Are these Vloggers just a scam? SOL or Shmee etc???????

[johnwilliams77]

thecremeegg said:

I'm waiting on any of these youtubers to say that a car they drive isn't "Amazing" or similar - not sure I've heard any of them ever say ANYTHING bad about a car just in case the manufacturers stop paying for them to go on jaunts

You'll be waiting a while

[Escy]

That's one of the reasons I like The Smoking Tire, he's not shy in sharing out criticisms, even with the owner sat next to him in the car.

[jas xjr]

Escy said:

That's one of the reasons I like The Smoking Tyre, he's not shy in sharing out criticisms, even with the owner sat next to him in the car.

works for me , he seems to be interested in all sorts of cars too not just the latest supercar . talking of which he was not shy in criticising the new mclaren.

[zeDuffMan]

Escy said:

That's one of the reasons I like The Smoking Tire, he's not shy in sharing out criticisms, even with the owner sat next to him in the car.

Since TST focused exclusively on One Takes it's become my favourite motoring channel. There's a big variety of new and old, standard and modified, and he's honest about what he's feeling behind the wheel.

I used to follow Shmee but the content became pretty stale at the 3rd McLaren. I'm keeping an eye out for AMG GTR videos but looking at the video list now, it's just so dull.

[Shmee]

thecremeegg said:

I'm waiting on any of these youtubers to say that a car they drive isn't "Amazing" or similar - not sure I've heard any of them ever say ANYTHING bad about a car just in case the manufacturers stop paying for them to go on jaunts

I was driving a Renault Kadjar the other day and it was horrific.

To be honest with you, at least from my perspective, I'm sharing the excitement of an experience as much as I am the car and make sure to only drive cars I think I'm going to enjoy.

[Shmee]

zeDuffMan said:

I used to follow Shmee but the content became pretty stale at the 3rd McLaren. I'm keeping an eye out for AMG GTR videos but looking at the video list now, it's just so dull.

It's probably even worse at the fourth

However in all seriousness it's an eternal problem in any industry; when you've done so much it becomes repetitive to existing viewers. I've made circa 3,500 YouTube videos now and there are only so many new car models so to keep the content flow requires repetition and only so much variation. Trust me I've tried to find people around me to help on the creative side for years but haven't managed yet.

[anthonysjb]

Personally I enjoy Tim's content. Very in depth and there is a good variety in there if you watch enough. Been watching since the R8 days and do enjoy being 'involved' in his 'journey' so to speak!

[Vocht]

Shmee said:

It's probably even worse at the fourth

However in all seriousness it's an eternal problem in any industry; when you've done so much it becomes repetitive to existing viewers. I've made circa 3,500 YouTube videos now and there are only so many new car models so to keep the content flow requires repetition and only so much variation. Trust me I've tried to find people around me to help on the creative side for years but haven't managed yet.

I'd like to see some sort of UK vs US vlogger 'face off' series. Shmee, JWW, SOL, STG, Seb (maybe even car throttle) vs Salomondrin, Vehicle Virgins, Stradman etc.

Almost like we've seen recently the likes of 'red crew' vs 'orange crew recently in Monaco.

[Quickmoose]

Shmee said:

zeDuffMan said:

I used to follow Shmee but the content became pretty stale at the 3rd McLaren. I'm keeping an eye out for AMG GTR videos but looking at the video list now, it's just so dull.

It's probably even worse at the fourth

However in all seriousness it's an eternal problem in any industry; when you've done so much it becomes repetitive to existing viewers. I've made circa 3,500 YouTube videos now and there are only so many new car models so to keep the content flow requires repetition and only so much variation. Trust me I've tried to find people around me to help on the creative side for years but haven't managed yet.

I think the variation in content is easy, plenty of ideas that revolve around cars.
The tricky bit is keeping your specific viewer happy.
The usual suspects here thrive on hyper high end stuff, be it ownership or 'reviews' of. Once you've shown off your current crop, made a few changes, met up, done the road trip, then the ideas that satisfy the lifestyle/noisy exhaust/wrap/tint/latest shiny thing audience are slightly less.

I think Tim has proved that by dabbling with classic cars and racing....
JWW has tried watches
It sees to me 'they' would continue to grow if they focused on the life style bit... money, wealth and how that feels.

It's a massive assumption, but here on PH it seems that quite a few would prefer more 'honest' car based stuff.... different levels, types and budgets of cars, classics, maintenance, back to back comparisons, collaborations, group test reviews... rallys

These guys have their demographic and it's working...look elsewhere for the variation of film type I guess...

[anonymous-user]

I imagine the supercar voyeur market is niche, young average age, transient and not especially affluent.

