The Last Theory
An exploration of what might be the last theory of physics
It took 18 months from putting out my first video on YouTube to earning my first dollar, but I've just received the payment notification.
How much?
$182.88
It would have been much more, only the owner of the music I used as the theme tune is blocking most of my revenue. I've been battling them for all those 18 months now, but they're persisting in breaching their contract with me, which allows me to use the music on YouTube, by claiming that every dollar I earn belongs to them.
I think YouTube is a wonderful place to build a business, but their facilitating this scam, favouring an unscrupulous copyright owner over the creators that keep YouTube alive, seems extraordinary to me.
I'm hoping to make progress in this undending battle and increase my earnings soon!
My video Why has there been no progress in physics since 1973? broke through 50,000 views.
This one's very different from all my previous videos: it was shot outside, in Oxford, with terrible sound quality, but beautiful backdrops.
I don't think the beautiful backdrops were what made it successful, though, any more than the terrible sound quality detracted from its success.
What made it take off was the bold claim in the title, which hit a nerve with so many people.
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Congrats! The title was definitely the most important factor here.
I think titles and thumbnails need to generate strong questioning/curiosity in a person's head in order to attract them.If you'll allow me, here's some feedback:
- I think it would be best to make the title different from the thumbnail text. Design them to form a specific, strong and clear question in the viewer's head. This is what will generate clicks.
- I think video was a little too monotonous. People have very short attention span, so you have to keep changing things frequently. I see you introduce some visuals in between in your other videos, I think you should keep doing that. Maybe also change other variables like camera angle, focus on scenery, do a walking recording, etc.
One of the unexpected things about The Last Theory podcast is how it has taken off on YouTube.
This is certainly not because of my YouTube style! I really need to make my videos, and the thumbnails in particular, more lively.
Instead, I think it's because:
- many of my episodes are highly visual, so work much better on YouTube than in a podcast;
- I'm serving a tight niche: people who are interested in Wolfram Physics;
- I'm keeping things short and simple: Stephen Wolfram himself puts out a huge amount of content, but his videos are hours long and hard to follow;
- within such a tight niche, a YouTube channel can grow much faster than a podcast, because YouTube knows, from their viewing history, who's interested in Wolfram Physics, so can recommend my videos to them.
5,000 views is modest - a view might mean only watching the first 30 seconds of a video - but it's a start!
90% of podcasts don’t get past episode 3.
I tried to find a source for this statistic, but the references I found on the Plinkernet are circular, so it's probably made up.
Regardless of the precise numbers, there's surely some truth to it.
I reached episode #003 of The Last Theory newsletter/podcast/channel.
Doesn't seem much to boast about, but still, it's something... maybe even top 10%.
It's just a trailer, but it's out there.
There's nothing like opening my podcast player, searching for my own podcast, and finding it.
OK, so there's only one audio file uploaded, and it's just a trailer, not a full episode... but it's a start.
And the work needed to get to that start! Writing, audio + video recording + editing, artwork, website, podcast publication... it can only get easier from here!
Stephen Wolfram's team has software that simulates universes according to the rules they've come up with.
They make that software freely available, so I could simply download it and run it.
But that would be too easy...
Instead, I've written my own software to simulate Wolfram Physics.
Why?
Well, if I'm going to understand Wolfram's theories deeply enough to explain them in my newsletter, podcast and YouTube channel, I figure I'd better create my own simulations.
Copy someone else's work, and you can deceive yourself into thinking that you understand it. Do the work yourself, and you'll know you understand it.
OK, ordering a book might not be the strongest sign of progress.
But in this case, it's the essential first step.
Stephen Wolfram's book "A Project to Find the Fundamental Theory of Physics" is a dense 770-page tome that details his team's progress to date.
770 pages? Not as bad as it sounds. There are plenty of pictures: beautiful illustrations of Wolfram's possible universes.
Time to get reading.
5 Comments
Where did you get the music from?
It's from Pond5.
I've been talking to them about this issue for 18 months now.
They've been trying to work with the rights enforcer to get it fixed.
After all, this is destroying their business, too: if you buy a licence from Pond5 to use music on YouTube, then you're prevented from using the music on YouTube, then you're never going to buy a licence from Pond5 ever again!
I get the feeling that their support agents are getting extremely frustrated with the rights enforcer.
I don't think they realize yet that the rights enforcer doesn't want to cooperate: their business is thriving, double-monetizing all this music, albeit in breach of contract.
Thanks for asking! I don't know if any music library is immune from this scam, but Pond5 certainly isn't.
Can you just change the theme tune and move on. Principles can be expensive things
Yes, good question, thanks Ade.
I'm happy to say that I don't have any principles here!
It's just a question of the cost of changing the theme tune:
Going through all of the above is a real disincentive for me, so I'll persist in trying to get the scammers to do the right thing (it's a matter of checking a single checkbox on YouTube for them).
Good points Mark. Sometimes you don't see the wood for the trees, so I just wanted to give you an outsiders perspective. Good luck with it!