The business of Baby Shark – how Pinkfong makes money from the video

Baby Shark’s meteoric rise to fame leaves one wondering how Pinkfong, the company behind the hit YouTube video, makes money from it? The song is the first of its kind to surpass 10 billion views, and the business of Baby Shark has become a topic of much intrigue and debate.

Amidst the overwhelming success of the video, Pinkfong has navigated an intricate web of monetizing strategies. Let’s explore some ways the company has been able to capitalise on the Baby Shark craze.

Baby Shark is the first YouTube video to surpass 10 billion views

The global success of “Baby Shark” by South Korean kid’s entertainment company Pinkfong has been remarkable. Released in November 2015, the animated music video went viral, quickly reaching over 3 billion views on YouTube, becoming the first video on the platform to pass such a milestone.

Today, “Baby Shark” is one of the most viewed YouTube videos in history with over 10 billion views and counting. This has made it one of the biggest hits of this generation, across all media platforms and genres. But how did “Baby Shark” achieve such massive success?

Breaking it down into a few simple elements, this popular children’s song has catchy vocals paired with an appealing, engaging, easily memorable visual narrative. Pinkfong’s artists employ techniques like melodic variation and repetition that are fun for young audiences to sing along to. For example, whenever viewers encounter nursery rhymes or cartoon melodies with quirky words or sounds that kids tend to find intriguing.

The music video itself is also incredibly watchable for both parents and their children with an exciting story behind it featuring five different aquatic animals singing together about their underwater adventures – from Baby Shark himself (pinkfong) to daddy shark (dadarapa) , mummy shark (duraduda), grandpa shark (nananana) and grandma shark (meomeo). There are also educational and entertaining aspects making up Baby Shark’s content – uncovering basic facts about marine life that young viewers can learn through an enjoyable singing exercise plus fun action clips accompanying each character represented in the song such as swimming, diving and chasing bubbles.

History of the video

The “Baby Shark” video is a popular animation by South Korean production company Pinkfong. It first debuted in 2016 and has since become a global phenomenon after its appearance on YouTube, where it quickly gained followers and viewers. The song was initially released on their Baby Shark album in November 2015, but it wasn’t until two years later it started raking up millions of views when the public domain sound track of the song was uploaded to YouTube.

Today, the “Baby Shark” video is officially the first YouTube video to surpass 10 billion views. The song has also been adopted as an anthem for children worldwide. In addition, many parents profess their love for the catchy tune via social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram.

In addition to its success on YouTube, “Baby Shark” has spawned other offshoot products such as clothing, toys, books and more recently an animated TV series developed by Pinkfong which premiered in mid-2019. This ongoing online and offline success demonstrates Pinkfong’s impressive business understanding when monetizing content they create or licence out through a range of different endpoints.

The Business Model

With the rise of streaming platforms, it’s no surprise that the catchy Baby Shark song has become a worldwide phenomenon. It’s the first YouTube video to surpass 10 billion views and Pinkfong’s most popular song. But what does it take to build a successful business model when creating a hit like Baby Shark?

In this article, we’ll discuss the business model behind the hit song and how Pinkfong utilises it to generate money.

Merchandising

Though the Baby Shark video has received a staggering amount of views and garnered a large, dedicated fan base, it would be difficult to monetize the viewership alone. So instead, Pinkfong sought to monetize their success through merchandising baby shark-themed products. These include toys, clothing and accessories, stationery, tableware and even sing-along books.

These products tap into the enormous fan base the 90-second song has gathered over the years. The ubiquity of the Baby Shark merchandise in most markets hint at how well Pinkfong has been able to capitalise on its success with this classic video.

The stationary line includes Baby Shark themed diaries, calendars and notebooks so children can take every moment for fun learning. The toys line includes pool floats, plush dolls, figurines and educational activity sets that will turn a child’s ordinary day into an adventure filled with singing and laughter just as featured in the videos!

The clothing line also features cute fun t-shirts with matching caps so young fans can dress up as their favourite shark family character! Merchandising strategies such as these enable Pinkfong to continue benefiting from its multi-media based offerings associated with Baby Shark video even after it surpassed 10 billion views on YouTube.

Licensing

One way that Pinkfong makes money from the Baby Shark video is through licensing. The company owns the worldwide rights to Baby Shark, allowing them to licence a range of products and services based on the song and its characters. Pinkfong has licensed items such as apparel, toys, books, and an animated TV series in multiple countries. They also offer exclusive official licensing deals with parties such as Walmart and Amazon.

Licensing deals are valuable because they not only bring in additional revenue but also help increase brand recognition by putting Baby Shark products into the hands of consumers worldwide. This helps drive further attention and interest in their content, leading to even greater financial and commercial success.

Live shows

Live shows are a key component of Pinkfong’s business model. So when Baby Shark took off, Pinkfong quickly capitalised on the opportunity and began holding live shows worldwide.

Pinkfong’s live shows feature appearances by family members singing and dancing to the song. They have performed everywhere from France to Singapore and venues closer to home such as Jamsil Stadium in South Korea and Universal Studios Hollywood in California. Tickets for these events are typically sold online, along with merchandise like t-shirts, books, plush toys and soundtracks. According to reports, ticket prices range from around $20 to $50 per person or “family pack” discounts for groups of four or more. Additional fees for VIP access or souvenirs purchased after the show also exist.

