TOGETHER WITH

It’s Friday and TikTok isn’t letting a little thing like a potential sale derail its plans. As other companies bid to decide its fate, the tech giant has reportedly launched a new platform called “TikTok for Artists”

Today’s News

MONEY MOVES

Get ready to see real ads in virtual worlds, courtesy of Roblox and Google

The partnership: Roblox is teaming up with Google to bring IRL ads into the metaverse. Soon, players strolling down virtual streets might come across a billboard for Coca-Cola‘s latest flavor or a TV screen featuring Taco Bell‘s newest menu item.

Roblox’s “Immersive Ads” will be available for brands to purchase “in the coming weeks” through Google’s Ad Manager—alongside a new “Rewarded Video” ad format. Those full-screen, 30-second video ads will give players in-game rewards for tuning in, an incentive that Roblox seems confident will draw plenty of consumer engagement.

According to the platform, early tests of reward ads showed 80% of players watched them to completion, earning things like in-game items, power-ups, and currencies. Test players apparently “considered these ads additive to their overall experience.”

The context: Like most major tech companies, Google threw its hat into the ring during the initial burst of fervor surrounding the metaverse in 2020 and 2021. It didn’t get as deep as competitors like Meta, and its ambitions later seemed to fizzle out. But despite the tech industry’s general movement away from the metaverse, Roblox has consistently managed to demonstrate the lucrative potential of virtual worlds. This new ad partnership could further cement its position as a dominant force in the metaverse—especially if consumers are as eager to engage as Roblox’s early tests seem to indicate.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

YouTube Star Q&A: How Can Creators Stay Ahead with Spotter Studio? 

Creators are always looking for ways to work faster and earn more—without burning out. Getting into that kind of flow isn’t easy, so Spotter asked top creators how they up their game with Spotter Studio: a full suite of ideation tools designed by and for YouTubers.

So, how do top YouTubers stay ahead with Spotter Studio?

⏰ Saving time with Title and Thumbnail Generators: “Spotter Studio cuts through the noise…especially when it comes to finding the perfect title.” (The Infographics Show, 14.7M Subscribers)

💡 Brainstorming new ideas based on viral content: “Spotter Studio has made things a lot easier to find stories and to find ideas…everything at the click of a mouse button.” (Drew Binsky, 4.6M Subscribers)

🗓️ Planning a cohesive content schedule in advance: 

In an industry plagued by burnout, Spotter Studio is changing the game. Hit the link below to try it out for yourself:

Get started for free →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• YouTube’s hate speech policy was recently changed to remove words like “gender identity” from the list of protected groups. In response to concerns from trans rights activists, the platform has confirmed that discrimination based on “sex, gender, or sexual orientation” is still barred. (Tubefilter)
  
  

• New reports suggest that X could soon begin selling inactive account handles to “Verified Organizations” for as much as $500,000+ a piece. (TechCrunch)
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• In a survey conducted by Pew Research Center, only 11% of the general public stated that they are “more excited than concerned about the increased use of AI in daily life”—as opposed to 47% of experts. (Pew Research Center)
  
  

• Spotify has announced the introduction of GenAI ads that will allow brands to “create scripts and voiceovers at no additional cost.” (Spotify Newsroom)

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

BTS label HYBE and Alan Chikin Chow are teaming up to create a K-pop supergroup in the U.S.

The talent search: A 28-year-old Texas native is gearing up to become the next big thing in K-pop.

Alan Chikin Chow—who claims nearly 88 million subscribers and 50 billion views on YouTube—has inked a deal with the company that incubated K-pop sensation BTS. As part of their new partnership, HYBE Labels will team up with Chow’s Alan’s Universe brand to discover talent for a six-person U.S.-based act. The co-ed group will be the first project launched under the HYBE America X AU banner, and will be featured in a mix of lore-building music videos and scripted content.

According to Variety, Chow himself will co-star in the K-pop act. To find his new groupmates, HYBE America X AU is putting out a casting call (which aspiring artists can investigate by visiting the label’s website). Once discovered, the chosen group members will convene in L.A. for a development program that will incorporate Chow’s YouTube strategies and the model HYBE uses to train its K-pop idols.

The context: The partnership between HYBE and Chow unites two entities with expert-level understanding of YouTube’s promotional capabilities. When BTS peaked in the early 2020s, HYBE helped the group attract billions of views on YouTube with music videos and behind-the-scenes content. Now, the label’s American arm is led by CEO Scooter Braun, who famously discovered Justin Bieber when he was just a kid singing on YouTube.

Chow, meanwhile, regularly ranks among the ten most-watched YouTube creators in the U.S. Last year, he accelerated his video production capabilities by opening a 10,000-square-foot studio space in Los Angeles. That hub has become the filming location for the Alan’s Universe series, which draws inspiration from the melodramatic plot lines of Korean TV shows.

BIG UPDATES

YouTube wants to make Shorts the new CapCut

The update: As a potential TikTok ban or divestment approaches, YouTube is hoping to make Shorts a viable alternative to CapCut.

During a new episode of Release Notes on the Creator Insider channel, Creator Liaison Rene Ritchie and Chief Product Officer Johanna Voolich unveiled a series of new Shorts feature that will contribute to an enhanced editing suite.

YouTube’s data shows that creators use Shorts in many different ways. As Voolich pointed out, Shorts over one minute long are becoming more common, but the number of super-short videos is going up as well. To accommodate that wide range, YouTube’s new fully-featured Shorts suite is designed to facilitate a variety of editing needs.

Voolich noted that YouTube will integrate “our very wide music library” into the updated suite, giving creators a way to sync up story beats with particular musical cues. In general, the CPO said, Shorts editing is becoming ”a much more powerful experience” with fine-tuned clip controls, precise zoom adjustments, and pre-upload previews.

The context: In addition to better serving existing users of its Shorts editing suite, the introduction of these new features gives YouTube an opening to siphon creators away from CapCut.

The software—which powers edits for many TikTokers—surpassed 200 million users in 2023. Since then, however, ByteDance’s regulatory issues in the United States have blunted CapCut’s progress and provided a window of opportunity for competitors. Instagram, for example, capitalized on uncertainty surrounding a potential TikTok ban by releasing its version of CapCut, Edits, in mid-March. Now, it’s YouTube’s turn to get in on the action.

WATCH THIS 📺

Blumhouse will bring gamers back to theaters for Five Nights at Freddy’s 2

The first installment: In October 2023, the film adaptation of the video game Five Nights at Freddy’s broke records by reeling in $78 million at the North American box office and $130 million globally during its opening weekend. According to Variety, that makes the film both the biggest domestic debut of any movie released during Halloween weekend and Blumhouse’s most lucrative international opening of all time.

The sequel: Now, Blumhouse is bringing fans back to theaters for a second round of spooky thrills. An official trailer for Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 dropped yesterday, leaving Josh Hutcherson once again at the mercy of murderous animatronics. There’s no word yet on whether any gaming creators will be featured in the sequel (MatPat and CoryxKenshin both appeared in the first film), but it’s safe to say fans are ready to find out.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen.