Twitch and YouTube dominate the livestreaming industry in its current state, especially where gaming is concerned. Those corporate giants laid the foundation for the medium, and it is hard to imagine what the landscape would look like without them. Streaming has already grown bigger than the platforms that currently support it, meaning new competitors will inevitably emerge in that space. The forthcoming streaming platform,Galaxis, is one potential competitor, aiming to disrupt the industry with ambitious systems that change how monetization works for streamers, and simplify the copyright problems that plague creators on YouTube andTwitch.
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Q: Could you start by introducing yourself, and telling us what you enjoy watching and playing on stream?
Max Gallardo: I’m Max Gallardo, CEO at Galaxis, and I enjoy all kinds of streams. I’m definitely a fan ofRocket League,Call of Duty,Battlefield, and stuff like that. I’ve been gaming since I was three years old, so I’m heavily involved with everything that is gaming-related.
Q: Who are some of your favorite content creators right now?
A: Well, I don’t have a favorite per se. I watch a lot of different streams. More than anything, I don’t have that much time to enjoy streams right now, so I’m not dedicated to a specific one.
Q: How would you introduce Galaxis to people who have never heard of it before?
A: I would say: ‘How would you like to make more money in less time, by having contracts with businesses, instead of donations from your followers?’
Q: What features differentiate Galaxis from YouTube and Twitch?
A lot of companies that want to get involved with streamers have to jump through a lot of hurdles. I was a Director of Marketing, so I was doing that whole process, which took like a month to get a contract with a creator. And of course, there are a lot of platforms that sort of help you do that, but they are the middle man.
So, we are switching around the business model to get rid of that middle man. The way it works is that businesses approach you directly — the channel that you own in Galaxis — and they pitch certain values to land a spot with you as a creator. This creates bidding wars, and the highest price wins. Once you strike a contract with that company, you start working according to those requirements. Let’s say they require four posts, or four videos, or four hours of content a week.
This gives the creator a lot more time to play with. Instead of having to push content out there constantly, they have more time to themselves, more time to create better content, and they also have the opportunity to line upcontracts through the end of the year. That means they know for a fact that they will make a set income, and they won’t have to stream 40 to 80 hours of content a week to keep up with the demand. As we all know, if you don’t release content or stream somewhere around 40 hours a week, minimum, you lose a lot of people looking to consume content.
Another feature from Galaxis that is very convenient is easy-to-use content copyright. It is much easier than any other platform. By using our technologies, people that own the copyright can get a portion of the profits automatically. Which means that if you don’t earn any money, you don’t have to worry, and neither does the person who owns the copyright. But if you are successful, the money is automatically taken from your earnings, which alleviates all kinds of issues. Additionally, if the copyright holder doesn’t want you using their content, they can either negotiate or block usage completely. But you don’t have to reupload the content. You can just update it andyou don’t have to worry about losing anything.
Q: Twitch is steadily branching out from its initial focus on gaming, with many popular streams featuring just chatting, cooking, and other video content. Does Galaxis have similar aspirations or will you be mostly focused on gaming?
A: I personally love gaming, and I know very well that gaming is the biggest subject out there. So, initially we will focus on gaming. However, the applications are broad. Like Twitch, it’s a platform for content and anyone who wants to create content.
Q: You touched on the work requirements for streaming, and recently, several established streamers, like Pokimane, have been taking extended breaks from streaming due to mental health and creative burnout. What do you think are some contributing factors?
A: This is the equation that results from the current situation. The more content you put out there, the more chances you have to make money. Therefore, everybody is trying to put out content, even though it is not necessarily the best quality content. The more content there is though, the thinner the ad dollars are stretched. Everybody is rushing for the same metro gate, struggling to make it through that tiny hole. It’s really hard for everybody to make it at once, because they are competing with each other and knocking each other out of the ring. The reason for that is the current business model set up by Twitch and YouTube.
Doing things the Galaxis way, you get to relax a lot more, have more time to create quality content, and don’t have to rush. You don’t have constantly game and get burnt out — which is really bad. The more stressed out you get, the less energy you have, and you end up losing money. So Galaxis relieves the stress of this career. It allows people to maintain that energy on stream. You have to ask, “Do I want to be out there all the time, attempt to grab as many dollars as possible, whilerisking my mental health and the decline of my channel,” or “Do I want to just do what I can, and deal with making just enough money to get by.” They really put you between the sword and the wall.
Q: Streaming communities range from very wholesome to severely toxic. Does Galaxis have a game plan for helping content creators moderate negative behavior like harassment?
A: Yes. First of all, in our platform, you own the channel. It’s like a dotcom. You can put anything that you want on it. Like, you can set up your own forum. You can put in a radio stream, like a podcast. There are lots of ways to customize it.
The way the moderation works, is that the channel owner is responsible for the behavior and the content of the community in that channel. It’s like a gamification system. If the community doesn’t like your content, they will rate you down, which limits your ability to get more advertising. Negative actions won’t kill your channel completely, but they will limit your opportunities. And if you do well, it becomes easier.
Now if there isnegative behavior in your community, that will also affect your channel rating. So, you have to moderate your own channel. That means that if there are people who are trolling, you can add a troll point to that user. That does not mean immediate action will be taken, however, if the entire community also votes that person to be a troll, the channel moderator can choose whether to take action. Or, if a person receives enough troll points, they can automatically be banned, or something like that.
