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TOGETHER WITH
It's Wednesday and we're taking a walk down memory lane to mark the retirement of Netflix's 25-year-old DVD rental service.
COVER GIRL
Emma Chamberlain just hit the cover of Rolling Stone's 2023 Creator Issue
Rolling Stone's second-annual Creator Issue hit the shelves yesterday, and its chosen honoree dressed to the nines. Vlogger extraordinaire Emma Chamberlain graced the issue's cover in a shiny gold pantsuit and a 'Miss Internet' sash, while an accompanying blurb introduced her as a creator who "changed YouTube and took over podcasting—by doing whatever the hell she wants."
The Creator Issue cover story doubled down on that characterization by framing Chamberlain—who now hosts the podcast Anything Goes and releases the occasional travel vlog on her YouTube channel —as an unpredictable figure willing to go off-script in search of artistic fulfillment. In part, that unconventional approach is a response to the constant grind of the industry: Chamberlain took an extended YouTube hiatus to prioritize her mental health, and hasn’t decided whether her YouTube channel will offer more than the occasional travel update:
“If I’m in the mood to film some shit, I’m going to do it. But God knows what that’s going to be. It’s not going to be like anything I’ve ever done.”
That artistic approach sets Chamberlain apart from last year's Creator Issue cover star, Jimmy Donaldson (aka MrBeast). In a way, the creators' differing methods make them the perfect subjects for Rolling Stone's first two Creator Issues: Donaldson and Chamberlain rose to prominence around the same time and have both encountered industry stresses, but their respective styles show two very different sides of the YouTube community. Readers who leaf through the rest of this year's Creator Issue will see several other perspectives on the creator lifestyle, including insights from TikTok it girls Alix Earle and the D’Amelios, Twitch icon Valkyrae, and YouTube legend Logan Paul.
🔆 SPONSORED 🔆
From short-form stars to podcast pros, Viral Nation Talent creators are embracing the power of multiformat success
Only one talent agency in the world offers 360° creator representation—and now, Viral Nation Talent is using all those in-house resources to help short-form creators go long. At the top of that list of resources: experts to help shape your multiplatform content strategy —so you can go from a content creator to a content empire.
Viral Nation Talent creators are already making the jump from TikToks to podcasts. Here’s a sneak peek at a few of those success stories:
Drew Afualo calls out TikTok trolls while celebrating diversity. Both of Drew’s podcasts, The Comment Section and Two Idiot Girls, are nominated for a Shorty Award in the Comedy Podcast category.
Reb Masel: TikTok’s favorite attorney established herself by highlighting jaw-dropping court transcripts. Now—after just one week on Spotify—her new podcast, Rebuttal, is already charting at #52 in Top Podcasts!
Spencewuah (aka Spencer) has accumulated over 13 million TikTok followers. Their podcast, I’m Literally Screaming, invites fans to get to know their crazy friend group through personal stories, pop culture commentary, and good old fashioned gossip.
As the #1 influencer agency , Viral Nation Talent is always finding new ways to support multiformat creators like Reb, Drew, and Spencer. Ready to add your name to the roster?
HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰
After years of allowing only one link per bio, Instagram has at last given users the ability to include up to five clickable links in their bios. (Tubefilter)
Ian Borthwick and Greg Hempenius (aka the duo behind ticketing platform SeatGeek‘s pop culture-savvy creator partnerships) have launched a marketing agency called Leveraged Media. (Tubefilter)
YouTube has announced the introduction of new rules for videos that depict disordered eating in order to "better protect the community from sensitive content that may pose a risk to some audiences." (Tubefilter)
Per TechCrunch, Netflix's anti-password-sharing policy will hit the U.S. "on or before June 30." (TechCrunch)
DATA • STREAMERS ON THE RISE 📈
For this voice actor, creating content is all about building a community
Techniq is a creator through and through . The 39-year-old has worked as a mobile platform engineer, acted in commercials, taken jobs as a DJ and a voice actor, and hosted conferences like PAX West, PAX East, Comic Con, and E3.
Oh, and he's also been streaming on Twitch for nearly ten years.
Techniq has built up a strong community over the course of his Twitch career.
In other words: when it comes to being in front of a camera, Techniq knows what he's doing—and he doesn't have any time for trolls. The gaming creator streams eight hours a day, six days a week, and has attracted an older and more mature audience than one might expect. It's all part of his commitment to building a welcoming community:
"I put a model for my channel saying this is a safe place for anybody with any preferences, with any thoughts. As long as you respect each other. This is a cool place for everyone."
That chill environment also serves as the perfect space for Techniq to show off his voice acting skills. The creator often reads voiceovers as he plays RPGs—a technique he says is "like free advertising of your voice." That method has already scored Techniq some pretty great acting gigs, but he still has one major goal in mind: Marvel.
And in the meantime? "Other than that," Techniq says, "I want to be able to just keep making a footprint in the industry and making people smile and laugh."
STREAMING BIG
A streaming platform for "curated global Black culture" just secured $8 million in funding
Mansa is emerging out of stealth with $8 million in funding thanks to a seed round led by MaC Venture Capital. According to film financier Zak Tanjeloff —who co-founded Mansa alongside Chiké Okonkwo, David Oyelowo, and Nate Parker—the ad-supported service is a “streaming platform for curated global Black culture” that will be delivered “to the world for free.” At launch, Mansa offers more than 1,500 hours of licensed content. It is a cross between a VOD service, a free ad-supported television (FAST) hub, a social network, and a short-form video app.
Those characteristics allow Mansa to cater to consumers in the FAST lane rather than competing with Black-oriented subscription services like BET+ and ALLBLK. It's an approach that makes Mansa an attractive option for a wide array of viewers: the platform pointed to a 2021 Nielsen study , which found that Black viewers make up 40% of the audience on Tubi and 36% on Pluto TV. Mansa's mobile app—which includes a TikTok-like feed—will also make the platform appealing to Gen Z and Millennial users.
“Black culture is at the forefront of global culture. Yet at the same time, only the tip of the iceberg has been cultivated and propagated; we’re here to showcase the true breadth and depth of it for a Global audience."
In addition to Mansa's mobile feed (which highlights Black creators by aggregating a stream of popular posts from YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram), the young company is developing a fund that will support 100 Black filmmakers. It also has plans to launch original programming.
WATCH THIS 📺
If you're worried about AI replacing creators, give this vlog a watch
Casey Neistat's latest video makes a solid case for keeping YouTubers human. The AI-written dialogue is dry, the tone is uncomfortably cheerful, and the plot is...well, non-existent.
In other words: ChatGPT might be a solid option when it comes to writing last-minute English papers, but the chatbot hasn't quite figured out how to write a Manhattan travel vlog. As for Neistat's take on his AI-driven creation?
"That video sucked. It sucked because it had no humanity, it had no depth to it, no soul to it."
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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 effor