most people aren't looking for anything original

Of the top 10 all time most subscribed channels, only one -- universalmusicgroup at #4 -- represents a major company: all the others are independent channels providing original content (although in the case of machinima, that could be dipsuted).

It is true that a lot of people see YouTube as a way of listening to music or catching up on missed TV episodes. But original content is still very popular; it's just harder to get noticed, because people don't realise they should be looking for you.

In my view, though, view counts shouldn't be the be-all and end-all of everything. Sure, I'm a partner, and more views increases my revenue, so I'd like to have more people watching my videos, but really, I'd encourage everyone to look beyond views and subs. It's a hobby -- at least, it is for me -- so do what you're good at, not what everyone else is doing.