If you're using an iPhone, you probably haven't heard of the Rumble Video Battles App because it only exists for Android users. But not for long.
Rumble, a video platform that has existed since 2013 recently launched an App where their creators battle with their best viral videos in a daily 'Rumble' battle. Every evening at 9pm, Rumble pays out $1000's in cash prizes to the winners. The best way to imagine the app; AFV & HQ meets Tinder & Tiktok, except prizes are in the $1000's, not millions, yet.
In recent months, there has been a rush of new video apps to try and compete with TikTok's dominance. You've had Byte and Firework enter the foray, but neither seem to have captured the retention required to displace TikTok or Snapchat. What caught my attention is that Rumble recently passed Byte in both the Canadian and US markets for Android growth downloads (see AppBrain rankings), and that's without half the market being accessible to them. To put it bluntly, their virality on word of mouth is severely tempered since they are missing out on 50%+ of the market, and there are strong arguments to be made that their real market share exists on iOS, especially if Tiktok& Byte are true comparables.
"Our platform has always intended to kick back revenue to creators. Other video platforms have created billion dollar market caps on the backs of your content, and I want to change that." said Chris Pavlovski, CEO of Rumble. "The Rumble app is just the entrance point to long term revenue management on our platform."
One of the potential downfalls to Rumble's model is their "Video Management" structure, but the company claims this model is essential to maximize the revenue from advertisers and to properly license out the content. In order to participate in these battles and earn lifetime revenue, you are essentially giving up your licensing rights in exchange for copyright protections, distribution to their big viral YouTube channels, and distribution to 3rd party partners like MSN. Many of their creators swear by the exchange and claim they could never do what Rumble does on their own, but other users are still skeptical. To Rumble's credit, they haven't been afraid to protect their content, launching more than one lawsuit against the Daily Mail for copyright infringement, among other things. We've also seen reports from numerous creators claiming to be earning $1000's every month off simple home videos. The same can't be said for other platforms.
Rumble is hoping to release the iOS version of their app this summer, followed by even larger payouts. It's definitely something I'm going to keep my eyes on, because if their growth on Android is this strong, and iOS users adopt in the same way, we might have a viable TikTok competitor for the first time.
