Damien Burns, Director of Twitch Europe: “I don’t mind if my daughter is ‘seductive'” | technology
Twitch personals are impressive. With around 140 million monthly users, it is the largest live digital content platform. Spain’s Auronplay, Rubius, Ibai and TheGregf are among the ten most followed creators out of nearly eight million content creators. Damien Burns (London, 51), general manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa of the company acquired by Amazon in 2014, was impressed by other things. For example, the roof of Madrid airport: last week when he arrived in the city, he sarcastically tweeted that in the two hours he had to wait for passport control, he could at least contemplate the architecture of Barajas. Or the fact that the coach of Spain, Luis Enrique, has set up a channel on Twitch and calls daily from Qatar. Times change, technology prevails.
Ask. How is Twitch’s health?
Answer. We are in a very good moment. During the pandemic, people were looking for connections at a time when there wasn’t any physical contact, and Twitch became the place for that. We have grown in all respects. The truth is that with the return to normal life we have not fallen: those habits persist. People have discovered passionate content creators and keep watching them.
s. And what about Twitch in Spain?
R was found. Spain has a tremendous level of creativity. I think this is the key to the growth we’ve seen in Spain: the creativity of content creators. So is their passion for what they do. There is a lot of talent. And there… how do I put it? A sense of community, not just among the largest. They get along a lot, help each other, and organize events together. And they have a huge impact in Latin America: their content crosses the ocean, something that doesn’t happen in other markets.
s. New forms of entertainment are creating a generational divide. What am I going to tell my dad to get him to join Twitch?
R was found. Well, first I’d like to ask him what he’s passionate about. Do you want a knowledgeable, engaging, and approachable person to talk to you about this topic? He will definitely say yes. And surely someone on Twitch is interested and will be staying to see it.
s. Do you own any? streamer Spanish do you like?
R was found. There are many. Of course I’m impressed by the sheer numbers of Gregg’s, eBay and others, but yesterday I was in a taxi, apologizing for my bad Spanish and talking about soccer when the guy said, “You know Luis Enrique has a Twitch channel?” And I said, “You know what I do?” (Laughter).
s. I was going to ask him. What do you think of what you do?
R was found. unbelievable. It’s the new frontier of sport: a person who coaches a national team can talk to people without going through traditional media and speaking directly to fans.
s. Wow..and where does that leave traditional media?
R was found. Well…it will give you a lot to talk about. Also, a moderator like EL PAÍS can join Twitch as well.
s. Going back to Luis Enrique, do you think you can create a school with other professionals?
R was found. Yes, in the sports environment there are more and more of them. There is Formula 1 driver Lando Norris, there is Neymar and Sergio Agüero … But Luis Enrique’s case is different: a national coach, in the middle of a World Cup … makes him accessible.
s. Ibai Llanos, al streamer Most famously in Spain, he gave up that he was going to leave Twitch and go to YouTube.
R was found. Well, as far as I know, he said something on a live show, but then I think he contradicted himself. I can’t say much more than that now, but it’s a phenomenon and it’s helped Twitch a lot. So…we’ll see what happens with him.
s. Is there a platform war? If he leaves eBay, so are they going enumerate?
R was found. Our challenge is not to compete with another platform, just to compete for people’s attention, who may be watching TV shows or something else. So we have to take care of our community, our creators: give them good tools, and take good care of them. If we keep doing this, we’ll be fine.
s. In summer many twitch They complained about changing subscriptions with the Prime model changing and subscription rates increasing. Do you understand those criticisms?
R was found. I understand that, yes, whenever there are changes in the platform, it is difficult for people to understand. Despite this, I think we’ve been very transparent, and that’s in the end streamers Affected was a very small part. But the company must adjust its economic structure and operating structure. On average, in the past five years, hourly earnings of streamer multiplied by three.
s. Do we live there bubble with influencers? Are you not afraid that some young people will stop studying or prepare for their working life? influencers?
R was found. Well, it should be obvious that when one thinks streamers Think of Ibai, but only one million out of our eight million streamers Earn money with it. It’s a pretty big number, but the vast majority do it out of passion, for the emotional reward they find in their community. You have to see how you incorporate your passion into your life, in the same way that if you play football a lot, you take time away from studying.
s. Does he have children? Do you allow them to do so influencers?
R was found. I have three, yes. The youngest is seven months old, so I don’t think … Well, the truth is that it will be amusing (laughs). My eldest daughter is 12 and… well, honestly, I wouldn’t mind if will flow For what he’s passionate about, when he’s of age, of course. At least on Twitch, where we’re trying to make it a safe site and a good community.
s. And if you are, then what will flow?
R was found. Oh football. In fact, she has appeared in a broadcaster for a friend from Tottenham. Since I’m from Arsenal, we spend a lot of time discussing.
s. We are experiencing a change of platforms. Not just on Twitch. We have YouTube Premium, Netflix with ads, paid Twitter… How do you see the future of the platforms?
R was found. I can’t speak to other companies’ monetization strategy, but it’s interesting to see how each platform tries to evolve to make money. I’m sure the next three or five years will be exciting and decisive in defining the content creator space.
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