Demand Studios Produces Millions of Articles, Thousands of Poor Writers

In today’s Media Equation column in the New York Times, David Carr tackles Demand Studios, the content creation behemoth behind sites like eHow, Livestrong, and a hefty chunk of the videos on YouTube. They are a new breed of media company, a self-identified “Social Publishing Ecosystem for leading digital brands.” And they’re swiftly dominating the Internet; in the 5 days it took Carr to write his article, Demand produced 20,000 new pieces.

The only problem? Demand don’t pay so well. And baby’s gotta eat.

Founded in 2006 with $335 million in backing, Demand raked in nearly $200 million in revenue last year. The company’s estimated valuation is $1-$2 billion. They expect each of their 7,000 freelancers to be professional, talented and knowledgeable. But they pay a measely $15-$20 per article. Copy editors receive a whopping $3.50.

Erik Sherman, a freelancer whose work has appeared in places like the New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, Fortune, and the Financial Times, calls the firm an “intellectual sweat shop,” that takes advantage of out-of-work and inexperienced writers, offering them stability and exposure that, in reality, hampers their career:

“Unlimited work doesn’t exist,” Sherman writes, “because people have limited time. Better to do one piece well than to rush through and do crap jobs on ten pieces for the same amount. You have more time to think, to market, to live. And, to avoid the anticipated argument, getting $300 for a single article is still chicken feed.”

Demand argues that its writers enjoy stability, exposure and, with a database of nearly 150,000 assignments, unlimited work. You can watch Executive VP Stephen Kydd, pleads their case here. But the Demand freelancers in Carr’s article don’t seem to agree:

“The pay part is difficult,” says Andria Krewson, a journalist with 27 years experience. “But right now the price of a lot of what we do seems to be free.”

“I’m torn because they make a pretty good business out of what we do and pay us not much,” says Heather Mayer, 22 and an unpaid intern at Glamour.

“This is as close as a safety net as anyone gets in this business,” says Dmitri LaBarge, a 41-year-old videographer. Even Kydd admits that “the people who work with us are thrilled because there is such a lack of opportunity everywhere else.”

Some might call that called exploitation, Mr. Kydd.

By altering the supply-demand ratio and emphasizing quantity over quality, Demand aggravates conditions that make it acceptable to offer freelancers $.0089 per article. or for Time to pay $30 bucks for a cover photo. If you haven’t seen sci-fi icon Harlan Ellison rant on the subject, you should. He, evidently, “doesn’t take a piss without getting paid for it,” and believes other writers should expect the same.

Ever the upstanding journalist, Carr adopts a more unbiased approach towards Demand. But he did end with this subtle jab:

“Compensation and confusion aside, you can’t doubt Demand’s relevance,” Carr writes. “The company’s article “How to Throw a Super Bowl Party,” was big all week. The secret: “Buy several six-packs of beer. Keep the beer in a cooler close by so you don’t have to run to the fridge when it’s third and inches. Restock the cooler at halftime”…You can’t put a price on that kind of advice.”

Snap. Nice one, Carr.