Live shows provide a great outlet for families to come together and experience Baby Shark firsthand, bringing new life into the song at every performance – creating lasting memories that keep fans coming back for more! In addition to increasing revenue directly from ticket sales, Pinkfong has benefited through increased viewership of their videos and other promotional activities associated with touring musical acts residing around the world who now know about “Baby Shark” thanks to Pinkfong’s highly successful live shows.

TV shows

The success of the ‘Baby Shark’ song enabled Pinkfong to create a whole world around it, with the launch in 2019 of TV shows and music albums.

The series ‘Pinkfong & Baby Shark’s Space Adventure’ launched on Netflix, and an animated series called ‘The Pinkfong Wonderstar’ aired on the Korean linear Kids’ channel, KBS (Korean Broadcasting System). Both programs are aimed at children and have been very successful – the songs from both series have been streamed millions of times.

The company continues to look for more ways to expand its portfolio, including books and live shows.

Revenue Streams

The success of ‘Baby Shark’ is an incredible milestone in entertainment. But how is money being made from this video? Being the first YouTube video to surpass 10 billion views, it has become a major money-making enterprise. But what are the different revenue streams associated with the video?

Let’s explore each of those revenue streams in this article.

YouTube Advertising

YouTube advertising has been a major revenue stream for Pinkfong since the release of the “Baby Shark” video. By allowing their videos to be viewed on YouTube and utilising monetization options provided by the platform, Pinkfong can generate revenue from each view of the “Baby Shark” video.

Ads appearing before, during or after a YouTube video are known as “pre-rolls” and are typically 15 or 30 seconds long. These ads can target viewers based on their activity and preferences; thus helping ensure that brands reach intended audiences. This form of advertising allows Pinkfong to generate revenue every time someone views their videos on YouTube. In addition to pre-rolls, other forms of advertising can also appear in certain videos, such as overlays and banners ads.

Though the exact amount made per view is not publicly available it is clear that the posting of “Baby Shark” on Youtube has been lucrative for Pinkfong due to its record breaking popularity.

Streaming services

With the staggering success of “Baby Shark,” Pinkfong has been able to tap into various revenue streams, particularly through streaming services. The combination of streaming music and video has become a major source of profit for many musicians, which is true for Pinkfong.

The song and video have been uploaded to several streaming platforms, such as Spotify, iTunes, Deezer, and YouTube Music. Each platform pays royalties when viewers watch or listen to the song. Similarly, other audio platforms such as Pandora and iHeartRadio offer steady revenue streams for performers.

On top of this, Pinkfong can monetize their video on YouTube thanks to its ad-sharing agreement with the platform. As “Baby Shark” continues to rack up millions upon millions of views each day on YouTube alone, Pinkfong looks set to reap rewards from this particular revenue stream for some time.

International markets

Since its launch, Baby Shark has become a worldwide phenomenon and has translated into multiple revenue streams. International markets have particularly been lucrative for Pinkfong, with the company now licensing the Baby Shark IP to merchandise manufacturers, TV broadcasters and digital companies in over 120 countries globally.

The success of Baby Shark in overseas markets can be attributed to its adaptability—the song being produced in local languages and media outlets featuring unique versions of the song or dance routine. Such strategies have enabled Pinkfong to cross cultural boundaries and appeal to broader audiences across many countries.

In addition, international events such as Baby Shark world tours have provided a further platform for sharing the content and building brand awareness outside its core consumer base. Through these tours performances by Pinkfong such as ‘Baby Shark Live’ have attracted hundreds of thousands of attendees across various cities in Southeast Asia, Canada, Mexico, U.S., Australia and Europe over 2019-2020.

Apart from domestic market’s success, this rapid expansion into global markets was thought to be one of the primary reasons Baby Shark became YouTube’s first ever video to surpass 10 billion views.

Challenges

Despite its worldwide success, there are several challenges the Pinkfong team has faced in its business of Baby Shark. From trademark and copyright disputes to Youtube’s algorithm changes, Pinkfong has had to fight for its place in the ever-changing digital realm.

In this section, let’s examine the challenges the Pinkfong team has faced in their business of Baby Shark.

Piracy

Piracy has been an endemic challenge for Pinkfong for several years. With so much revenue generated from the Baby Shark video, widespread counterfeiting and the inappropriate use of their content on other platforms is unsurprisingly a major issue.

Pinkfong works closely with YouTube to identify and downrank illegal content using their characters and audio without permission. They also actively monitor any websites or videos that might be using their IP without their knowledge, ensuring they can take legal action where necessary. Through tokenisation they have also been able to control and protect their own digital music distribution channel, to prevent unauthorised third-party resale of the song.

In addition.

Competition

The competitive landscape for Baby Shark and Pinkfong has only grown more crowded since the video became a worldwide phenomenon.

Despite its massive success, numerous competitors have sought to capitalise on Baby Shark’s popularity — mostly in the form of other YouTube content. So from parody videos to covers, there is plenty of competition for Pinkfong at any given moment.

In addition, the merchandise market has become highly saturated with other products. A wide variety of clothing, room decor and toys are already available that feature “Baby Shark” or similar characters — making it difficult for Pinkfong to stand out from the rest of the competition and draw in customers.

At times, even well-known brands have jumped on the “Baby Shark” train — such as Samsung creating their version featuring popular characters from their animated series Galaxy Squad Earthlings. These high-profile collaborations make it even more difficult for Pinkfong to establish themselves as the definitive “authority” on Baby Shark content and merchandise.