14 DAY TRIAL // Flattr has been around for a while now and, while it has seen some adoption, it hasn't exactly revolutionized the way people repay the artist or creators they like. But Flattr has now scored a major victory, partnering with Dailymotion to integrate the payments system into the video site.
Dailymotion will be enabling MotionMakers users, the equivalent of YouTube partners, to add the Flattr button next to their videos as a means of earning more money.
"To say that we’re excited about the partnership is an understatement. With over 100 million unique visitors clocking up 1.5 billion video views every month, and 20,000+ new videos uploaded every day we couldn’t have hope for a better partner to introduce Flattr to the masses," Flattr explained.
A Flatter button will be added to the videos of users that link up their Flattr accounts, next to the Like, +1 and Tweet buttons.
This is a big deal for Flattr since the potential audience is huge, certainly larger than anything it was before. Still, artists still have to be convinced to use Flattr in the first place.
They have to setup a Flattr account and convince their fans to do the same, if they haven't already. The service is somewhat popular in some places and it's relatively easy to sign up and to add money to your account.
But the biggest problem is the old chicken vs. egg, artists won't have much of an incentive to support Flattr if few of their fans have heard of it. Even worse, people won't be using Flattr that much if they can't find interesting people or projects to support.
For Dailymotion, it means a new way for its creators to earn money, besides advertising. What's more, it's something that its biggest competitor, YouTube, doesn't offer.