Make Money with Your Drone: Skytango, Aerial Video Marketplace

For plenty of pilots new to the game, making money from your drone seems like a pipedream. But with the FAA’s commercial regulations now firmly in place and many countries around the world following suit and relaxing drone laws (apart from Sweden), turning your hobby into a profession is suddenly a genuine possibility. Now there’s a marketplace where aerial photography can be bought, sold, ordered and stored: Skytango.

There’s no denying that more and more news outlets and media organizations are looking to drone photography to spice up their footage. Skytango is the marketplace that’s been set up to facilitate the transaction between media buyer and pilot. The platform has been built with the support of BBC News and Audio Network, and offers a range of features that look like they’ll be beneficial to both drone operators and organizations buying drone services and aerial footage.

While the ultimate aim is for commercial buyers to enter the marketplace and buy drone footage, how that all happens is pretty flexible. They can post jobs, browse through operators by location, request bids on a project, or book an operator they like the look of. The payment to the pilot is made through Skytango’s secure system once the video has been downloaded.

But what will  probably be most appealing to pilots will be the stock library that SkyTango is building. Within it, drone operators can curate and sell their footage, receive bid requests for bespoke jobs, or just get hired. Media buyers and pilots keep in touch using the Skytango app or via desktop notifications.

Skytango has some interesting and original features

· News call: allows buyers to find in a real-time, Uber-style map, the location of drone pilots and book them immediately for urgent jobs. Developed with the support of BBC News, and currently used by BBC News producers
· Footage legality audit: buyers can check if the footage has been acquired legally
· Buyers can listen and buy audio tracks provided by Audio Network while watching footage in the library
· Buyers can insert job requirements in the drone pilot’s checklists
· Skytango App: allows drone operators to create their own checklists and check clients’ requirements, and be visible to clients on the real-time map

This marketplace seems like a win-win for media buyers and drone pilots, so what’s the catch? Well, content buyers can sign up for free, but drone pilots wanting to sell their footage and join the party will need to sign up on a paid plan, starting at $29.95 per month or $290.00 per year. Probably worth it if you rate your aerial photography skills.

“Skytango is a fantastic and timely addition to the professional creative toolbox, marrying the best aerial footage with an easy to use license platform, safe in the knowledge that all is compliant and ready for broadcast,” says Scott Pearce, SVP of Channel Strategy, Audio Network. “The business works equally for all involved, creatives, IP owners and end users alike, a rare mix. A great new service in the new era of professional aerial footage.”