TOGETHER WITH

It’s Wednesday and we all just got Punk’d. The early 2000s MTV classic has been reimagined as Punk You, a new YouTube series featuring influencers, musicians, and other celebs.

CREATOR COMPENSATION

Here’s a solution for creators’ problems with AI: Pay them

The company: Calliope Network is on a mission to ease the tension between creators and AI scrapers. The company has announced a new program called License to Scrape, which allows creators to protect their IP and receive compensation through sublicensing deals with AI companies.

Calliope CEO Dave Davis previously worked at the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation, so it makes sense that the startup models its deals after the licensing agreements favored by the film and music industries. Calliope’s creator partners are compensated through a revenue-sharing program, in which the startup negotiates sublicensing agreements with AI companies and delivers a portion of the ensuing royalties to creators.

So far, that system seems to be working: one participating agency—Viral Nation—says it has received “really good feedback from creators” regarding the program (per Head of Content Licensing Bianca Serafini).

The obstacles: Nevertheless, Calliope will have to confront a few hurdles if it hopes to unite creators and AI scrapers. According to Davis, the startup needs to offer at least 25,000 hours of content before AI companies buy into its business model—meaning License to Scrape relies on creators with libraries large enough to satisfy partners.

Creator skepticism poses another significant obstacle. Companies like AsqMe have developed solutions to give creators more control over AI training, and ChatGPT maker OpenAI aims to offer similar functionality—but fears about AI are still common among creators. Some feel that poorly regulated scraping policies allow generative AI models to pirate creator content (a sentiment that led to a class-action lawsuit headed by David Millette).

Calliope’s License to Scrape could be the solution those wary creators are looking for. The startup is part of the Dataset Providers Alliance, which strives for ethical practices in the realm of AI training.

🔆SPONSORED 🔆

Summer in Review: Viral Nation took creators from Cannes Lions to the White House

From breaking into mainstream fashion to taking D.C. by storm, Viral Nation creators made major waves this summer—with a little help from the world’s #1 creator talent agency. 

Check out Viral Nation’s Biggest Wins of Summer 2024:

🏛️ Representing at the White House Creator Economy Conference 🏛️
Viral Nation creator Drew Talbert attended the White House’s first-ever Creator Economy Conference, where he heard from President Biden and joined other creators in offering crucial insights.

👠 Breaking into the fashion industry 👗
Viral Nation signed a deal with Ford Models in June to elevate Like Nastya’s career in a new realm: mainstream fashion.

🏆 Launching LIONS Creators with Cannes Lions 🏆
Viral Nation joined forces with Cannes Lions to launch the festival’s inaugural creator program, while Steven He shared his expertise on multiple panels.

🎲 Bringing board games to major retailers 🎲
Viral Nation creator Games4Two partnered with Relatable to bring three new board games to major retailers like Amazon, Target, and Walmart.

Viral Nation supports creators like Drew, Steven, Nastya, and Games4Two with 360° representation—including dedicated agents, unbeatable brand deals, and more.

Discover 360° creator representation →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Is Daquavis the latest creator to take YouTube’s Minecraft community by storm? After gathering 111 million views in a single week, the creator might just be the successor fans of Dream have been looking for. (Tubefilter)
  
  

• YouTube TV is reportedly testing out background playback, a feature that would allow users to hear audio from the service even after locking their phones. (The Verge)
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• Thanks to a recent Threads update, users will now be able to edit their posts up to 15 minutes after publishing (as compared to the previous 5-minute time limit). (The Verge)
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• A new “best practices” feature on Instagram gives creators of professional account more insight into how to succeed on the platform. (The Verge)

DANCING QUEEN

TikTok star Charli D’Amelio is making her Broadway debut

The debut: The second-most followed star on TikTok has landed a part in a Broadway musical. Charli D’Amelio will take on a “dance-heavy role” by portraying Charmian in & Juliet, a production that has been nominated for nine Tony Awards since arriving in New York City two years ago (per Playbill). D’Amelio’s “limited engagement” will begin at the Sondheim Theatre on October 29 and last until January 19, 2025.

