TOGETHER WITH

It’s Wednesday and it looks like fast food customers might want their burgers and fries without a side of AI.

FUTURE FORMATS

TikTok just revealed 2 major monetization updates—including a renamed Creativity Program

TikTok marked its biggest creator summit yet with two milestone announcements: the Creativity Program’s exit from beta and the expansion of LIVE Subscription to (some) VOD creators.

Creator Rewards Program: The Creativity Program is coming out of beta with a brand-new name and—according to TikTok—“some improvements.”

• While the details of those improvements haven’t been revealed, the platform did confirm that the newly rebranded Creator Rewards Program will still limit payouts to videos over 60 seconds. Also on the list of criteria: “originality, play duration, search value and audience engagement.”

LIVE Subscription → Subscription: Since 2022, TikTok has offered creators who do live streams (and only creators who do live streams) another way to collect revenue. That LIVE Subscription feature has historically rewarded paying viewers with perks like exclusive content and emojis (à la YouTube channel memberships).

• Now, the parameters of TikTok’s paywalled perks are changing. Following an invite-only period, “eligible creators” will have the option to sign up for Subscription—a revamped version of LIVE Subscription that includes creators who make VOD content.

Why it matters: A few years after the debut of the less-than-optimal Creator Fund, TikTok’s monetization systems have begun making a big impact on the livelihoods of its creator community.

• According to the platform, total creator revenue has increased by 250% over the last six months, while the number of creators making over $50K per month from the Creator Rewards Program has doubled.
  
  

• TikTok has also noted that creators who join the Creativity Program/Creator Rewards Program can expect to make 20x more revenue than they did through the Creator Fund.

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• A bill introduced by U.S. Congressmen Mike Gallagher and Raja Krishnamoorthi aims to force Bytedance to divest TikTok. (Tubefilter)
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• 24 Twitch streamers—including Sykkuno, LilyPichu, and Disguised Toast—will face off in a Tekken tournament organized by fighting game content creator Sajam. (Tubefilter)
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• According to Warner Bros. Discovery exec JB Perrette, Max plans to crack down on password-sharing “starting later this year and into ’25.” (Ars Technica)
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• A U.S. District Judge has blocked X’s attempts to fully dismiss a $250 million copyright infringement lawsuit filed by the National Music Publishers’ Association. (The Verge)

DATA • GLOBAL TOP 50 📈

This stretchy small business is embracing the power of Shorts

An oddly satisfying product is taking YouTube Shorts by storm.

The channel: Serial collectors (and Shorts scrollers) are probably already familiar with ElaFrame. The Slovak company has climbed into our monthly Global Top 100 chart by promoting its signature product: a display case that suspends collectibles between two pieces of stretchy material.

• ElaFrame’s viral success showcases the power of both short-form marketing and YouTube’s legion of ASMR-loving viewers. The channel’s videos—which often stretch ElaFrame’s plastic cases to their limits—fall into the same category as slime-scooping clips and glass-breaking Shorts.
  
  

• ElaFrame takes that viral approach up a notch by tapping into the fanbases of other popular creator-led products. One of the brand’s most-watched videos, for instance, has attracted 90 million views by demonstrating ElaFrame’s ability to display an entire bottle of Prime.

The stats: ElaFrame’s social media-first marketing strategy is paying off in a big way. In February alone, the Slovakia-based channel collected a whopping 828.5 million views.

• That monthly total added up to nearly half of ElaFrame’s lifetime viewership, which now stands at 1.7 billion views.
  
  

• The result: the short-form frame hub jumped to #55 in our monthly Global Top 100 chart.

LINKING UP

A two-month-old agency is changing the influencer marketing game—on LinkedIn

LinkedIn probably isn’t the first platform that comes to mind when you think of influencer marketing—but that doesn’t mean brands aren’t looking for an opportunity to connect with LinkedIn creators (and vice versa).

The mission: A new “LinkedIn influencer marketing company” called Creator Authority aims to facilitate those connections by capitalizing on the platform’s unique consumer base and influencer-friendly resources (including its three-year-old Creator Mode).

• Creator Authority co-founder and former Mekanism Chief Innovation Officer Brendan Gahan told AdAge that LinkedIn caters to a “brand-safe, engaged and highly affluent audience” and is equipped with “everything from text to video to live streaming and audio events.”

• In addition to helping brands like Tipalti develop marketing strategies around those resources and connect with influencers, Gahan says he and co-founder/fellow Mekanism vet Mindi Hopper plan to build on the “nice supplemental revenue” that some creators are already generating from LinkedIn-based deals.

Why it matters: Platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram may dominate the influencer marketing field, but that doesn’t mean opportunities aren’t available elsewhere. For creators aiming to reach niche audiences, diversify their platforms, or escape the competitive grind, LinkedIn offers a promising source of revenue

• Branching into non-saturated creator communities gives influencers the opportunity to stand out without burning out. Several creators have told Tubefilter that they feel more comfortable experimenting on LinkedIn and less prone to burnout.

WATCH THIS 📺

The sandworms in Dune couldn’t actually exist…right?

The books: As Dune: Part Two sweeps into theaters, sci-fi fans across the globe are picking up Frank Herbert’s book series for the first time. That reading experience inevitable triggers one daunting question: sandworms couldn’t possibly exist outside of the planet Arrakis…right?

The biology: Real Science has the answers. The edutainment channel combined Earth-side biology with Herbert’s exobiological musings to answer common questions about the size, temperature, and terrifying abilities of sandworms.

• Check out the full video here to dig deeper (if you dare).

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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.