TOGETHER WITH

It’s Monday and if you’re wondering why waffles have taken over your Bluesky feed, the answer probably isn’t quite as breakfast-related as you’d hoped.

Today’s News

LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL

Taylor Swift’s new album snagged 20M YouTube views in 17 hours

The album: Taylor Swift’s 12th studio LP hit streaming services last week—and social media platforms were quick to jump on the hype with themed assets, easter eggs, and more.

The buzz surrounding Swift’s latest drop had been building for a while. The Life of a Showgirl began smashing viewership records weeks ago, when Swift announced its impending arrival on the Kelce brothers’ New Heights podcast. Guinness World Records confirmed the live premiere of that episode set a new record for the number of concurrent podcast listeners: over 1.3 million people.

The album’s October 3rd release triggered even more engagement. 17 hours after Showgirl dropped, its visualizer videos had already collectively accrued more than 20 million views on Swift’s official YouTube channel.

The platforms: While YouTube proved to be an important distribution source for Showgirl, however, it was TikTok that provided fans with the most album-related activations. An in-app hub has been dishing out animations, themed profile assets, and other rewards since mid-September, while easter eggs have been hidden across the platform. An interactive experience also offers fans a chance to explore “Your Journey of Following Taylor Swift.”

TikTok has taken the Showgirl mania into the real world, too. Between October 3-9, Los Angeles’ Westfield Century City is hosting an installation that lets Swifties take photos in front of Showgirl-inspired backdrops.

The takeaway: The many activations surrounding the release of Showgirl epitomizes album distribution as we understand it in the 2020s. As the slow reveal of singles is eschewed in favor of flashy release day spectacles, social media is increasingly becoming an integral part of music industry success.

🌟 SPONSORED 🌟

1 Billion Followers Summit and Google Gemini will award the world’s largest prize for AI filmmaking: $1 million

Come January, one creator will win the largest AI filmmaking prize ever awarded: $1 million. 

Launched by the 1 Billion Followers Summit in partnership with Google Gemini, the AI Film Award competition aims to encourage meaningful content and enhance filmmakers' skills by integrating AI into their productions.

Will you win $1M at the 1 Billion Followers Summit?

Here’s what your journey to victory could look like:

1. Create a film with Google Gemini 🎬
   Entries should be 7-10 minutes long, visually realistic, and at least 70% powered by Gemini while addressing one of two concepts: “Rewrite Tomorrow” or “The Secret Life of.”
   
   

2. Submit your application for evaluation 📨
   A panel of judges will evaluate submissions based on storytelling, creativity, AI integration, execution, and thematic excellence. Then, from December 10-15, 10 qualifying films will be open to public voting.
   
   

3. See your film on the big screen 📽️
   Five finalist films will be announced on January 3rd and screened during the 1 Billion Followers Summit on January 10th.
   
   

4. Take the stage at the 1 Billion Followers Summit 🏆
   One $1M winner will be revealed live at the Summit on January 11th.

Applications are open now until November 20th.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• The Culver City Police Department says it has made an arrest in connection with multiple threats made against local TikTok employees. (TechCrunch)
  
  

• A Dutch court has ordered Meta to give users on Instagram and Facebook the option to reformat their timelines to be less algorithm-driven (such as by ordering posts chronologically). (Engadget)
  
  

• A new report from U.K. watchdog Global Witness found that “TikTok’s search algorithms actively push minors towards pornographic content.” (CNN)
  
  

• ICE reportedly aims to hire almost 30 contractors to conduct social media surveillance across platforms like X, TikTok, and Facebook. (Wired)

THE BIZ

Discord’s year-old ad format seems to be working

The measurement test: Discord has been developing new ad formats since the start of the 2020s, when pandemic-era traffic led to increased user numbers. The first form of monetization to arrive was a server membership feature that debuted in 2021.

Then, in 2024, Quests joined Discord’s array of ad formats. The interactive spots prompt users to play select titles in exchange for in-game rewards—and according to attribution and analytics company AppsFlyer, they seem to be delivering quality results.

AppsFlyer ran a performance measurement test on Quests in June, when it analyzed the results of a campaign that promoted the Marvel Snap trading card game on behalf of developer Second Dinner. According to Digiday, that campaign generated 15 million impressions, and 99% of the users who started a Quest received a reward for completing it. Second Dinner’s cost per install also dropped by 30% in the wake of its Quests campaign.

The context: So, what’s behind the ad format’s impressive stats? According to AppsFlyer Global Director of Gaming Product Adam Smart, the value of Quests is largely rooted in their ability to connect brands to hyperspecific communities that are harder to reach through traditional ads:

As AppsFlyer’s analysis went public, Discord revealed a new version of Quests that will reward players based on the amount of time they spend in sponsored game worlds. The platform’s VP of Sales and Ad Solutions, Adam Bauer, added that his team plans to continue expanding the breadth of measurement options for Quests later this year.

EVENTS & HAPPENINGS

Here’s Tubefilter’s official guide to VidSummit 2025:

The summit: VidSummit 2025 kicks off tomorrow at the Irving Convention Center—and this year’s conference is set to be the biggest yet, with 4,100 attendees and a stacked schedule of panels, workshops, and more.

Given the breadth of that programming, we wanted to give y’all a heads up on what we consider the conference’s must-see events. You can find Tubefilter’s full official guide to VidSummit here or check out the TLDR; version below.

Tuesday, October 7:

• 7-10 PM: Hit the Reign Maker Group Kickoff Party

Wednesday, October 8:

• 9:05 AM: Keynote – How to Build a Content Creation Business that Lasts with Linus Tech Tips
  
  

• 10:45 AM: Panel – Building a TEAM Behind the Screen with HopeScope, Tyler Allen, Safiya Nygaard, Tyler Williams, and Kim Larson
  
  

• 12:25 PM: Keynote with longtime video marketing strategy consultant Derral Eves (who founded VidSummit in 2014 after recognizing the need for a biz dev event dedicated to creators)
  
  

• 5:15 PM: Panel – The Impacts of AI on Content Creation with Matt Wolfe, George Blackman, Roberto Blake, and Murray Frost 
  
  

• 6:05 PM: Theorist Year One with Santi Massa, Forrest Lee Collins, Tom Robinson, Amy Roberts, Ash Curry, and Josiah Hritsko

Thursday, October 9:

• 8 AM: From Skits to Series: How to Build Episodic Content that Hooks, Grows, and Pays with Tiffany La’Ryn
  
  

• 9:55 AM: YouTube is the New Hollywood with Jordan Matter
  
  

• 10:50 AM: Micro-storytelling for Social Media with Sun Yi
  
  

• 11:40 AM: YouTube’s 30+ NEW Features – Explained! with YouTube’s Creator Liaison Rene Ritchie
  
  

• 6:30 PM: Creators in Fashion (followed by the official VidSummit afterparty at the Rayleigh Underground, with exact timing to be announced).

Haven’t snagged your pass to VidSummit yet? Tickets and Replays are still available here.

FYI: VidSummit is a Tubefilter partner

LISTEN UP 🎙️

This week on the podcast…

“Trump’s New Algorithm”: On the latest installment of Creator Upload, hosts Lauren Schnipper and Josh Cohen dive into the White House’s $14 billion TikTok deal and unpack what could happen next—including President Trump’s plan to shake up the algorithm.

Also on the discussion board: Dancing with the Stars’ absolutely wild "TikTok Night.” Was the social media-themed episode a brilliant marketing move or just a two-hour infomercial? Or both?

Check out the full installment of Creator Upload on Spotify and Apple Podcasts to find out more.

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