The creator: D’Amelio’s dancing chops have long been central to her career as a performer and social media star. Trendy moves propelled her to become the most-followed creator on TikTok (although Khaby Lame has since claimed that title), and she later won Season 31 of Dancing With The Stars.

The context: D’Amelio isn’t the first creator to score a Broadway gig. (YouTuber Chester See displayed his vocal abilities with a turn in the musical Rock of Ages a decade ago.) Nevertheless, D’Amelio’s debut signals a growing number of opportunities for creators in industries like film, theater, and music. Projects like The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical have fused social media and musical theater in increasingly impactful ways—and forced the world of traditional entertainment to adapt to the rising influence of online creators.

HOUSE OF MOUSE

Ironmouse is now Twitch‘s most-subscribed-to streamer ever

The milestone: Ironmouse’s latest subathon has sent her account soaring past Twitch’s record for most subscribers. During that 30-day livestream—which raised money for the Immune Deficiency Foundation—the VTuber overtook Kai Cenat‘s record of 306,621 subscribers by reaching a total of 321,000.

Cenat originally snagged the record from Ludwig in March 2023, who took it from Ninja in April 2021. Here’s a timeline with each streamer’s sub count:

• Ninja—269,154 (April ‘18)

• Ludwig—283,066 (April ‘21)

• Kai Cenat—306,621 (March ‘23)

• Ironmouse—321,000+ (September ‘24)

The context: 2024 marks Ironmouse’s third year hosting a record-breaking subathon for the Immune Deficiency Foundation (a personal cause for her, as she’s been open about her struggle with common variable immunodeficiency). The VTuber became Twitch’s most-subscribed-to female streamer during her 2022 subathon (beating kkatamina‘s record of 76,623 subscribers with a final total of 171,818). A year later, she broke her own record by bringing in 205,488 subscribers.

The financials: Now, Ironmouse has officially claimed the title of top streamer across all of Twitch—no gender category needed. There’s a reason that ascension happened during the VTuber’s latest subathon: Ironmouse purposefully scheduled her 2024 event during SUBtember, a monthlong period when Twitch charges viewers 25-30% less to subscribe to streamers’ channels, but still gives streamers their usual payouts. In other words: viewers got to spend less while still supporting Ironmouse and the Immune Deficiency Foundation.

That strategy didn’t just boost Ironmouse’s subscriber count. The VTuber has said she’ll donate 50% of proceeds from her subathon—and while we don’t have exact details of her financial agreement with Twitch, if we take an average subscription price of $4.99 and assume Ironmouse has a 70/30 revenue split, the numbers add up to $561,750 for the Immune Deficiency Foundation.

WATCH THIS 📺

How is Nintendo still this bad at letting creators share its games?

The context: Gaming fandoms are at the center of millions of YouTube videos. So why is Nintendo so reluctant to let creators talk about its IP?

The publisher has a long history of copyright-claiming videos posted by creators who simply want to share their favorite games. Nintendo sought to remedy that in 2015 with the introduction of a Creators Program (which gave approved creators 60%-70% of ad revenue from videos about Nintendo games), but that solution only lasted until 2018. After that, Nintendo gave YouTube Partner Program creators and partnered Twitch streamers automatic eligibility to earn ad revenue on their Nintendo videos.

The consequence: That was six years ago—and many Nintendo fans are still getting copyright-claimed. One of those creators, Retro Game Corps, says he’ll no longer show Nintendo games in his videos at all after getting two copyright strikes (because a third would mean permanent channel termination). More and more creators are making the same decision—meaning Nintendo is actively losing cultural ground to rivals like Epic Games, Disney, and nearly every other gaming company or prominent IP holder that capitalizes on the free hype that comes with letting creators do their thing.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.