Twitch plays revenue roulette 🔪

Starting the week with big money moves.

Author

Emily Burton
January 29, 2024

TOGETHER WITH

It’s Monday and YouTube’s decision to train its AI “Dream Track” feature with chart-topping pop songs is causing some serious tension in the music industry.

GET WITH THE PROGRAM

Twitch is shaking up its monetization system (again)

Big changes are coming to Twitch. The platform has announced a series of monetization updates—including one that will transform the Partner Plus Program.

The context: Before 2020, streamers used to receive 70% of their revenue, while Twitch claimed 30%. Then, in 2022, the platform switched to a 50/50 split.

  • That didn’t go over well with creators, so Twitch introduced a sort of compromise in 2023: the Partner Plus Program.

  • Through Partner Plus, Partner streamers who earned 350 monthly points (based on channel subscriptions) could revert to a 70/30 split until they made a lifetime total of $100,000. After that, they’d drop back to 50/50.

The changes: Now, Twitch is implementing three main updates to give more streamers a chance at higher payouts.

  1. Per CEO Dan Clancy, Twitch is eliminating the Plus Program’s $100,000 cap “effective immediately”—meaning qualifying streamers will continue earning a 70% cut regardless of their total revenue.

  2. Twitch is lowering entry requirements for the Plus Program. Under its new system, Partners will only have to earn 300 monthly points in order to qualify for a 70/30 split.

  3. A new Plus Program tier will offer a 60/40 split to qualifying Affiliates or Partners who earn at least 100 points for three consecutive months.

The big picture: Clancy says Twitch expects those revenue updates to “allow three times as many streamers to have premium net revenue share rates.”

  • Given recent layoffs and the CEO’s admission that Twitch is currently unprofitable, the platform likely hopes those changes will be enough to offset the impact of cost-cutting strategies—including a new fixed rate payout system for Amazon Prime subscriptions, which will pay streamers more or less “based upon the country of the subscriber.”

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

COLUMNS • MILLIONAIRES 📈

These creators have mastered the art of collaborative comedy

From creative partners to best friends, Chase and Melo have always been magic together. The couple’s on-screen chemistry and comedic talent have enchanted fans for over six years—and they’re not planning to slow down anytime soon.

How it started: Back in 2017, Chase realized there was something special about a rising video maker called Melo. He’d already been in the social media biz for several years at that point and was trying “to be more expansive”—so, he reached out to see if she’d be interested in a role in his short film.

  • Needless to say, Melo nailed the part—and the duo’s collaborative relationship was born. Chase and Melo filmed together for a while, took a short break, and then began collaborating again in 2019. By the end of the year, they were best friends; by 2020, they’d begun dating.

  • At that point, the pandemic gave Melo and Chase a chance to focus on a key part of video making: consistency. They created a combined YouTube Shorts channel in 2021, and have been growing rapidly across multiple platforms ever since.

How it’s going: These days, Chase and Melo each claim more than 1 million followers on TikTok. Their shared Shorts channel is approaching the million-subscriber mark, too; as of now, Chase & Melo Shorts counts around 830,000 subscribers.

Chase & Melo scored over 30 million views this month. Data from Gospel Stats.

What’s up next: Melo and Chase are gearing up for a busy 2024. In addition to posting long-form vlogs on their new YouTube channel at least once a week, Chase says the two are looking forward to “seeing the expansion on what we can build and…doing bigger collaborations and doing what we’re doing at a higher scale."

MRBEAST X MOOSE

MrBeast is launching his own line of action figures

MrBeast is hitting the toy aisle. YouTube’s most-subscribed-to creator has joined forces with Moose Toys—aka the brand behind Shopkins, Magic Mixies, and Beast Lab—to release a line of action figures in fall 2024.

The product: According to a press release, fans and “kidults” can look forward to an “enticingly collectible action figure range overlayed with incredible, never-before-seen innovation.” The individuals figures will be available worldwide, and are designed to capture “the ferocity” of MrBeast’s blue-and-fuchsia panther logo through a “variety of scales, authentic designs, quality finishes and color combinations.”

The collaboration: This isn’t Moose Toys’ first rodeo. In addition to bringing years of toy production and retail experience to the table, the company has previously partnered with influential creator brands like ChuChu TV and Collins Key.

  • Moose Toys’ latest creator partner will play an active role in the success of his upcoming line. MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson) plans to promote the action figures in his videos, which reach 235 million subscribers through his primary YouTube channel alone. (Donaldson reaches millions of other fans through language-specific YouTube channels and accounts on platforms like TikTok.)

❝

“This will be the most anticipated launch of the year.”

Paul Solomon, Moose Toys CEO

Why it matters: Donaldson’s partnership with Moose Toys is the latest in a long line of MrBeast-branded collaborations and merch lines. By partnering with companies like Nerf and launching his own subsidiary brands (including Feastables), the creator has built a massive retail empire.

  • His storied career has become a roadmap for creators seeking to establish new revenue streams—and a testament to the importance of reaching global audiences through both localized content and physical products.

LISTEN UP 🎙️

This week on the podcast…

MrBeast goes big: Jimmy Donaldson had one hell of a week. The man better known as MrBeast introduced himself to millions of Chinese viewers, took home a $260,000 X payout, and reportedly scored a $100 million TV deal with Amazon. Whew.

Airrack sells Creator Now: VidIQ announced a major acquisition last week. The online education company is the new owner of Creator Now, the “YouTuber film school” co-created by Airrack in 2021.

How to tune in: Catch the latest episode of Creator Upload on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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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.