How Revenue Distribution Works

Every dollar you earn comes directly from paid subscribers watching your videos.

The 75/25 Split

When a subscriber pays for a plan, 75% goes to creators and 25% is Buddian's commission. The 75% enters the subscriber's distribution budget — a pool of money they distribute to creators by watching videos.

$14.99/month → $3.75 commission → $11.24 distribution budget
$59.99/6 months → $15.00 commission → $44.99 distribution budget
$99.99/year → $25.00 commission → $74.99 distribution budget

Daily Distribution

Each day a subscriber watches videos, their daily distribution amount is calculated:

daily_distribution = remaining_budget ÷ remaining_days_in_subscription

per_video_earning = daily_distribution ÷ videos_watched_today

The money is spread evenly across all videos they watch that day. The more days they watch, the more creators benefit. The fewer days, the more concentrated the earnings.

Worked Examples

Example 1: First day, watches 10 videos

A user subscribes for 6 months ($59.99). Their distribution budget is $44.99.

Remaining budget	$44.99
Remaining days	183
Daily distribution	$44.99 ÷ 183 = $0.246
Videos watched	10
Each video earns	$0.025
Budget remaining	$44.74

Example 2: Last day, watches 10 videos

Same user on their final day. Remaining budget: $44.74, remaining days: 1.

Daily distribution	$44.74 ÷ 1 = $44.74
Videos watched	10
Each video earns	$4.47

If the user doesn't watch anything on their last day, the money carries to the next day they do watch.

Example 3: Subscription renewal

If a user renews before their budget is exhausted, the remaining budget carries over and is added to the new subscription's budget. The user's total distributable wealth grows.

Rules & Protections

Only paid subscribers count — Free browsing generates no earnings for creators.
One view per video per day — Watching the same video 10 times in a day counts as one view.
Creators don't earn from themselves — Watching your own video generates no earnings.
Budget is capped — Total distributed can never exceed the subscription's distribution budget. This is enforced at the database level.
Top-ups don't participate — Extra generation seconds purchased separately do not contribute to the distribution pool.

Sanity Checks

The system enforces two invariants at all times:

Global: Total money distributed to all creators < Total money paid by all subscribers × 75%
Per-user: Money distributed by any single viewer < Their subscription price × 75%

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