different too (VOD settings are a different set to ordinary Vimeo).

    Doug, off to read your blogs now.

    hth, KL

  • Kit_LKit_L

    Hello Douglas and VK,

    VK, your assessment is 100% accurate.

    Douglas: we have figured it out (for micro payments) using VOD, but as Douglas says, the literature is unclear (what there is of it). Without going into a rant here, I was told a number of times that PP micro payments just "did not exist"; this was over their Help line, while I was looking at their own page, on the Australian PP site, that discussed this. It was the work of three separate mornings before I was finally put in contact with the "head of the micropayments department".

    Even a long discussion with this gentleman was misleading, in one sense: we were told that (on our business account) the micro payments scheme would operate on amounts up to $10 (USD; no other currencies are handled yet, but this is not a problem for us) and then the payment calculation reverts to the standard 3% plus 30¢ per transaction cost for amounts over $10. This is not accurate; the flat 5% operates over all amounts and we have proven this.

    So we opened a second account; this is for the workshops I run internationally, and those amounts will be a thousand USD or more.

    VOD has no capacity to use one account up to a certain amount, and the other over that, as far as I can work out. So, all our VOD work will be < $10.00. The only implication for me is that I will not be able to offer bundles of programs for sale; all programs ("series" in VOD terms) will be < $10, and the individual elements (exercises, or any series' comprising elements/programs) will be 99¢-$2.99 each.

    On the programs we have sold so far, the total take via Vimeo is about 20% (and AFAIK, that includes the 5% to Paypal). I have asked for a breakdown several times, but none has been forthcoming, so far, but I will persist.

    So, overall, this scheme will work for me, for my kinds of products. If what you want to rent/sell works at under $10, then, and considering the alternatives, VOD could work very well. I am in the process of editing 5 programs, each of which comprises 12–15 elements; using the Series model on VOD, we will have five series, and any of the comprising elements will be purchasable as well. This gives buyers an inexpensive way to test your wares, or to get only exercises they need, or buy any whole series (about 1.5 hours each) for $8.99. There is no way to let a customer bundle series together for a discount, but that's OK for now.

  • DouglasHornDouglasHorn

    I've set up a business account for receiving payments. According to what literature is available there is Micropayments for Digital Goods with lets you use either the standard rate of 2.9% + .30 or the micropayment rate of 5% + .05 (all in the US) whichever is lower. However, the documentation on how to apply is nonexistent and the PayPal site puts one into a clicking loop. I hoped maybe @Kit_L had figured it out.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    I'm very interested in learning more about your experience with PayPal micro payments for Digital Goods. I'm looking into switching to these as well.

    As far as I understand micropayments work only on business accounts and only on special dedicated ones.

  • DouglasHornDouglasHorn

    @Kit_L - I'm very interested in learning more about your experience with PayPal micro payments for Digital Goods. I'm looking into switching to these as well.

    I posted two big updates to my VOD article in the past couple weeks: http://douglashorn.com/wordpress/distribution/vod-platforms-for-independent-film-and-video-in-2014/ http://douglashorn.com/wordpress/distribution/launching-films-on-vod/

    These go through all the main direct VOD platforms and show which I chose.

  • Kit_LKit_L

    I am in the process of loading a bunch of my instructional videos into Vimeo's on Demand service. I agree completely with VK's reservations about needing be a member (for a $3.99 download, you want zero hurdles/admin overheads, if you can). And (checking the stats) VOD takes 16% of the advertise cost; Paypal having already taken a flat 5% (the 'hidden' micro payments option that no one at PP will tell you about). And VOD keeps your money for a minimum of 30 days, too.

    Nonetheless, they do handle all download costs and the interface is not too horrible to use. OK for now; when something better comes along, I will move.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Happy first birth anniversary! Live it up! And thirdsomely, we're introducing a bunch of wild new stuff related to the birthday kiddo:

    Audience Development Program + 10 million smackers

    Last week, we told people that we're pouring serious moolah into our new Audience Development Program. Here's how it works: We've got a shoebox at the office with $10 million in it. We'll use that money to support Vimeo On Demand titles (and creators) that have raised over $10,000 on select crowdfunding platforms or been accepted to certain film festivals. For those over-achieving titles, we'll make websites, do translating and subtitling, and generally ensure more people see them!

    New Vimeo On Demand for viewers

    When you felt like watching something back in the day, you'd go to a special store and look at things arranged nicely on well-designed shelves. We took a cue from that real-life experience and built an all-new, all-nice way for viewers to browse and discover and check out and bond with Vimeo On Demand titles.

    http://vimeo.com/ondemand/audience

  • AusboyAusboy

    @Riker but where would one host a high quality video file, the rates for those things can be enormous...at least from the providers I know of.

