This statistic presents the estimated annual earnings of selected YouTube channel creators. As of June 2017, it was estimated that comedic duo Smosh, the creators of one of the most popular Youtube channels, based on the number of subscribers, had annual earnings amounting to 11 million U.S. dollars. Earnings include advertising revenues as well as sponsored content and event appearances.
Further information Created in 2005, YouTube has become one of the most popular social networks worldwide. As of the first quarter of 2015, the global penetration rate among the online population was 81 percent.
As of October 2015, the most-subscribed YouTube channels did not only include popular music artists such as Rihanna or One Direction but also video game commentators or comedy creators. Despite their professional video production values and full-time work commitment to YouTube videos, many of these current YouTube celebrity channels were based on user-generated content such as make-up tutorials, video game commentaries or comedy sketches. As of July 2015, the most-viewed YouTube channels were those of video game personality PewDiePie, followed by channels featuring children’s toys, owned by users FunToyzCollector and BluToys. As of that period of time, PewDiePie had close to 10 billion channel views.
YouTube channels are also a popular resource for tutorials and how-to videos; enabling their owners to earn a living from advertising revenues and product placements. The highest-earning beauty vlogger is Yuya/lady16makeup with estimated monthly earnings of over 41,000 U.S. dollars and reaching a unique monthly audience of approximately 36 million users worldwide. Other beauty bloggers have also branched out and have become offline make-up entrepreneurs (Michelle Phan) or successfully made the transition from vlogger to published author (Zoella).
