New revenue opportunities are emerging with the recent boom in video viewing on the Web. On this chart, I've tried to list all of the Web sites that enable independent video producers to make money from their work. I've ranked the sites subjectively, based on how much traffic and buzz they've been attracting, and also how likely it seems that a video producer would actually manage to earn a significant return by posting a video to them. (Media companies with large libraries have a wider range of options for monetizing their content, including Apple's iTunes Music Store, Movielink, and Vongo.)

The majority of these sites are geared shorter-form content, but a few, like Brightcove, EZTakes, and GreenCine, make it possible for producers of hour-long or feature-length projects to generate revenue. Most of these sites don't demand exclusive rights to a video, and I've tried to highlight the few that do, like The Yahoo! Current Network and TurnHere.

Below the main chart, there are two supplemental charts: one lists Web video sites that have announced plans to enable producers to make money with their videos, but haven't yet gone live, and another chart lists DVD-burning services, which help producers sell good old-fashioned DVDs of their work.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:32:29 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments