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The Economics of a YouTube White Noise Video

2025-12-12 · announcement · Hank · 5:56 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Projects (also: Internet & YouTube, Global development) · mode: Announcements · tags: self promotion, community lore

Hank shows John the YouTube analytics of his charity white-noise video (547,000 views, over $10,000 for Partners In Health, mostly from YouTube Premium), asks viewers not to loop such videos just to make money, and launches Zonderia, a charity white-noise and sleep channel, as the Z project John's A-to-Z video called for.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Why Hank uses white-noise videos and his idea to donate a white-noise video's revenue to Partners In Health

  • ★★ Eight months ago Hank uploaded a white noise video; he uses YouTube white-noise videos to concentrate or to occupy parts of his mind that would wander. — 00:00:00 · YouTube

00:00:29 — The White Noise for Charity analytics: views, revenue, YouTube Premium versus ad revenue

  • ★★ Hank recalls his idea: donate any money the white-noise video made, from its first ad or YouTube Premium watch time, to Partners In Health, which he knows does a lot of good work. — 00:00:29 · Partners In Health, YouTube
  • ★★ Hank says the White Noise for Charity video has 547,000 views, good especially since it started below average. — 00:00:29 · YouTube
  • ★★ A normal 12-hour video would earn a lot from ad placements, but Hank excluded mid-rolls, which would defeat the purpose; the video only starts with one ad. — 00:00:58 · online advertising
  • ★★ Hank explains that YouTube Premium money, after a share goes to record labels, is split between YouTube channels by watch time. — 00:01:27 · YouTube
  • ★★★ Hank says the analytics show the video has raised over $10,000 for Partners In Health since upload. — 00:01:27 · Partners In Health
  • ★★ Although the summary credits watch-page ads, the breakdown shows about $8,800 came from YouTube Premium and only $1,300 from ads, the far smaller piece. — 00:01:27 · online advertising, YouTube
  • ★★ Early on ad and Premium revenue were closer because subscribers clicked the video after his announcement just to see it, got an ad and clicked away; the gap then widened. — 00:01:56

00:02:26 — About $1,000 a month; don't loop videos for money; capture white-noise listeners for good

  • ★★ Discounting the unfinished current month, Hank says the video fairly consistently makes about $1,000 a month. — 00:02:26
  • ★★★ Hank asks viewers not to let these videos play in the background just to generate money: it is a silly use of resources and distorts how their Premium revenue is distributed. — 00:02:26
  • ★★★ Hank wants to move people already listening to white-noise videos or sleepy-time podcasts to a new place, capturing part of YouTube's white-noise market for making the world better. — 00:02:55 · YouTube
  • ★★ Hank says he doesn't know if this will work, and maybe it won't. (unsure) — 00:02:55

00:03:24 — Launch of Zonderia, its sounds and Mendeleev sleepy-time podcast, prompted by John's A to Z

  • ★★★ Hank introduces Zonderia, a YouTube channel he created this week (week of 8 December 2025), with the tagline 'Make the world better while you sleep'. — 00:03:24 · YouTube

    “Make the world better while you sleep”

  • ★★ Zonderia offers pink noise, brown noise, 10 hours of binaural study sounds and a sleepy-time podcast Hank recorded. — 00:03:24

  • ★★ The sleepy-time podcast is an audio-only 20 minutes on the life of Dmitri Mendeleev. — 00:03:53
  • ★★★ Zonderia is not yet monetized and needs views first; once monetized, all of its revenue will be donated to charity. — 00:03:53
  • ★★★ Hank tells John the project came together quickly because John's A to Z of Hank projects had no Z, so it was a good time to push out an idea he had long had in mind. — 00:03:53 · John Green
  • ★ As he speaks, Hank is exporting a recording of an industrial air handler because he liked the noise. — 00:04:22
  • ★★ Hank says all the videos are quality controlled with ramp in and long ramp outs, since white noise stopping abruptly can be very distracting. — 00:04:22
  • ★ Hank tried to make the Mendeleev episode as relaxed and boring as possible, though Mendeleev is so exciting it may keep listeners awake. (playful) — 00:04:22
  • ★★ Hank says orders placed now from Good Store or DFTBA.com will probably, though not guaranteed, arrive by Christmas or the end of Hanukkah. (hedged) — 00:04:54 · Good Store, DFTBA Records, Christmas

00:05:23 — Holiday shipping from Good Store and DFTBA, the comedy special on Hank's channel, sign-off

  • ★★ Hank thanks Dropout for agreeing to his contract term letting him release his special on YouTube after a year of Dropout exclusivity. — 00:05:23 · YouTube
  • ★★★ With the year passed, Hank uploaded his special Pissing Out Cancer to Hank's channel yesterday (11 December 2025). — 00:05:23 · hankschannel
  • ★ Hank mock-scolds himself for mentioning the special, since Zonderia is the story of the moment. (playful) — 00:05:23

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Partners In Health · white noise · YouTube Red · Zonderia

Also: People: Dmitri Mendeleev

Projects: DFTBA Records · Good Store · hankschannel

Works: Hank Green's stand-up comedy special on Dropout

Organizations: YouTube

Concepts: Brownian noise · online advertising · pink noise

Events: Christmas · Hanukkah

Products: Super Chat

Only in the description or credits: Dropout

Also centred on white noise: Is This a Million Dollar Idea?

Also centred on YouTube Red: Understanding YouTube Red: Paid Subscriptions and the Future of Online Video

Also centred on Zonderia: John Green's Brother

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