TOGETHER WITH

It’s Tuesday and Instagram has a gift for drunk DMers and butt-dialers everywhere: an extended grace period that allows users to edit DMs within 15 minutes of hitting send.

CHANGE OF PACE

MrBeast says “ultra fast paced” videos are out. Here’s what you should post instead:

The pivot: MrBeast has a vision for the future of YouTube—and it doesn’t include quick-cut editing. In an X post uploaded on March 3, the creator (whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson) revealed that he’s changed course over the last year.

• As part of a new strategy, his team has “slowed down our videos, focused on storytelling, let scenes breathe, yelled less, more personality, longer videos, etc.” The result: Donaldson says views have “skyrocketed.”

The evidence: It only takes one minute to see the difference between MrBeast’s latest upload (I Survived 7 Days In An Abandoned City) and a video from last March (I Paid A Real Assassin To Try To Kill Me).

• We watched 60 seconds of content from the midpoint of each video and found that the March 2023 example contains 16 more cuts, while the newer clip offers longer shots, zoomed-out visuals, and quieter dialogue.
  
  

• The stats add up, too: according to Gospel Stats, MrBeast’s long-form videos now bring in an average of 150 million views in their first 90 days, as opposed to around 60 million in August 2022.

Why it matters: Unlike TikTok sounds and Shorts memes, long-form video styles tend to fall in and out of favor more gradually—but that doesn’t mean creators should stop optimizing after finding a format that works for them. As MrBeast’s pacing pivot demonstrates, even top creators need to adapt to shifting viewer preferences and video trends to stay at the top of their game.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

Always on your side: Viewture is helping YouTube creators fund their ambitions

The Sidemen are so hot right now—and for good reason. In 2023, the U.K. supergroup entered into a multi-million-dollar finance deal with the funding specialists at Viewture. 

The result: Viewture’s creator-friendly funding and exclusive industry insights have allowed the Sidemen to invest in some truly groundbreaking projects—including a new Netflix documentary that dropped just last month.

Now, it’s your turn to fund your ambitions with Viewture
When you license your video library with Viewture, you’ll get a lump-sum, upfront payment in return for your channel’s future AdSense income for a set period of time. 

License your video catalog and re-invest in your channel
With Viewture, every funding agreement is 100% personalized to creators’ needs. Viewture has a clear and quick decision-making process to complete transactions efficiently, while creators maintain full control of their content and IP.

Click here to connect your channel for a free valuation
Whether you’re hiring new staff, expanding to a bigger studio, or producing your next hit series, Viewture provides both the capital and the industry insights you need to take your brand to the next level. So, why not get started today?

Get in touch with the Viewture team to discuss how channel funding can help shape your future.

Contact Viewture today →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Currents Management has signed creators Tay and Kay Dudley, Reza and Puja Khan, Sidney Raz, Dave Ogleton, and Clayton Farris. (Tubefilter)
  ​

• Former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal is one of five high-ranking execs suing Elon Musk for unpaid severance benefits. (Engadget)
  ​

• The European Commission has fined Apple $2 billion for preventing app developers from “informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services.” (Ars Technica)
  ​

• ChatGPT’s new “Read Aloud” feature gives the chatbot the ability to narrate responses in 37 different languages. (The Verge)

DATA • GOSPEL STATS 📈

Top 3 Branded Videos: Meme Olympics, Minecraft parasites, and more

From Minecraft to Fortnite to good old-fashioned football (à la Ted Lasso), the latest Gospel Stats’ Weekly Brand Report dug deep into the internet’s favorite games. Here’s how this week’s ranking of branded YouTube videos shook out:

🥇 Futcrunch x Top Eleven: I Tested Banned Football Products
After a video-free month, Futcrunch teamed up with fellow soccer enthusiast OussiFooty to review some of the most frowned-upon football products in the world. The kicker: of all the spike-laden equipment reviewed, a single pair of socks managed to earn a $70,000 fine from FIFA.

• Luckily for gamers, those strict dress codes are nowhere to be found in Top Eleven—aka the mobile game responsible for sponsoring Futcrunch’s latest video.

🥈 LazarBeam x PrizePicks: RANKED Meme Olympics
PrizePicks might be a hotspot for fantasy football, but the sports site had its eye on other verticals this week. LazarBeam promoted PrizePicks in a viral video that brought fans 13 minutes of cross-over memes and cartoon violence (not to mention an abundance of drumstick-wielding chickens).

🥉 Forge Labs x Opera GX: I Spent 100 Days in an Evolved Parasite Outbreak in Hardcore Minecraft… Here’s What Happened
Serial sponsors like Opera are catching on to the staying power of Minecraft. The sandbox title has remained one of YouTube‘s biggest games for over a decade now—and based on the 3.5 million viewers who tuned into Forge Labs’ block-based adventure, it’s not fading to black anytime soon.

FYI: These rankings only scratch the surface of everything Gospel Stats has to offer. Check out the full site here for in-depth data on branded partnerships, rising channels, and top stars.

WATCH THIS 📺

Hey, Lunchables—it’s time to kick things up a notch

The content: Lunchables and Twinkies might have nostalgia on their side, but Frankie Gaw has his own secret weapons: fresh ingredients and Asian-inspired recipes.

• Gaw’s latest series—aka “Turning American Classics Asian”—makes a strong case for adding pork bao Lunchables, Campbell’s congee, and black sesame Cheerios to grocery store shelves.
  
  

• Check out those and other new-and-improved recipes here.

Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.​

Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.