I'll be paying for a /DRIVE subscription and why you should too.

"kyldare" (kyldare)
07/30/2014 at 18:18 • Filed to: drive

Well, here it is - the tipping point for automotive enthusiasts online.

The great experiment in providing high-quality automotive video content for free appears to have failed. Advertising dollars alone can't support the kind of content that a group of niche consumers now demand. Refusing to pay for a /DRIVE subscription on principle makes you complicit in the eventual death of our beloved network. I'll be paying for a /DRIVE subscription to keep the channel alive. You should too.

First off, I felt compelled to pen this opinion piece because the stakes are high. Many of my favorite automotive magazines !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! by online sites that can provide breaking news and great reviews faster and without up-front costs to the user. But now that production costs for great content are outstripping even the mighty advertising dollar, something has to give. Users will have to pay via subscription and advertising to maintain the type of high-quality content they've now come to enjoy. The best online content is now moving to a pay model it once destroyed. Ironic, right?

I remember when /DRIVE first got running. Like most of the people reading Jalopnik religiously, I was one of the first to subscribe to the /DRIVE network. At its outset, /DRIVE's quality was low, the editing poor and many of the hosts were having trouble finding a voice. But underneath all the awkward pauses and editing snafus, /DRIVE's shape was taking hold. Enthusiasts like myself got the idea that this content was made for them - and even yearned for more - despite the rough edges.

And my oh my, how far the network has come. What started as the mousy girl-next-door has become a blonde bombshell. We've gone from !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to a freaking special on NBCSN before an F1 race.

But it wasn't just the show's talent and producers that effected this great metamorphosis from caterpillar to tire-shredding butterfly - it was you, dear viewer. You provided your comments, your clicks, your enthusiasm and your time to help the network grow from a dimly-lit office to what it is today (epic productions from a slightly less dimly-lit office).

Now it's time to go the extra mile to maintain what you've helped build.

I've seen the bitching online. "$3.99! That's nearly half of a Netflix subscription! And I can't even watch J.F. cook blue meth! Or watch Spinelli in an orange prison jumpsuit," they say.

And therein lies the great paradox with content across all mediums these days - people want top-notch content for free and they'll be damned if they have to sit through an ad to get it, let alone pay for it.

But that has to change for /DRIVE and other high-quality automotive outlets to survive.

The premise is largely irrational to you penny counters, but spending $3.99 a month gets you so much more than exclusive video content. That money gives you another opportunity (following the creation of /DRIVE itself) to build something great for the future. Your measly $4 per month lets you patronize fellow gearheads that create content for you: the enthusiast. They create content for us.

In closing; real enthusiasts - the kind that watch /DRIVE and read Jalopnik - are the kinds of people who will skip lunch to get another gallon of gas in the tank. They'll forego family events to AutoX on Sunday morning. They'll use tuition money to buy one last set of track tires for their Miata. This is one of those times. For the cost of one cup of shitty Starbucks coffee each month, you could enjoy the finest enthusiast video content online and help steer an entire industry in the right direction.

$4 a month is nothing but a footnote in 99% of Jalops' monthly expenditures. Just do it. For the future. For smoky burnouts in a muscle car. For mile-long drifts in exotics. For corner carving in homemade abominations. For the best damned car videos online.

(But mostly so Spinelli can finally afford a haircut).

This is the tipping point for us enthusiasts. Don't fuck it up.

Note to editors: I couldn't add any photos as they failed to upload. Feel free to throw some in.

DISCUSSION (11)

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > kyldare
07/30/2014 at 18:23

Nah. Ill wait till its posted online. I thought their stuff was great when it was free. If they want money to watch them do this ill just find something else to watch.

Crest > kyldare
07/30/2014 at 18:23

Eh, i'll pass

Battery Tender Unnecessary > kyldare
07/30/2014 at 18:26

Tempted to buy it for my other youtube account just to support the guys. I would have paid more than $39.99/year...less than a single console/PC game.

nippon > kyldare
07/30/2014 at 18:28

This is the tipping point for us enthusiasts. Don't fuck it up.

While i'm okay with the price and paying for premium content(epic content like that), they are the ones that fucked up. Not all Jalops/car guys live in the states(or UK), and thanks to Google or Drive(or both as it seems they both fucked up) Drive+ isn't available in my country. Something that a lot of people will be getting.
Seems to me that J.F forgot that not everyone lives in the states the moment they started doing the NBC thing.

dogisbadob > kyldare
07/30/2014 at 18:29

I'd love to see Spinelli in a jumpsuit, JF cooking blue meth, and Chris Harris talking about moths.

No really, though. There are three problems, one of which is the fee. The second problem is that I'm not giving my credit card info to Google. Finally, many countries can't even pay even if they *wanted* to (doesn't apply to me, but it does apply to Germany land of the autobahns and Nurburgring, and also China the world's largest car market).

There are many price tiers, but they chose the highest. Had they selected $2.49 per month/$25 a year, you can buy a Visa gift card so that you don't have to give Google your real info.

Hopefully the pay subscriptions won't hurt them more than it will help them, which is what I'm suspecting. The substantial drop in views plus the country restrictions.

How much of the money do they actually receive? For example, Google takes about half of ad revenue. (if they cut their share to 20%, and let the channels keep 80%, that would be a LOT better, and Google is still loaded as fuck)

Yeah there's ONE $40 fee for now. But what if all the other channels decided to do the same? Multiply that shit by 5, or 10.

shinsen > dogisbadob
07/30/2014 at 18:39

Instead of Mike spinelli, JF and Matt Farah making people feel like We (the loyal fans from the beginning) have to pay for something we should want, Drive and the crew should make people want to pay to get what they want...the last 4 months without consulting the fans or subscribers about ANY of our input or ideas about it?

I'm sorry but I don't agree with the "hey we're back, by the way if you want to see new videos, pay us money to see it starting right NOW!"

The "one price fits all membership" is flawed...especially for car enthusiasts who work hard to just provide enough money to get by..

shinsen > TheD0k_2many toys 2little time
07/30/2014 at 18:44

agreed, willy wonka!

shinsen > nippon
07/30/2014 at 18:48

uhh, yeah they didn't really do anything to remedy that...why should it be up to the loyal fans to jump through hoops for it...c'mon.

Christopher Keach > kyldare
07/30/2014 at 19:28

I'm not sure if $4/month for Drive is worth it to me since I only watch Chris Harris' videos, but I agree that in general it's important to find ways to support the creative people whose work you enjoy. So much of the web is a matter of quantity over quality, and quality content is worth paying for.

p.s. It's unfair to compare any content provider to Netflix because Netflix is a screaming deal (until you run out of things you really want to watch).

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > kyldare
07/30/2014 at 20:34

Yes. Thank you. And all for just about a gallon of gas per month!

Philbert/Phartnagle > kyldare
07/31/2014 at 03:40

I bet there are a lot of guys like me who just cannot afford another expense, especially if it's just for entertainment. The next thing you know others will follow suit and everything we used to watch for free will have a price tag attached to it, which I will not support or encourage. I won't be subscribing, but I hope it works out for them if that's what they want to do, Goodbye /Drive.