Business of Creators 💬

Stay ahead of the curve in the creator economy...

As I was sitting down to write last week’s newsletter, I was thinking about how much of a slow start January has had for platform updates and functionalities. Well, the creator gods laughed. Lo and behold, we’ve got some exciting developments that are certain to help creators with their revenue strategies…

TikTok’s push for longer and wider

Screenshots shared by users reveal that TikTok is encouraging creators to venture into landscape format, offering "increased views" for videos shot in this orientation.

While this might seem like a shift from TikTok's traditional focus on vertical videos, it's more likely a strategic move to diversify content types. TikTok has been promoting longer videos through its Creativity Program, encouraging creators to experiment with different styles and formats. This experimentation includes pushing users to try out landscape videos, possibly to expand its content pool and cater to a broader audience.

In tandem with this, TikTok is delving into extended video lengths, with some users testing a 30-minute upload option in the app's beta version. TikTok has been gradually increasing its maximum post limit, starting from 15 seconds and progressing to 60 seconds, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes in 2022. The new 30-minute upload option, inspired by its Chinese counterpart Douyin, could be a bid to keep users engaged with longer content. This move may also address TikTok's monetization challenges, allowing for pre and mid-roll ads that can be directly attributed to creators. Whether users will embrace TV show-length clips remains to be seen, but TikTok's persistent efforts to evolve suggest a broader vision for the platform as a significant destination for diverse entertainment content.

Revolutionizing content creation with Epidemic Sound's 40,000 music tracks, 90,000 SFX, and the groundbreaking EAR tool 

Epidemic Sound is the quintessential tool for content creators looking to add music and sound effects to their projects. Its royalty-free catalog of 40,000 music tracks and 90,000 SFX eliminates copyright woes or fear of demonetization - hence why it’s the number one destination for some of the biggest creators producing high-quality and professional outputs. 

With Epidemic’s AI tool, Ear (Epidemic Audio Reference), cut down time wasted by highlighting a specific portion of a track you like and EAR will analyze the mood, BPM and genre to find more music that sounds just like it. 

With a vast catalog of genres and vibes, elevate your next project using Epidemic Sound. 

Industry news & events

🏈Getting ready for the 2024 Super Bowl? YouTube's AdBlitz hub is where you can catch all the past Super Bowl ads dating back to 2006. It's becoming a popular spot to watch ads instead of on live TV, and it's a handy resource for marketers looking for categorized campaigns to spark ideas and strategic insights. Comscore's analysis shows more folks are tuning in on YouTube than on regular TV. 

📉Reddit's upcoming IPO, anticipated for March, may not reach the initially targeted $15 billion valuation, as recent comparisons with social apps like X and Snapchat, which boast larger user bases and higher annual revenues, suggest that Reddit's valuation may be challenging to achieve in the current market conditions.

The Mr Beast-X-gate continues…

So, after MrBeast spilled the tea about making a whopping $250,000 on his first X video (after initially snubbing the platform) in just a week, everyone's talking. 

Turns out, ads played a sneaky role in beefing up his earnings per view. Now, the big debate is whether X artificially pumped up his clip. But here's the kicker – the engagement stats show a crazy 96% difference in X's claimed "views" and what people are actually doing with the content. So, the big question is, can X keep up with these fat payouts, or is it just a one-time hype?

Here's the twist – X spilled the beans that MrBeast's fat paycheck was part of their exclusive Amplify video promotion gig, not available to regular creators. Creators have been making pennies for the same views as MrBeast. Although X is planning to roll out this amplify feature to more folks, but it's all a bit hazy – X will likely cherry-pick specific creators to share the ad revenue pie. While not everyone can expect MrBeast-level dough, this move might help X pull in more video creators, sticking to its "video first" plan and possibly growing its crew. Who knows? Stay tuned… 

Platform round-up

Leverage the latest updates and features across digital platforms to help you get ahead of the game…

⛑️X Premium subscribers in the U.S. can now showcase open job roles on both their personal profiles and business pages through an expanded in-app job listings feature.

🖼Google introduces new generative AI elements for Chrome, including personalized wallpaper options and a writing assistant, aiming to enhance user experience and provide artistic inspiration in the web browser app. 

😂TikTok’s latest research findings showcase how to infuse humor into your content, focusing on effective comedic approaches that can amplify brand/creator engagement. 

📹X has unveiled a sneak peek at the upcoming video functionality in Spaces chats, featuring an optional toggle for users to activate their camera during broadcasts. 

🪙YouTube is testing a new incentive for live-stream donations by introducing Super Chat likes in attempts to foster increased engagement around purchased comments during live-streams and Premieres.

🟩TikTok introduces a new video editing tool, akin to the green screen effect, that allows you to cut out foreground footage so you can edit alternative backgrounds to your clips. 

📈Google Ads is introducing its Gemini AI model, providing advertisers with a chatbot for refining search campaigns and generating optimized ad content; it also offers a visual element allowing the creation of custom visuals through generative AI.