With cellular and fixed broadband connections becoming more ubiquitous, so too has video consumption courtesy of services such as Netflix and YouTube. With 4K resolutions and high dynamic range (HDR) making their way into the mainstream as far as content is concerned, online video services have had to bolster their platforms to offer the latest and greatest demanded by the bleeding edge. In fact, Vimeo recently announced support for 8K resolution content and HDR to keep up with the major players.
However, the playing field for online services can be cut-throat and it seems that one relatively new platform for user-created content will be bowing out just shy of completing its fourth year of operation. Vidme, launched in January 2014, will be taking its video site and apps offline on December 15th at midday Pacific Time, less than two weeks from the time of writing.
The company noted in its post on Medium that "we weren’t able to find a path to financial sustainability" and cited the increasing challenge of monetizing user-created content as one of the primary factors in its decision. It also identified the increased difficulty of drawing audiences away from established platforms (such as YouTube and Facebook) as well as the high cost of storing and delivering video, although it had become less expensive over the years thanks to increased competition in the content delivery network (CDN) space.
In terms of what this means for users, Vidme advised the following:
- New sign-ups and uploads will be disabled effective today.
- Existing videos will be playable and exportable from your video manager until December 15th at noon PT, at which point they will be permanently deleted from the Vidme servers.
- All paid channel subscripitions [sic] will be suspended immediately, and subscriber-only videos will be exclusively accessible by their video owners.
- Any outstanding earnings will be paid out upon verification within 60 days.
- All Vidme paid subscriptions will cease as of today, and subscribers will no longer be billed.
However, the company did take the opportunity to foreshadow the announcement of a new product next year but offered little more in terms of details aside from the fact that "not every member of the Vidme team will be staying on for the next chapter". While it is likely to be shocking news for Vidme's staff, particularly ahead of the holiday season, the company has published a list of employees available for hire and invited interested parties to make contact via Bit Kitchen.
Source: Vidme (Medium) via Digital Trends
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