All About Subscriber Share
What is subscriber share?
While other content sharing platforms usually prefer the big pool model of revenue sharing, here at VGAME, we employ the subscriber share model. In the subscriber share model, 50% of net subscription revenue is divided amongst our individual content providers. We believe that subscriber share provides a fairer environment for lesser known independent artists, as well as popular publishers.
How does it work?
We believe that a subscriber’s money should go to the publishers they actually use and value. Publishers are rewarded for creating unique and diverse content rather than simply copying popular publishers. With subscriber share, all of a subscriber’s money goes towards the content they purchase. In other words, your subscribers don’t end up subsidizing someone else. However, if a subscriber does not purchase anything within a billing period, the full 50% of their net revenue is distributed equally amongst all of VGAME’s publishers.
What does this mean for publishers?
With subscriber share, both subscribers and downloads are equally important, and each subscriber controls an equal amount of publisher earnings. This model ensures both content with broad appeal, as well as niche content have the opportunity to make money for their publishers. It also means that publishers can make decent money from just a few subscribers, creating an environment that allows niche content to flourish.
As your reputation grows in the subscriber community, so does your opportunity to make money; more subscribers and more downloads means more money for you. Compared to other models, subscriber share simply affects the allocation of publisher earnings among individual publishers. We believe this is the fairest way of dividing earnings.
Let’s imagine two different scenarios, and how they will affect your earnings as a publisher. To keep things simple, we’ll use “downloads” as the metric for calculating your earnings.
SCENARIO 1: Mass Appeal publishers
Imagine all of your subscribers use your items, with ten downloads by each of the six users. With big pool you would earn only $66.98, compared to $109.67 with subscriber share. In this scenario, you’re much better off with the subscriber share model. You are rewarded for creating items that many people need and use.
| Subscriber | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Total |
| Amount paid by Subscribers | $80.00 | $80.00 | $80.00 | $80.00 | $80.00 | $80.00 | $480.00 |
| Total Earning to be distributed among Publishers | $40.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $240.00 |
| Number of Downloads | 40 | 50 | 20 | 10 | 15 | 80 | 215 |
| Downloads that belong to Publisher "You" | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 60 |
| Share of Subscribers that Publisher "You" will get | 25.00% | 20.00% | 50.00% | 100.00% | 66.67% | 12.50% | |
| Earning Payable to Publisher “You" | $10.00 | $8.00 | $20.00 | $40.00 | $26.67 | $5.00 | $109.67 |
Big Pool Approach:
| Subscriber | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Total |
| Amount paid by Subscribers | $80.00 | $80.00 | $80.00 | $80.00 | $80.00 | $80.00 | $480.00 |
| Total Earning to be distributed among Publishers | $40.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $240.00 |
| Number of Downloads | 40 | 50 | 20 | 10 | 15 | 80 | 215 |
| Downloads that belong to Publisher "You" | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 60 |
| Big Pool Approach** | $1.12 | ||||||
| Earning Payable to Publisher "You" | $66.98 | ||||||
**Total amount of downloads divided into Total Earning to be distributed among Publishers
Graphically speaking it’ll look like this:
Subscription Share Approach$109.67
$0.00$20.00$40.00$60.00$80.00$100.00$120.00
Big Pool Approach $66.98SCENARIO 2: Niche publishers
Imagine your content is only used by a few subscribers; imagine a total of 65 downloads were made by four moderate users. With big pool, you would only earn $72.56, but with subscriber share you earn a significantly higher sum of $136.00. With subscriber share, it becomes profitable to target a niche and cater to it well.
Subscription Share Approach:
| Subscriber | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Total |
| Amount paid by Subscribers | $80.00 | $80.00 | $80.00 | $80.00 | $80.00 | $80.00 | $480.00 |
| Total Earning to be distributed among Publishers | $40.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $240.00 |
| Number of Downloads | 40 | 50 | 20 | 10 | 15 | 80 | 215 |
| Downloads that belong to Publisher "You" | 0 | 20 | 20 | 10 | 15 | 0 | 65 |
| Share of Subscribers that Publisher "You" will get | 0.00% | 40.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 0.00% | |
| Earning Payable to Publisher "You" | $0.00 | $16.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $0.00 | $136.00 |
Big Pool Approach:
| Subscriber | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Total |
| Amount paid by Subscribers | $80.00 | $80.00 | $80.00 | $80.00 | $80.00 | $80.00 | $480.00 |
| Total Earning to be distributed among Publishers | $40.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $40.00 | $240.00 |
| Number of Downloads | 40 | 50 | 20 | 10 | 15 | 80 | 215 |
| Downloads that belong to Publisher "You" | 0 | 20 | 20 | 10 | 15 | 0 | 65 |
| Big Pool Approach | $1.12 | ||||||
| Earning Payable to Publisher "You" | $72.56 | ||||||
**Total amount of downloads divided into Total Earning to be distributed among Publishers
Graphically speaking it’ll look like this:
Subscription Share Approach$136.00
$0.00$20.00$40.00$60.00$80.00$100.00$120.00$140.00$160.00
Big Pool Approach$72.56In Conclusion
There are many benefits to the subscriber share model that reflect our values here at VGAME. A recap of our main reasons for choosing to employ subscriber share:
- We believe it is the fairest possible way of dividing profits among publishers
- It provides equal opportunities for mass appeal and niche content
- Both subscribers and downloads are important
- It supports a broad range of diverse and unique content, and allows it to thrive
Thank you for choosing VGAME, and thank you for supporting subscriber share!