If I wanted to properly monetise YT I'd either want to chase the pester power of youngsters en masse or older people with some cash, if I wanted to build a business that could become a really scaleable brand with proper value attached.

These supercar YT channels are handy for making 1 or 2 people some decent money for a while, but they're not especially valuable businesses in their own right.

[triathlonstu]

Shmee said:

I'm not going to lie and pretend the cars come from somewhere else because literally the value of my garage increases in direct correlation to my Shmee150 income...

I don't really mind how you get a hold of your cars but is the elephant in the room here not that it's primarily down to your family being fairly well off? I'm skeptical that you're YouTube income covers a garage like that.

[Beefmeister]

triathlonstu said:

Shmee said:

I'm not going to lie and pretend the cars come from somewhere else because literally the value of my garage increases in direct correlation to my Shmee150 income...

I don't really mind how you get a hold of your cars but is the elephant in the room here not that it's primarily down to your family being fairly well off? I'm skeptical that you're YouTube income covers a garage like that.

Might help if you do some research. Tim has made videos about this very subject, give them a watch and then comment.

[Butter Face]

I want to know how DannyDc2 pays for all of his ring trips and paying for his cars.

I hear his dad is the heir to a Lingerie fortune

[Ved]

triathlonstu said:

Shmee said:

I'm not going to lie and pretend the cars come from somewhere else because literally the value of my garage increases in direct correlation to my Shmee150 income...

I don't really mind how you get a hold of your cars but is the elephant in the room here not that it's primarily down to your family being fairly well off? I'm skeptical that you're YouTube income covers a garage like that.

Does it matter how he or his family earn a crust though? Everyone is in different circumstances and I find many of the YouTube channels just as interesting doing similar things with cars that cost 10x less. I found his recent videos on the Focus RS more entertaining, particularly the giddy laughter with the exhaust and map alterations, than any of the supercar videos.

How the videos are funded shouldn't be the point really, although I know it is for many. Is it entertaining, a bit of escapism, attainable in places and well produced? Mostly yes and I think that's pretty good considering it's one or two blokes doing it.

[VGTICE]

Ved said:

triathlonstu said:

Shmee said:

I'm not going to lie and pretend the cars come from somewhere else because literally the value of my garage increases in direct correlation to my Shmee150 income...

I don't really mind how you get a hold of your cars but is the elephant in the room here not that it's primarily down to your family being fairly well off? I'm skeptical that you're YouTube income covers a garage like that.

Does it matter how he or his family earn a crust though? How the videos are funded shouldn't be the point really, although I know it is for many.

Yes, it's nobody's business.
No, it does matter because it creates a situation where gullible teenagers think that they also can get onto Shmee's level of wealth by running around London chasing people in their cars and posting it on youtube. Because that's how Shmee got his money, right? RIGHT?

[DonkeyApple]

VGTICE said:

Yes, it's nobody's business.
No, it does matter because it creates a situation where gullible teenagers think that they also can get onto Shmee's level of wealth by running around London chasing people in their cars and posting it on youtube. Because that's how Shmee got his money, right? RIGHT?

st parenting is to blame in that scenario. If some plum is running around as you suggest then that is because their father is either an idiot or just crap. It's not anyone else's job to raise and educate someone else's offspring.

[VGTICE]

DonkeyApple said:

st parenting is to blame in that scenario. If some plum is running around as you suggest then that is because their father is either an idiot or just crap. It's not anyone else's job to raise and educate someone else's offspring.

Shmee, I'm not sure I'd let this slide man. He's calling your father names and that.

[SirSamuelBuca]

stopped watching the euro road trip stuff. with SOL etc just bores me.

will watch JWW stuff when hes back in uk hopefully to showcase his own cars.

Still find myself mainly watching the shmee content. Love the epic drive stuff the most.

[johnwilliams77]

SirSamuelBuca said:

stopped watching the euro road trip stuff. with SOL etc just bores me.

will watch JWW stuff when hes back in uk hopefully to showcase his own cars.

Still find myself mainly watching the shmee content. Love the epic drive stuff the most.

Same
I'm bored now of the lot of the UK crew. JWW is the only one I'll be checking out from time to time but all this fake prank etc is not for me.

[triathlonstu]

Beefmeister said:

Might help if you do some research. Tim has made videos about this very subject, give them a watch and then comment.

I'm a subscriber to Shmee, so I'd say I'm fairly up to speed. Like all these guys, they tiptoe round the subject and I think a lot of it is smoke and mirrors. Talk about 'investments' and selling on cars for a profit, trying to make out that they're self made which irks me a bit.

It wouldn't be anyone else's business if they didn't continually make incredibly vague videos about how they stumbled into owning multiple supercars off their own backs.

I'm not losing sleep over it, just an observation.

Edited by triathlonstu on Tuesday 2nd May 13:41