As DCCMag said nearly two years ago, when Vimeo raised $150 million in equity funding, the final transition from independent filmmaker hub to B2B SaaS hosting product was coming up fast. Well a week ago, the final nail was put in the coffin of what Vimeo once was, as a new billing policy rolled out. Here’s a coverage roundup.
Y.M.Cinema Magazine
Vimeo: “We are a B2B solution, not the indie version of YouTube.”
“It appears that Vimeo issues ultimatums for independent creators. Filmmakers claim that Vimeo demands them to pay thousands of dollars or their videos will be deleted. That’s because of a business shift Vimeo declared on. As stated by Vimeo: “Today we are a technology platform, not a viewing destination. We are a B2B solution, not the indie version of YouTube”. This announcement indicates that Vimeo is not the home of independent creators anymore. “
The Verge
Vimeo is telling creators to suddenly pay thousands of dollars — or leave the platform
“Lois van Baarle, a digital artist based in the Netherlands, joined Vimeo 13 years ago as a student studying animation, back when it was still an indie creator platform. When van Baarle started making subscriber-only Patreon content in 2020, Vimeo seemed like the best option for hosting her videos — Patreon itself didn’t offer video hosting, and YouTube didn’t have the same features to protect her work, like controlling where her videos could be embedded.”
Cartoon Brew
Vimeo Is Randomly Hiking Prices – And Will Remove Your Videos If You Don’t Pay
“Anjali Sud, the CEO of Vimeo, has made no secret of her disdain for the independent creators who were once the bread-and-butter of the company. But what was once apathy towards filmmakers, animators, and video artists has now turned into a campaign to completely eliminate them from the platform.”
