Addressing the recent DMCA business by promoting a music licensing subscription should have been a smart move for Twitch. There’s merit in the idea of allowing the platform’s streamers to figure out how to continue in the manner of which they’ve become accustomed. Monstercat’s subscription service is one of the growing number of these license subscription services with a legitimate library of music on offer.
However, what Twitch have allowed, here, seems more like a pyramid scheme than it does a legitimate business opportunity.
After a month, streamers who buy into the Monstercat Gold subscription-based service will be able to apply for Twitch Affiliate status directly through a rewards page controlled by Monstercat. The program’s marketing material refers to a mere four step process in which the fourth is an emailed invitation to join Twitch’s Affiliate program.
I’ve been streaming in an irregular fashion for the past couple of years. I’ve got enough followers to make affiliate. I certainly stream enough to qualify, but I don’t get the viewership Twitch demands. Even though it’s certainly a low, low bar to clear, I have never found that restriction to be obscene or unfair. Some folks aren’t meant to be entertainers.
If, after all that effort, I decided I felt I was wronged by the process, all I need to do is create a clean Twitch account, pay Monstercat a fiver, then bide my time until my inevitable Affiliate invitation turns up. Pay in to get paid out, right? Isn’t that one of the core articles of faith promised by pyramid schemes?
