Opportunities › Background video playback for premium subscribers › Proposed app
Sidecast
Private audio feeds of the members-only streams you pay for, playable in the background
- Score
- 19
- confidence 38
- Evidence
- 3
- items on the page
- Rivals
- 3
- named in sources
- First version
- 30 d
- estimate
- Type
- Mobile app
- PWA: installs on iPhone and Android
- Market since
- 2018
- Established market · AI estimate
ScreensConcept
Mobile app: Listeners play audio in the background while using other apps on phones; this is a mobile audio playback tool. Sample screens on a phone, in the proposed brand. Their numbers are sample data.
Library
5 new
- Late Night Build Log2h 14m
- Sunday Synth Session1h 02m
- Members Q&A: March48m
- Studio Tour Live1h 31m
About this appAI proposal
Sidecast turns the members-only streams of the creators you support into a private audio feed. Open it in your podcast player or in the Sidecast web app, lock your phone, switch apps, and keep listening to what you paid for.
It is built on a simple rule: audio is released by the creator, to verified paying members only. Creators connect their membership list, pick which streams get an audio version, and Sidecast delivers a personal feed link to each member. Nothing is ripped or reshared; links are tied to one member and can be revoked.
Why it differs from workarounds: it does not patch the YouTube app or a browser. It is an opt-in channel creators run for their own members, so it keeps working and keeps the money flowing to the creator.
- Tagline
- Listen to what you paid for, wherever your phone goes.
- Voice
- CalmPlainFair
- Why this name
- A sidecast plays alongside whatever else you are doing: it runs beside other apps and beside the creator's own channel rather than replacing it.
In the first version
Members say which features they would use. It tells PWAS what people want; it changes no score.
Personal private feed
Each member gets one feed link that works in any podcast app or in Sidecast itself, with background playback and lock-screen controls.
No member yet
Membership check
Access follows the creator's member list. When someone cancels, their feed link stops delivering new episodes.
No member yet
Creator picks what is released
Creators choose which streams get an audio version and add chapters, titles and show notes before release.
No member yet
Resume across devices
Position syncs between phone and desktop, so a stream started at the desk continues on the commute.
No member yet
Brand identityAI proposal
Check the name against trademark registers before using it.
Palette
#14534ADeep Teal · primary#F6F1E7Paper · surface#1F2A2EInk · text#E0743AEmber · accent#3D5A80Slate Blue · data
Typography
Aa
Sidecast
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 0123456789
Listen to what you paid for, wherever your phone goes.
PricingAI proposal
The material gives no price for this kind of service. Brave's verified page lists a $59.99 one-time paid plan, a different product. These tiers are a starting point to test.
Listener
Free
- Private feeds from creators who join
- Background playback and lock-screen controls
- Resume across devices
Listener Plus
$3 a month
- Offline downloads
- Speed, skip silence, sleep timer
- Unlimited creator feeds
Creator
$19 a month
- Member-verified audio feeds
- Up to 500 members
- Chapters and show notes
- Per-member link revoking
Would you pay Listener Plus · $3 a month?
Your answer tells PWAS which prices people accept. It changes no score.
No answers yet.
What it could be worthEstimate
What a software business making this much sells for today, from real deals. Pick a monthly revenue.
If it makes
Worth about
$194,000
Sale range $132,000 to $263,000
$120,000 a year in revenue
From 87 software businesses listed and sold on Empire Flippers in the last year, revenue vetted by the broker: they sell for about 19× their monthly revenue, most between 13× and 26×.
Measured on profit, the middle deal is 32× monthly net profit: about 2.7 years of profit.
An estimate, not an offer or financial advice. A real price depends on profit, growth, churn, how much of the work is the owner's, and the buyer.
How it would growAI proposal
How the product would reach new customers through its own use, and how the first ones would be found. A plan to test, not a result.
- Built-in loop
- Shared outputs. Each creator tells members about the audio feed on streams and community posts. Members get a feed link that opens a Sidecast-branded page and player.
- Do they become customers?
- Members reached can become Listener Plus payers, and creators who see them can become Creator customers. Test whether members pay or only creators do, and whether creators will promote it.
- First customers
- Mid-size YouTube creators with 100 to 1,000 paying members who stream long-form talk, music or podcast-style content.
- Where to reach them
- Creator communities: Offer a free pilot in creator Discords and subreddits where members ask for audio versions.
- Direct outreach: Email creators whose members complain in comments about background playback, with a ready demo feed.
- Hacker News: Post a Show HN explaining the creator-consent approach to the background playback complaint.
- First milestone
- Five creators release audio feeds and at least 30 of their members listen weekly; then test if any pay.
Why people already pay for this
- Public claimPaying YouTube Premium members and channel members cannot play members-only streams in the background on the YouTube app
- Public claimUsers find no clear justification for the background playback restriction on paid content
- VerifiedBrave Browser's pricing page lists 1 paid plan, at $59.99 one-time, plus a free plan and prices on request for larger customers
Tech stack
Every proposal builds on the same PWA base, installable from the browser on any phone or computer. Dashed boxes are what this app adds.
- AppNext.js and TypeScript
- PWAManifest and service worker
- UITailwind CSS
- Data and authSupabase Postgres
- PaymentsStripe
- EmailResend
- HostingVercel
- This app · Audio storage and deliveryObject storage with signed URLs and a CDNServes large audio files to members only, with expiring per-member links.
- This app · Podcast feed generationPer-member RSS feed endpoint with tokensLets any podcast app play episodes in the background.
RisksAI inference
- PlatformDepends on creators publishing audio of their own streams and on how YouTube treats it. It must not circumvent YouTube's playback rules; terms and member-list access need legal review.
- CommercialValue needs creators to opt in. Members may want it, but creators are the ones who must set it up and may see it as extra work.
- Intellectual propertyStreams may contain licensed music or guest content that creators cannot redistribute as audio, limiting what can be released.
- TechnicalVerifying paid membership without official access may mean manual or CSV member lists, which are slow and go stale.
- DataEvidence of demand is two unverified public claims from one forum; actual willingness to pay is untested.
Everything marked AI proposal or AI inference was written by a model from the evidence on the opportunity page. The proposed name must be checked against trademark registers before it is used.