Vimeo and Maker Studios pens exclusivity deal to spark YouTube artist exodus
Vimeo and Disney’s Maker Studios have signed an exclusivity deal which would see many of YouTube’s top artists jump ship to the burgeoning video platform.
The video streaming service has started discussions with some of YouTube’s top content creators – many of whom are in contracts with Maker Studios which was snapped up by Disney for somewhere between $500m and $1bn in March 2014.
Artists who sign on with IAC-owned Vimeo will be broadcast exclusively through Vimeo On Demand, according to Mashable. The site, which is not ad-supported like rival YouTube, will offer fund shows and offer Vloggers discounted Vimeo Pro accounts to spark a content exodus from Google’s video streaming site.
Maker Studios has not confirmed which of its 55,000 content creators - which includes YouTube’s most viewed vlogger PewDiePie - will join Vimeo.
This follows Vimeo last week penning a deal with Form Digital Studios, to commission a series of adaptations featuring vloggers such as PJ Liguori (aka KickThePj) and Sawyer Hartman.
