Data is big business.
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Ask Facebook, which has transformed being in your business into a multi-billion dollar enterprise.
Looking to cash out on this trend is multi-hyphenate Issa Rae, who Variety reports has become a minority owner in L.A.-based startup Streamlytics, a streaming data, and analytics company founded by tech entrepreneur Angela Benton that aims to “democratize access to streaming media data—with a specific focus on providing data that better reflects the usage of people of color.”
“As streaming services become the standard for how people consume content and information, tools and companies like Streamlytics are necessary for transparency and consumer ownership,” Rae said in a statement. “Angela’s drive and innovative spirit is the reason why she is a pioneer in the tech space and why I’m excited to partner with her in this endeavor.”
As to how this all works, Variety explains it as such:
To compile its data, Streamlytics is building a panel of users who share their data via one of its consumer-facing products. After cleaning and enhancing that data, the company issues a data license that specifies that the user owns this new data set and Streamlytics purchases the data from them. Currently, Streamlytics is pulling data for Netflix viewing and plans to next incorporate Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and social platforms like Facebook Watch and Instagram’s IGTV, according to Benton.
“Having Issa involved as an owner is beyond exciting,” Benton, who founded the company in 2018, told Variety. “Her pioneering work as both a creator and as a businesswoman creating digital-first content that has transcended the internet-only medium aligns seamlessly with our company’s core values on ownership.”
Benton believes that streaming services and cited Nielsen research are an untapped resource for interpreting how black people consume media and empowering them to take ownership of it.
“Essentially, our focus is on providing transparency on what people are streaming, and taking consumers through the process of helping them own their data,” she said.
The company’s first consumer-facing application, Clture, does exactly that by helping consumers both monetize and control their data. Variety reports that Streamlytics will also “sell anonymized data and analytics insights to studios, TV networks, producers, agencies and creators, and plans to launch a service letting consumers access their own streaming-media data.”
It sounds like Issa and Streamlytics are on the cusp of a major power move with the potential to completely change the game in how streaming data is managed and monetized.
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