TOGETHER WITH

It’s Thursday and Netflix is giving viewers a new reason to binge-watch the night away: the more you stream, the fewer ads you see.

CAN’T STOP THE BEAT

A major deal is bringing indie artists to TikTok Music

TikTok’s standalone music app is getting an infusion of fresh talent. According to The Verge, a new deal with DistroKid could bring “millions of songs by independent artists to TikTok Music.” Indie artists who use DistroKid to distribute their music will also have the opportunity to add tracks to TikTok’s Commercial Library—where brands find songs to use in their videos—and CapCut, the first-party editing tool offered by TikTok.

That newfangled deal does have some regional limitations (at least, for now).

TikTok Music first launched in Brazil and Indonesia, and has since expanded to three more countries—but the app still hasn’t made the jump to the United States. Despite that drawback, DistroKid and TikTok’s agreement is a pretty big deal: after all, connections between the main TikTok app and TikTok Music allow users to instantly find songs featured in viral short-form clips.

Indie artists hoping for additional distribution opportunities should keep an eye on DistroKid. The New York-based service describes itself as “the first distributor to help artists get their releases uploaded to TikTok,” and promises to get users’ music “into Spotify, Apple Music, TikTok, Pandora, Amazon, Instagram, YouTube, Tidal, iHeartRadio, Deezer, plus a ton of other stores & streaming services.”

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Accessibility is at the core of ElevenLabs’ mission. With ElevenLabs’ dubbing software, you can translate videos, streams, and more into 29 different languages.

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ElevenLab’s innovative voice-cloning software transforms long-form text into voiceovers by generating audio in your unique voice. Visit the website to discover what your cloned voice sounds like—and what it can do for your content.

Bring Characters and Stories to Life in Real-Time 🎮
With ElevenLabs, you can bring characters to life in real-time. Explore ElevenLabs’ voice library to generate audio in any style, accent, or age range.

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Hollywood screenwriter Rodney Barnes has struck a deal with true crime YouTuber MrBallen to bring a new horror podcast to Ballen Studios. (Tubefilter)
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• Instagram appears to be in the process of developing AI “friends” that can be customized by “race, gender, age, and personality.” (Gizmodo)
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• Disney reportedly plans to assume full ownership of Hulu before the end of the year by buying out Comcast’s remaining 33% stake. (Gizmodo)
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• LinkedIn is launching a new AI “job seeker coach” in order to assist premium subscribers through the job application process. (Gizmodo)

DATA • STREAMERS ON THE RISE 📈

This gaming streamer is ready to see what lies beyond the Rainbow

MacieJ grew up with two passions: skateboarding and gaming. Those hobbies carried him through high school, and provided a creative outlet as he studied biology on his way to becoming a veterinarian.

All that changed shortly after college graduation.

A severe foot injury put a pin in MacieJ’s plans. Without the capacity to navigate a veterinary school campus or jump on a skateboard, the creator found himself stuck at home. So, he doubled down on a passion he could do one-footed: gaming.

There was still one sticking point. MacieJ loved playing the strategic shooter game Rainbow Six Siege, but he didn’t really want to love it alone. To solve that problem, the creator uploaded a few YouTube videos as a way to spark “some discussions on Reddit.”

Tens of thousands of subscribers flooded in soon after.

It wasn’t long before those viewers began asking MacieJ to add streaming to his repertoire. It was an easy decision—and a life-changing one. Seven years later, MacieJ is a full-time content creator with 1 million Twitch subscribers and nearly 1.5 million YouTube subscribers.

The streamer also has tens of thousands of hours of Rainbow Six Siege gameplay under his belt—and he’s ready to take thing in a new direction. With an eye on strategy-based horror games and a second YouTube channel in his back pocket, MacieJ has one goal in mind:

MATCHMAKER, MATCHMAKER 🎵

A new creator/brand matchmaking service just scored $4.25 million

An ambitious young company has entered the creator/brand matchmaking scene. Cameo vet Arthur Leopold and former Spotify engineering manager Jonathan Meyers have secured $4.25 million for Agentio, a new platform designed to offer creators a “performant and scalable” channel through which to sell ad space on their videos.

Although still in beta, the matchmaking service has already attracted some notable users from within the creator community. Influencers Cody Ko and Nick DiGiovanni have both used Agentio to sell ad space; the former also participated in the company’s multi-million-dollar seed round, which was led by AlleyCorp and Craft Ventures.

In addition to Ko, Agentio’s funding burst included contributions from industry leaders like Cameo Co-Founder Steven Galanis. That endorsement reflects both the platform’s potential and the professional experience possessed by its co-founders. As Cameo’s first-ever hire and former President, Leopold helped grow the company into a multi-million-dollar enterprise. Now—alongside Meyers—he’ll funnel all that hard-earned know-how into building a platform of his own.

WATCH THIS 📺

Amouranth is going beyond the nursing home for her next OFTV program

Remember The Quiet Games? Amouranth’s nursing home-based competition series hit OFTV just over a month ago, but the influencer is already coming back for more. According to Dextero, Amouranth is developing at least two additional game show concepts for OnlyFans’ safe-for-work platform: a cooking show and a creator-led version of American Ninja Warrior.

If you’re planning to finish up The Quiet Games before jumping into the creator’s next series, you might want to get cracking—so far, there are four episodes available via OFTV.

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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.