Q: So, both the channel owner and other members of the community can give users troll points?
A: Yes, exactly.
Q: How will Galaxis handle risque and gray area content like hot tub streams? Do you have content guidelines for what is permissible on a channel?
A: When you get pornographic orsemi-pornographic contentin the channel, the system automatically stops helping you get advertising. The system is a marketplace, showing all available channels in a listing. If you have nudity points on your channel, you have much lower chances of going up in that listing. If you don’t care about making money, you can keep getting nudity points, but other channels will run you over. It’s your choice.
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Q: Account banning, or failure to ban accounts seem to stir up controversies increasingly often at YouTube and Twitch. Any thoughts or comments on how these platforms ban or don’t ban channels?
A: First of all, I think that anybody who makes a mistake can correct it. I thinkbanning a channel is a mistake. As a corporation, you make people very mad at you. It’s kind of like having a child, and if that child makes a mistake, and you say ‘F### you, child! I’m not going to be your parent anymore.’ It makes no sense.
So, what we do in Galaxis is this: first of all, we have the rating system. If a channel’s rating gets a negative rating, you start to lose features. The worse it gets, the less people can interact on your channel, until it doesn’t show up anymore. If you keep making mistakes like that — something with extreme violence or porn — Galaxis will give you a temporary ban. But it won’t delete your channel.
People can create multiple channels under one account. You could make a channel called “Disney,” and if you violate community standards, the “Disney” channel will get temporarily banned. But if you make another channel that doesn’t break the rules under the same account, that channel will be fine. Butif you get three channels banned, you get a year-long suspension.
So Galaxis gives you a chance to correct your mistakes, and an opportunity to think things over. Because people who repeatedly make mistakes like that are sometimes dealing with psychological issues of some kind. So, taking a year off seems like a healthy and responsible thing to do.
Q: Broadcasting copyrighted music on stream has been a major problem for streamers, especially when accompanied by bulk content strike violations. How will Galaxis approach this problem?
A: Lawyers convince everybody — through the legal system in the United States — that copyrights are the way to go. And in many cases, that is true.The copyright owners want to make money off their copyright, which makes total sense. But if you charge $7000 for someone to use a song, it makes it really hard for people to listen to that song. And artists created that song because they want people to listen to it. But they also love music and want people to listen to it. The complication happens when the lawyer comes in and says “you need to get paid for your song,” and the musician agrees and defers to the system.
But let’s say you listen to a song in your own house. Like, you throw a party and play music from YouTube. Does the musician care? No. Those parties are the same thing as content creators who do not monetize their content. Lawyers usually only go after people who are making a lot of money. And thoselawyers have made a complicated systemthat makes it difficult to keep things fair for musicians, platforms, and creators.
Galaxis actually allows musicians to monetize their content a lot more effectively than our current standard. Rather than charging 2-3 people $7000 to play your song, you can allow ten thousands of creators who want to play your song for just $100, for example. And you end up making a lot more money that way.
Q: Stream sniping and other chat-assisted-cheating has recently become an issue in competitive play on streaming services. Any thoughts on how this issue could be ameliorated?
A: Could you elaborate a little bit more?
Q: Sure! Say a tournament is being streamed live, and fans watching competitors’ streams attempt to tip off the streamer they want to win by giving away the positions of other players.
A: I don’t see a way that Galaxis can stop that. You would have toblock the spy from delivering their information, and I feel like this is impossible — at least at a platform level. Honestly, I’m thinking through a hundred different situations in my head right now, and I don’t see a solution.
Q: What qualities do you think are required for a successful streamer, and what features can streaming and vlogging services provide to better support them?
A: There’s a bunch. First of all, you may have jobs and companies in Galaxis. That means there are many opportunities to make money in Galaxis, not just as a streamer, but as a moderator, or a writer, or a photographer — there are virtually endless jobs, because it has an integrated freelance platform. You can assign people parts of a channel, or roles to perform in a channel, which helps creators collaborate with people who have different skills.
Galaxis also has integrated e-commerce. Which means that if you have people purchasing things through you, you’re able to make a commission with companies you are advertising. The goal is to help people and companies make a lot more money than the current model.
I don’t know if you know this, but the conversion rate from Facebook, Twitch, YouTube is very, very low. And there are two main reasons for that. A) there is a lot of content competing on those platforms, and B) the process to make a purchase is very complicated. You have to go to another website, make an account, input your payment info, and so on. It takes forever. It’s not exciting. If somebody shows you something you find compelling, you should be able to buy it immediately. In Galaxis, you can buy something on the spot. You see a picture, you click on the item, and it’s in your cart.
Here’s one example: a streamerpromotes a drink at Starbucks. You buy that drink using your Galaxis wallet, the streamer gets credit, and then you show your Galaxis wallet to Starbucks and get your drink.
Q: Can you give us an overview of your plans for Galaxis launch?
A: We are trying to launch in Q1 of 2022, however we need one more round of funding, and we are struggling to find it. It’s ultimately a matter of finding the right investor. The platform is already 100% designed. We just don’t have the funding to plug it online and run the servers to make it work.
Q: Is there anything else you would like readers to know?
A: I would like them to follow and support Galaxis, especially if they believe thatstreamers deserve to be paid better, or feel that other aspects of our current system are too hard or unfair. If you want to make more money and have a better community, I welcome you to support Galaxis.
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