    Amazon S3 - use it on my site for multi-gigabyte downloads. Very affordable and also reliable. You could even use a wordpress blog and have the link encrypted and sent to customer after payment. In my experience it's a few cents a Gig of bandwidth. Hosting isn't the hurdle anymore - it's exposure. Actually vimeo and others use S3

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Vimeo Announces Upgrades To Direct Distribution Platform, Vimeo On Demand

    Vimeo today announced several new upgrades to its growing direct distribution platform, Vimeo On Demand, available to any Vimeo PRO member. The new features bring more versatility to the platform and improve the toolset that empowers creators to sell original film and video work on their own terms.

    The upgrades to Vimeo On Demand include:

    • Rent and Own Pricing Options: Creators can offer viewers the ability to rent (stream) or buy (download) content at separate prices.
    • Preorder Availability: All Vimeo On Demand sellers can build buzz and drive advanced sales by making content available for preorder.
    • Promo Code Generator: Filmmakers can create promo codes that enable viewers to access work at no cost; codes can be sent to press or other partners and used immediately in the improved Vimeo On Demand checkout.
    • Advanced Statistics: Sellers now get more information about their works, including trailer plays, paid video plays, and additional revenue details. In addition, Vimeo On Demand stats are now rolled into a PRO member's Advanced Stats, which makes them more accessible and easier to understand.

    "Vimeo On Demand is constantly evolving to give creators the power to sell their work on their own terms, while enabling viewers to discover and consume high-quality content in the best way possible," said Vimeo's President, Dae Mellencamp. "The new features added today put more control in creators' hands and give audiences more options to view amazing work."

    Vimeo On Demand gives filmmakers the ability to sell their work directly to viewers with unprecedented control and flexibility, allowing them to set prices, viewing format (stream or download), and geographical availability, all while retaining full ownership of their work. Moreover, filmmakers can tap into Vimeo's growing audience of over 100 million monthly unique visitors across a full spectrum of connected devices, including desktop, phone, tablet, connected TV, and game consoles, all in full HD. Since making its debut in March, Vimeo On Demand has built a global catalog of over 2,000 titles.

    For more information regarding Vimeo On Demand, visit http://vimeo.com/ondemand

  • apefosapefos

    @DouglasHorn many thanks, I did a first fast look and will do a more careful look soon.

  • matt_gh2matt_gh2

    @DouglasHorn I read the article on your site - very nice summation with thoughtful exploration of pros/cons. Just started watching Divergence...I'm 2 episodes in. Very cool. Well done. Tried watching on 62" HDTV via youTube over Apple TV and did search but only got the Season One Preview and the trailer. Those both looked great on the 62" screen - the image completely held up. Music and sound were great on nice speakers as well. Wasn't able to find the different episodes on Youtube via Apple TV, but will watch on computer.

  • DouglasHornDouglasHorn

    @WhiteRabbit - My pleasure. I was researching for myself and realized it could be useful to other filmmakers as well.

  • WhiteRabbitWhiteRabbit

    @DouglasHorn, thank you for sharing your blog/summary.

  • DouglasHornDouglasHorn

    I've written a pretty thorough overview of Vimeo on Demand, iTunes, IndieFlix, Distrify, Distribber, and other emerging VOD options for Independents.

    http://douglashorn.com/wordpress/distribution/vod-options-for-independant-film-and-video/

  • stoneystoney

    Watershed moment...... Not!!!

    I don't thank Vimeo. I don't thank Apple. Certainly I don't thank Microsoft. Tyrannosaurus Rex? Fuk him.

  • MeierhansMeierhans

    It sounds like a good idea, but I don't understand why you need a Vimeo account to pay via Paypal. Its just some clicks away.. no need for account creation.

  • apefosapefos

    There is something that came up in my mind: in the anamorphic project I got many encouraging and donations, it was and is a project which many people have interest in, a product to help people, to use the adapter on it's own productions. But the VOD will awaken competition among forum members, so what to expect? Encouraging from the forum fellows in the VOD attempt or each one running to grow up his own audience and hoping others to fail? My experience in the job video market is a bloody competition, will VOD turn forum members into Tyrannosaurus Rex trying to kill each other?

  • apefosapefos

    All I have to say for now is: I will give it a try, I am not afraid to fail, I am not expecting too much, it will take some time to get things done...

  • RikerRiker

    @Rambo but where would one host a high quality video file, the rates for those things can be enormous...at least from the providers I know of.

  • RamboRambo

    Agree with VK here, signing up for Vimeo, searching for a video you want to buy, adding it to a watch later list then being redirected to a VOD page where you again have to enter details and a PayPal payment is too many hoops to jump thru.

    I would prefer to watch a short preview streaming trailer to decide my choice and then a link to a downloadable HQ HD file to keep. I would be prepared to pay $2-5 for that. This is the system I trialled last year. Sure, there were some people who found a way to beat the system and download for free. But in the small trial I did, there were 68 downloads and 55 payments. Most people are honest, only 13 people obtained the emailed password protected download link without paying, probably all from the same person who passed it on. Once you know the loss numbers, build it onto the cost. I still think hosting the file yourself is the best way.

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