The irony of a borderless digital universe and the blank page on which producers can now create for that world is not lost on David Brown.

The way Brown, the Canadian content partnerships lead at YouTube/Google tells it, the internet is a world in which the scarcity of traditional media has been replaced by abundance, and tried and true distribution models have given way to every content creator for themselves.

“Anyone can do it, therefore the only real measure of success is how creators view their own success and how its resonates with the audience directly,” Brown said ahead of his keynote at the Merging Media 5 conference in Vancouver.

With gatekeepers no longer in place, the weak link is content.

“Now it’s just a direct-to-fan relationship that says ‘do you like this?’ And based on the amount of people that caters to, the amount of people that come back and then like and subscribe to their channel, that’s the real change we see,” Brown said.

So as content scarcity gives way to cornucopia, how are audiences discovering content by young creators, and what makes that content discoverable?

Raw talent isn’t enough, Brown answered. It takes hard work, daily shooting and editing content, and endless determination and agility to prevail in this new digital marketplace.

“These creators work very hard and that gets lost in the glitz and glamour when we celebrate them,” he said. “What we’re seeing are folks who are very talented creators, but have evolved how they create content and how they distribute content,’ Brown added.

That means looking at the YouTube analytics, recognizing what resonates with audiences, and continuously refining an evolving format to better target and reach viewers.

Brown cites the example of Bernie Su, co-creator of the The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Emma Approved web series: “It’s not necessarily just about the on-screen talent,” he explained. “There’s a real creative flair and talent for thinking through the distribution and the programming of the channel.”

The takeaway is indie producers have to be thinking about not only how to create for their online channels, but how to program them as well.

And that means targeting niche audiences in a fast-expanding online world, and without depending on traditional media gatekeepers to reach them.

“The difference is, in one model, there’s an artificial border that’s man-made, man-introduced and is industry-created, and the other model is based on interest,” Brown explained. “The much more interesting audience sub-set is the one where we share interests, irrespective of where we happen to be living, and that’s why the content appeals to people not just in Canada, but in places like Singapore and India,” he added.

The Merging Media 5 conference is set to run Nov. 13 to 14 in Vancouver.