A few days ago, Monstercat announced a new service that would be included in their “Monstercat Gold” program. The new offering was advertised as a way for subscribers to “fast-track Affiliate status” on Twitch. The announcement led to controversy in the streaming community since Affiliate status traditionally had to be earned, not purchased.
The Canadian electronic record label backpedaled two days later, taking to social media to clarify that they did not mean to assert that Affiliate status would be guaranteed to subscribers. “To clarify our original post, all current Gold subscribers must meet Twitch’s Affiliate criteria,” Monstercat tweeted. “Our goal was never to take away from the achievements that Affiliates worked for in their time streaming on Twitch.”
For those unfamiliar with the livestreaming platform, being an Affiliate means you can monetize your streams and earn revenue from subscriptions, donations, game sales, and more. Anyone can apply to become an Affiliate, but only those who meet the platform’s specific viewership and streaming time requirements will qualify.
On one hand, some users were upset over the proposed fast-track service because they felt it would enable streamers pay their way to becoming an Affiliate and skip the work it normally takes to be promoted. On the other hand, some felt that since the requirements for reaching monetization were so low and easily obtainable, there wasn’t an issue in skipping some steps.
Despite the debates, many felt confused by the clarification and questions arose online about why one would choose to apply for Affiliate status through the paid “Monstercat Gold” service when users can already apply directly on Twitch for free. In a lengthy thread of tweets starting with the embedded pair below, Twitch news commentator Zach Bussey offered his expert insights on the controversy and called on the label to further expound its clarification.
You can learn more about what’s included in Monstercat’s current “Gold” program without the Twitch Affiliate fast-track service here.
Source: Screen Rant