Livestream viewership is at an all-time high, as people turn to the internet for entertainment and escapism in an era characterised by boredom and stress. Now, we see the emergence of a new kind of streaming mogul- the sleep streamer.
The trend, while not new, has seen a considerable uptick in popularity over the last year or so. Sleep streamers are taking to platforms in a variety of ways, with content ranging from interactive, prank-based streams, to completely silent overnight streams.
And, like all forms of livestreaming right now, it is proving to be extremely lucrative for all of those involved.
In an interview with Vice, sleep-streaming frontrunner Super Mainstream revealed he makes an average of over $3,000 over the course of his weekly 6-hour prank stream.
Super Mainstream’s sleep livestreams are all documented on his Youtube channel, so if you ever feel like seeing just what that looks like in practice:
As for the motivations behind such content, Super Mainstream stated:
“I do mine on a Saturday night because that’s when people would be out buying drinks, having fun doing their thing. My role is Saturday night entertainment.”
This popularity is not exclusive to the sleep streaming niche, with all areas of online entertainment seeing a similar swell of growth.
Streaming is set to become one of the biggest entertainment industries, should its astronomical growth continue at the same rate. Due, in part, to the accessibility of the medium and the negligible manpower necessary to get a stream on the air, it’s become a particularly prevalent form of entertainment during the pandemic.
It is predicted that by 2027, the live-streaming industry will be worth over $180 billion, and in less than a year will account for 17% of all total internet traffic.
The moral of the story? If there’s something you enjoy, there’s an audience out there who wants to see you do it- even if it’s just trying to get to sleep.
