CollegeHumor drops out šŸ˜±

And a new network climbs the charts.

TOGETHER WITH

It's Wednesday and a new AI chatbot is under development. The catch: youā€™ll need permission from the CIA to take it for a spin.

DROP IT LIKE ITā€™S HOT

CollegeHumor is making a major changeā€”and itā€™s not giving the corporate world a chance to ā€œmuck it upā€

After 24 years, CollegeHumor is rebranding. The comedy-centric media company has surrendered its original handle in favor of the name Dropout, a moniker that previously applied to its five-year-old subscription service. Dropout CEO Sam Reich announced the name change yesterday, through a video posted to the original CollegeHumor YouTube channel. (That channel has since been rebranded, and now reaches 14.7 subscribers under the Dropout handle.)

ā€œFive years ago, we ā€˜dropped outā€™ of traditional media and went direct to our fans. We could never have imagined how meaningfully it would transform our businessā€¦I stand shoulder to shoulder with our extraordinary talent, crew, and staff as we leave ā€˜collegeā€™ behind and continue to forge our own path. Turns out, this isnā€™t just a gap year.ā€

Dropout CEO Sam Reich

Dropout may be ā€œleaving college behind,ā€ but Reich isnā€™t forgetting the companyā€™s roots. The CEO reportedly reached out to CollegeHumor founders Josh Abramson and Ricky Van Veen to receive their blessing for the rebranding effort, and is committed to carrying on the companyā€™s people-driven approach ā€œwithout any corporations, networks, or advertisers to muck it up.ā€

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Art isnā€™t made by AI for algorithms. Itā€™s made by people for people.

Dropout CEO Sam Reich

Dropout will support its people-first business model by leaning into its titular subscription service. The $5.99/month offering includes 75 shows, including popular Dropout originals like the roleplaying series Dimension 20 and the comedy competition Game Changer.

šŸ”† SPONSORED šŸ”†

The worldā€™s #1 AI video clipping tool just got a major upgrade. Hereā€™s what to expect from Opus Clip V2.0:

Back in June, creator experts like Ruben Hassid and Jon Youshaei joined forces with leading engineers to debut the worldā€™s #1 AI video clipping tool: Opus Clip. Since then, 1 million users have signed up to create viral Shorts with Opus Clipā€”including top creators like Sean Kelly, Grant Cardone, and Scott Galloway.

Now, ā€‹Opus Clip v2.0ā€‹ is giving creators access to more features than ever before:

  • AI Reframe Upgrade: Sit back while AI tracks active speakers to perfectly reframe for interview videos and panel discussions with multiple speakers. šŸ™‹ā€ā™‚ļø

  • Import Videos from Multiple Sources, including YouTube, Google Drive, Vimeo, Rumble, or even local files. šŸ’»

  • Animated Captions: Try out an expanded range of fancier caption styles like karaoke, pop-line, pop, scale, slide left, and slide up. āœØ

  • Middle-Section Clip Trimmer: Use Opus Clipā€™s advanced caption editor to select a specific sectionā€”even one in the middle of a clipā€”and make edits or trims with ease. šŸ”Ž

  • Faster Processing Speeds: 90% of Opus Clip projects can now be completed in under 20 minutes. šŸš€

Ready to get started? Simply ā€‹sign up for any essential planā€‹ to score a one-month 50% discountā€”and prepare to discover even more upcoming features.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF šŸ“°

  • Google will begin shuttering Google Podcasts in 2024, making YouTube Music its one and only podcast destination. (Tubefilter)
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  • Netflix, Disney, Paramount Plus, Max, Peacock, and other streaming services have come together to form a ā€œunified coalitionā€ called the Streaming Innovation Alliance. (Axios)
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  • A new update to YouTubeā€™s ad guidelines will allow creators to ā€œto earn more ad revenue on content discussing topics such as abortion and adult sexual abuse.ā€ (TechCrunch)
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  • The FTC and 17 state attorneys have filed a lawsuit against Amazon in an effort to "pry looseā€ the ecommerce giantā€™s ā€œmonopolistic control.ā€ (Gizmodo)

DATA ā€¢ U.S. TOP 50 šŸ“ˆ

This creator can play songs on the piano (but making music with disco balls and bananas is more fun)

Landen Purifoy doesnā€™t need fancy instruments to wow viewers with his musical talent. In fact, he doesnā€™t need any instruments at all.

At least, not in the traditional sense.

Purifoyā€™s 7.6 million TikTok followers would be hard-pressed to find a video of him playing the violin or practicing the clarinet. But hand the creator a talkbox and a banana, and you can expect to hear some pretty incredible tunes. That ability to make music with household objects has earned Purifoy a loyal fanbase on TikTokā€”and now, heā€™s adapted his unique abilities to YouTube Shorts.

In order to appeal to Shorts viewers, Purifoy has added a challenge-style format to his content. Videos daring fans to ā€œguess the songā€ have accumulated hundreds of millions of views over the past few months. Purifoyā€™s most popular Short of all time, for instance, has earned a whopping 142 million viewsā€”and thatā€™s just one clip.

Purifoyā€™s monthly viewership hit a high note this month. Data from Gospel Stats.

That viral success is unlikely to slow down anytime soon.

  • During our last seven-day count, Purifoy picked up 127.4 million weekly views.

  • That total added up to a week-over-week increase of 43%.

  • The result: Purifoyā€™s channel now claims 5.4 million subscribers and a place at #43 in the U.S. Top 50.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS

Alex Cooperā€™s new media network has already claimed the #1 and #2 spots on Spotifyā€™s podcast charts

Itā€™s been just under two months since the launch of Alex Cooperā€™s Unwell Network, but the media company is already climbing the ranks. Back in August, Cooper pitched Unwell as ā€œa platform for this generationā€™s unique voices that embrace social challenges and personal insecurities through honest conversation.ā€

Now, those voices have spokenā€”and fans are hooked.

As of this morning, two Unwell-produced shows are at the top of the Spotify podcast charts: Alix Earleā€˜s Hot Mess (#1) and Cooperā€™s Call Her Daddy (#2). Those rankings place both podcasts ahead of The Joe Rogan Experienceā€”aka Spotifyā€™s most popular show of 2021 and 2022.

Hot Messā€™ chart-topping performance rounds out an eventful month for Earle, who launched her show under the Unwell banner as a way to keep fans up-to-date on her busy life. The TikTok ā€˜itā€™ girl made a guest appearance on the season four premiere of Cooperā€™s own Unwell podcastā€”Call Her Daddyā€”last week, just before earning a place on Forbesā€˜ Top Creators list.

Those successes spell good tidings for the Unwell Networkā€™s other launch partner, TikToker Madeline Argy. The influencer is set to premiere her upcoming Unwell-produced podcast, Pretty Lonesome with Madeline Argy, on October 2.

WATCH THIS šŸ“ŗ

Travis Kelce just won over a lot of new fans (and weā€™re guessing most of them are Swifties)

Between a landslide win against the Chicago Bears and a gameday appearance from Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce is having a pretty incredible week. According to Sportskeeda and Rolling Stone, the NFL starā€™s Instagram following has increased by 276% since rumors began flying about his (alleged) romance with the Midnights singer, while sales of his jersey have risen by a whopping 400%.

ESPN is having a field day, tooā€”especially after earning more than 80 million TikTok views with its (admittedly hilarious) coverage of the potential courtship. If that doesnā€™t demonstrate the earthshaking power of Swifties, weā€™re not sure what does.

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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.