holy crap twitch just changed everything they removed all exclusivity we can all multi-stream
now twitch partners get paid in bitcoin and all because twitch is terrified of youtube yeah that's
uh not true is it but streamer twitter doesn't have the ability to read and like what happens
every single time twitch makes an update they've completely misunderstood what that update is
and are now spreading misinformation so let's talk about how twitch just changed their exclusivity
rules for streamers what it all means and of course what is in it for you while clearing up
some strange misinformation out there hey i'm Eljay with streamscheme.com i'm also a variety
streamer and youtuber there are links to both those in the description as well as time codes so
you can skip ahead to whatever part of this video you want and then go out and spread half of the
information without context and be misinformed also because it's a very long video with a lot
of detail to cover but if you want to understand the new rules and why it is so important that you
understand the new rules first we have to explain what the old rules were for both twitch affiliates
and twitch partners let's first talk about affiliates once you accept the affiliate agreement
there are certain rules you are agreeing to follow that is because it is a contract and that is why
you should read it when it comes to exclusivity the major rule you needed to know was that you
cannot as an affiliate multi-stream again as an affiliate you cannot multi-stream multi-streaming
is when you go live on twitch and the same stream is being broadcast over on youtube facebook
or multiple other platforms for example which partners so creators like myself with that little
purple badge had to follow this rule as well unless they'd negotiated a unique contract now
there is a lot of debate out there about whether or not you watching this would actually get in
trouble for multi streaming and whether twitch can even find you doing it in the first place and
if they did find you whether they can actually enforce the rules on you and we can cover all
of that first we need to finish this part because it's important to understand what is being changed
so that is the easy to understand rule no multi streaming for anyone the second major exclusivity
rule is honestly quite simple as well but based on the twitter replies i got not many affiliates
actually understand it heck there is even a huge debate about twitch partners and this rule now so
first as an affiliate are you forced to create all live content exclusive only to twitch no actually
and it's never been the case you see twitch affiliates have always been able to go live on
other platforms like youtube or facebook as well as long as remember they aren't multi-streaming
this means you could end your twitch stream and go start up a youtube stream without breaking
any rules now a lot of people say that you can just break this rule and multi-stream without
getting in trouble because twitch can't enforce it personally i'm not going to give you that advice
because i don't want to tell you to break the terms of service and then be held accountable if
you do get in trouble i can't guarantee anything will go a certain way for you it's up to you to
make that choice and risk what you want to risk now for twitch partners this rule becomes a bit
messier from reading my contract talking to other partners and most importantly a dozen or so twitch
partner managers which partners have to create their live content exclusive to twitch we couldn't
end our twitch stream and go start up a youtube stream without breaking the rules they did this
to retain talent essentially if we have to stream on twitch our viewers have to watch on twitch
it isn't overly creative friendly to be honest and there has been a lot of push to change this
rule over the recent years but why does this get messy when we start talking about partners
well that is because there is now debate out there from a creator and marketer who i respect
greatly devon nash saying partners could always go live on other platforms the same as affiliates
but from experience every partner i know has been told that this isn't the case we aren't allowed to
and releasing this change leads me to feel even twitch didn't think that this was allowed either
otherwise why bother releasing the update rather than debate about the old rules let's move forward
and say that is what people thought the rules were no multi-streaming for anyone affiliates could
go live on other platforms but sadly partners couldn't or again we were told and thought that
we couldn't so what has changed what are the new rules why does this change help you watching this
and of course what is crucial that you have to know let's talk partners first since that is where
the debate is and then i will cover affiliate for you with the new changes twitch partners are no
longer forced or have to think they're forced to be twitch exclusive we can now end stream and go
live on youtube or facebook for example without breaking the rules or being banned from twitch
one thing that has not been completely opened up though is multi-streaming twitch partners
still cannot multi-stream while on twitch to youtube or facebook but twitch is allowing you
to multi-stream to what they call short format or mobile services which means tick tock or instagram
live now i will break down what all of this means and why i think they're doing it in a second
because it really does impact every streamer but first we have to show you the affiliate changes
because when i first tweeted out the changes a screenshot of the twitch faq for these changes
and a link to the faq the first replies i got from everyone were is this just for partners what about
affiliates wait i can multi-stream now which hurt my soul a little bit because this update
it changes nothing for affiliates i'm really sorry they're only changing things for twitch partners
but before you go complain in the comments i have one small bonus for you
nothing is changing because you could already do all of this if i learned two things from
this tweet the first is that not a single affiliate who replied read their twitch contract
or has been told a lot of misinformation about what they can and can't do and if you
don't believe me go read any thread about these changes and you'll see what i mean
even twitch had to change their faq page for the partner exclusivity changes because affiliates
were harassing them on social media about why they didn't get the changes as well despite again
being able to do everything already this change gives partners but what does all this mean and
why does this despite not technically changing anything for affiliates still affect every single
streamer what's in it for you essentially and why the [ __ ] would twitch release exclusivity
