TOGETHER WITH

It's Sunday and here’s a handpicked selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the creator industry.

But first, we can’t forget about tonight’s big award show. If you’re still catching up on this year’s Hollywood happenings, TikTok’s dedicated Oscars hub has everything you need to get up to speed.

CREATOR COMMOTION

Creators are moving on, reuniting, and adding celebs into the mix

The celebrity cameo: The new Moist Cr1TiKaL is…T-Pain? With help from Ray William Johnson, Ironmouse, and others, the creator whose real name is Charlie White pretended to move on to a “second season” hosted by T-Pain. Moist then informed us that Season Two is canceled and he’s back to hosting his channel after the elaborate stunt (which was planned simply to delight him and his audience). Still, T-Pain is a pretty good get for a guy who sits in his room talking about YouTube drama.

The departure: Asmongold, on the other hand, actually is moving onto the next season of his career. The creator has officially left OTK, the gaming and entertainment org he co-founded. (Other members, such as Emiru, have indicated that their OTK status is still active.)

The reunion: While OTK says goodbye to Asmongold, another creator group is getting the band back together—at least, for the duration of one stream. A live reunion broadcast featured several creators who joined forces during the early years of TikTok to form a YouTube supergroup known as the Sway House.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

From Brainstorm to Breakout: The Secret Tool Top Creators Are Using 

Something big has arrived in the creator economy. As top creators wrestle with demanding posting schedules and ever-shifting algorithms, they’ve found a way to stay ahead of the game: Spotter Studio.

The game changer: In 2024, Spotter Studio launched a full suite of ideation tools designed to make creators’ lives easier. Since then, videos made with Spotter Studio have earned 49% more views in the first 7 days compared to those made without.

Top YouTube creators are using Spotter Studio to post more videos, earn more revenue, and get more views—all while putting in less work.

The stats: Take it from Kinigra Deon: by using Spotter Studio to plan out videos and design new thumbnails, the creator was able to attract more views and more subscribers—all while growing her video revenue by 34%.

YouTube’s biggest stars are leveraging Spotter Studio to beat burnout and reach more viewers than ever before. Are you ready to join them?

Get started with Spotter Studio →

GOING PLACES

From podcasting panels to fresh roles, creator industry pros are on the move

Events and happenings: Sean Evans, Rhett & Link and Marques Brownlee are set to join Variety’s SXSW Podcast Brunch. Multiple creators of note will join forces for a March 8 panel that will discuss strategies in the rising world of video podcasts. Variety Chief Awards Editor Clayton Davis will moderate.

Movers and shakers: Former President of MrBeast, LLC (and Tubefilter Co-Founder) Marc Hustvedt is heading to Contrarian, a digital media company dedicated to financial education and empowerment. The longtime creator economy exec will work closely with Founder and CEO Codie Sanchez in his new role as President.

COURT OF LAW

Platforms are going to court and new precedents are emerging for AI training

In platform news: Passes just got hit with a class action lawsuit. Allegations involving inappropriate images of minors are at the center of a case that targets the creator marketing platform—and it’s far from the only online hub facing legal trouble.

YouTube and TikTok, for instance, only recently evaded a “choking challenge” lawsuit. In this particular instance, the social media giants are not being held accountable for hazardous trends that propagated on their respective platforms. There’s evidence to suggest that the tide could be turning in those cases, so YouTube and TikTok should enjoy the wins for now–and figure out how to curb such behavior in the future.

In AI news: Meanwhile, in the world of artificial intelligence, Thomson Reuters has set a new precedent for generative AI training. The corporation emerged victorious in a case described as the first major copyright lawsuit of the AI era. Will the protections afforded to rights holders be maintained in future cases?

WATCH THIS 🍝

The collective power of the internet manifested this pasta dish

Just desserts (or dumplings): Internet jokesters spoke the New York Times‘ latest recipe into existence. Because what better way to respond to memes than to turn them into reality?

Social media users teased that a wordy dish like “Lemony Garlicky Miso Gochujang Black Butter Gnocchi” would be the ultimate example of the heightened descriptions on the New York Times cooking app. It was all fun and games until @nytcooking actually released a L.G.M.G.B.B.G. video recipe—and it ended up looking quite lemony and garlicky indeed.

Want to introduce your brand to Tubefilter’s audience? Sponsor the newsletter.

Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.​

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