How a ‘sleep-influencing’ Twitch streamer made $ 16,000 while sleeping

• Some influencers earn up to $ 16,000 on Twitch “sleep streams”.
• Asian Andy turned on speech recognition so that viewers could listen to music and issue commands.
• Other sleep influencers include Alex Shannon, who travels the world to sleep in luxurious places.
• Visit Insider’s Business section for more stories.

Making money while sleeping sounds too good to be true, considering that many of us struggle to make a living while we are awake.

But many influencers are jumping on a new trend that is growing in popularity – “sleep stream”.

The Asian Andy is one of the most well-known sleep streamers.

The 26-year-old from Los Angeles made $ 16,000 in a single night on his Twitch livestream – although he didn’t get much sleep in the process.

Like many other influencers, Andy implemented speech recognition for his live stream, which means that whenever there was a donation, music was played and the message read to high voice.

Many viewers used their posts to get Alexa to play loud music, mimic a barking dog, or ring her alarm clock.

A recurring theme on Andy’s August live broadcast was that viewers were telling him someone was at the window, which sparked overreaction.

Andy himself was shocked at the generosity of his viewers.

“Thank you very much,” he said at the end of his Twitch live stream, which he then posted on YouTube. “I used to drive [an] Uber for $ 16 an hour. “

Twitch largely started out as a gaming platform, with some users earning as much as $ 200,000 a year.

It now has a Twitch Affiliate Program for those serious about a career in gaming – even MP Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has used Twitch to increase voter turnout and raise money for charities.

Andy, who is known for his antics including ripping his shirt off in Starbucks and every time someone says “Ascend,” has over 40,000 subscribers on Twitter and Instagram, and a million on YouTube.

However, he’s not the only influencer making money with his eyes closed.

Ice Poseidon earned $ 5,000 in eight hours for trying to sleep in 2017, according to VICE. Like Andy, he used speech recognition so his viewers could disrupt his sleep.

There are others whose content is solely devoted to sleep – like Alex Shannon, the “World’s Leading Sleep Influencer.”

Since 2018, Shannon has traveled the world sleeping in some of the most luxurious places.

Some have also made use of their sleep-related quirks.

Canadian YouTuber Tyler Krause, who goes by PillowtalkTK, recorded himself talking and walking in his sleep as his girlfriend reacted.

With all the content out there, it looks like sleep isn’t going to bed anytime soon.