and risk losing all their streamers let's tackle that last question first as i mentioned earlier
twitch has been under a bit of pressure these past few years to be more creative focused
there are many examples of this from general exclusivity complaints but also when creators
like ludwig left twitch for youtube they quoted the major reason was twitch wasn't looking out for
them despite being a giant creator twitch wasn't creative focused this idea has really permeated
across the entire industry now and streamers love to spread that twitch isn't creative focused and
that is really bad for twitch whether you believe it's true or not just the concept that that is
what people think is bad so the first reason but not the biggest reason they are changing
is because it is an amazing pr move this makes everyone feel like twitch cares about their
creators and they want them to be free to grow or stream wherever they want to and wherever is
best for them but if that isn't the major reason what is well it becomes quite obvious when you
read the rules i mentioned about multi-streaming you can't multi-stream to youtube or facebook
ignore the part where twitch then says two streams at once can lead to a sub-optimal experience for
your community they don't really care about that the reality is youtube and facebook are
just twitches direct competitors in the live space after all if they care about sub optimal
experiences then why are twitch allowing you to multi-stream to what they call short format
or mobile services remember which means tick tock and instagram live great question again you see
tick tock has a wild market share of viewers and an algorithm that aggressively blows people up
who make good consistent content for it youtube isn't really the go-to growth tool these days
for creators it's the best for monetization and long-term sustainability that's undeniable but
when it comes to initial growth for someone brand new understanding the tick tock algorithm and
pushing that is far more powerful listening to me right now small creators the tick tock algorithm
is far more powerful twitch is making this change because they want streamers to go live on twitch
and tick tock at the same time and then promote their twitch stream to bring viewers across from
tiktok so sorry i just i'm sorry i don't mean to interrupt but i just have to ask why would someone
who's multi-streaming on twitch and tick-tock promote their stream over their tik-tok stream
and why would a viewer bother coming across i'm really glad you asked so streamers will promote
their twitch stream because it is far better for monetization than tick tock is and viewers will
come across because tick tock live viewing right now is a terrible experience with an aggressively
low retention rate which currently is just a far better viewing experience than tick tock
of course not every viewer will come across but a percentage will and when we're talking about
how quickly you can blow up on tick tock to have thousands of viewers those percentages matter so
those are the two big reasons twitch is changing this it is an amazing pr move that makes us think
yes go twitch and it gives them a chance to gain more market share in the live space by trying to
bring viewers from tick tock over to twitch here is the thing though twitch streamers and partners
have been multi-streaming to tick-tock for years and twitch has sort of been okay with it because
they know it actually helps them get more viewers on their platform these changes just make it so
they don't have to pretend not to see it anymore and instead can give you a big thumbs up and say
you go girl get those tick tock viewers over here now i know this has been a long video and
i'm sorry about that but we still need to cover what this means for you guys and the creators in
this space with this change it really is big news for creators like myself mostly hearted creators
who have established youtube channels that they want to stream on or try out youtube streaming on
because if i create videos here on this channel and tell you to go check out my twitch stream
the majority of you won't leave youtube to check it out because let's be real we're all
lazy as when we watch youtube but if you subscribe here and i go live here
well that is a lot easier for you to see my live streams and i'll probably grow my viewership
easier as seen with ludwig or purplecliff coming over to youtube but unlike purple cliff or ludwig
now to do that we don't have to burn our bridges which is saying hey yeah the grass does look
greener over there sure you can go check it out but you'll be back which is amazing and
you bet you'll see me live on this channel soon so keep an eye out now of course what about if you're
not an established creator if you don't have tik tok or youtube well first you better be working
on that if you care at all about growing in this day and age and second not much changes you see
whether you stream on twitch or whether you stream on youtube doesn't really matter there are huge
debates about the best platform to stream on most people saying youtube has better discoverability
but the reality is that if you have no videos and you aren't planning on releasing videos youtube
discovery is actually worse than twitch in my opinion because nobody goes to youtube in search
of streamers they go for videos so the actionable tip for this entire change should be to start
uploading videos and gaining traction now and then try out streaming on youtube because it could be
amazing for you and every streamer out there should now be posting to tiktok and preparing
to or attempting to multi-stream to it as well especially if you want to grow in this space
now some people are saying this is desperation from twitch or it's because they're failing as
a platform and honestly that might be true but this move has some pretty big energy if you ask me
it is a lot of confidence isn't it to say yeah go stream wherever you want we know you'll be back
our service is the best and you'll realize that soon now whether that confidence is misplaced
i'd love to hear from you in the comments but to me it really comes across like a power play
and if that power play and that confidence is a bluff well i'll let you guys know because we're
gonna be live on this channel and my slide channel soon to test it all out and see if
streaming on youtube with discoverable videos is the best place to grow as a content creator
speaking of growing if you want to grow and start creating months worth of content in just a few
hours well i recommend this video right here on tiktok growth i promise it is far easier than
you'd expect with no editing software required after all i got 2.5 million views in under 2
weeks from xero or if you prefer youtube check out this video on growing as a brand new youtuber
see you guys next week let me know in the comments where are you going to be streaming from now on