Evolution of Creator Revenue Streams and MCNs on YouTube

In the early days of YouTube, creators mainly made money through adcents and the revenue share model of MCNs. Only the top 1% of creators could secure brand deals, which involved fully custom content. Creators had to sign with an MCN to access YouTube's Partner Program initially, as YouTube had not yet developed the capacity to vet channels at scale. Over time, the MCN landscape expanded, with MCNs focusing on signing as many creators as possible. However, as creators gained the ability to apply directly for adcents and negotiate better deals with other companies, they started questioning the value MCNs provided, especially in the context of securing lucrative brand deals.