TOGETHER WITH

It's Thursday and music lovers everywhere can now generate their own songs in a snap thanks to Google’s text-to-music AI, MusicLM.

TUCKER CARLSON: CONTENT CREATOR

Will Tucker Carlson get sued for bringing his show to Twitter?

It’s only been two weeks since Tucker Carlson was dismissed from Fox News, but the conservative pundit has already found a new home for his show.

The only catch: Twitter didn’t actually know Carlson was coming. The pundit first revealed his plans in a three-minute video, which he posted to his personal account earlier this week. That announcement was news to Twitter CEO Elon Musk, who quickly responded with a tweet noting that “we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever. Tucker is subject to the same rules and rewards of all content creators.” Musk went on to encourage other figures—“particularly on the left”—to become Twitter creators.

That response doesn’t mean that Carlson’s presence on the platform is unwelcome. In fact, if Twitter actually does roll out creator-friendly revenue streams (as promised), then the pundit could end up being one of the first bankable stars of Musk’s reign—and a big draw for others. (After all, Carlson’s show was the main reason why Fox News became one of the 25 most-watched YouTube channels in the U.S.)

Carlson’s popularity might not be enough to safeguard his new status as a content creator.

The pundit is still under contract with Fox until January 2025, which means he has a pretty hefty noncompete clause looming over him. In hopes of wriggling out of that agreement, Carlson is looking to take the network to court over an alleged breach of contract. Until that happens, though, bringing his show online could be risky business.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

Looking for the perfect soundtrack? With 16,000 tracks and 18,000 sound effects, Snapmuse.com has it covered.

Snapmuse.com is a different kind of online music licensing platform. Thanks to their team of social media experts and musicians, Snapmuse.com produces all of its audio offerings in-house—meaning every single track is royalty-free and 100% safe for monetized use on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, Facebook, and Instagram.

From pop songs to cinematic sound effects, Snapmuse.com has it all.

At Snapmuse.com, every track can be personalized to fit your individual needs. Browse by mood, genre, or BPM to find full songs, sound effects, and stems—or select pre-cut tracks edited to fit both long and short-form content.

Looking for something totally unique? Snapmuse.com’s rich portfolio of artists can produce a one-of-a-kind track composed just for you.

Unlike other music platforms, Snapmuse.com doesn’t require a one-size-fits-all subscription. That means you can purchase one song, subscribe for unlimited downloads, or buy a completely personalized track—it’s all up to you.

Ready to discover the perfect soundtrack for your content? Smash the link below to check out Snapmuse.com’s royalty-free music library.

Discover your sound at Snapmuse.com → 

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Jellysmack has made a multimillion-dollar investment in creator commerce platform Fourthwall. (Tubefilter)
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• Players in the Call of Duty titles Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone will soon be able to unlock skins featuring the likenesses of creators Nickmercs and TimTheTatman. (Tubefilter)
  

• Only Pans creator Susi Vidal and Denver’s Call to Arms Brewing are teaming up to release a special-edition beer called Afternoon Delight. (Tubefilter)

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• Disney CEO Bob Iger has announced that the company will combine Disney+ and Hulu to create a “one-app experience.” (The Verge)

DATA • CREATORS ON THE RISE 📈

From powerlifting to Jeep ducking, this cross-platform creator does it all

Abby Berner isn’t into limitations. The creator has built substantial followings on every platform from Twitch to Snapchat, and her content ranges from powerlifting videos to dog clothes unboxings.

That broad range is nothing new for Berner.

Even before she began posting videos online, the Shorts star was so versatile that she moved high schools to start an official powerlifting team and earned scholarship offers for bowling. That athletic ability is what first led Berner to her full-time career as a content creator:

Nowadays, Berner has expanded beyond YouTube to establish communities on TikTok, Instagram, Twitch, and Snapchat—and even that only makes up about half of her career. In addition to her posting schedule, the creator has started a cheeky Jeep-ducking brand called You Ducker, launched an official Abby Berner trading card with Leaf Trading Cards, and is currently building a subscription-based fitness app.

All those ventures have combined to make Berner a remarkably popular cross-platform creator:

• As of now, the creator claims 2 million followers on Instagram, 540,000 on Snapchat, just over 200,000 on YouTube, and 55,000 on Twitch.

• Her biggest community of all resides on TikTok, where she claims 7 million followers.

• Berner’s viewership is nothing to sneeze at, either. On YouTube, her most-watched Short has more than 12 million views.

TIKTOK SHOP TALK

Is the threat of a U.S. ban killing TikTok’s ecommerce mojo?

According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. rollout of TikTok’s ecommerce platform may be facing some serious delays. The report cited “people familiar with the matter,” who claimed that TikTok Shop’s U.S. arrival has been pushed back from an “early spring” launch to June at the earliest.

Those (alleged) delays aren’t so surprising.

TikTok Shop caught on like wildfire after being introduced in Asia, but the platform’s Western rollout hasn’t exactly gone as planned. In addition to a rocky U.K. launch, TikTok pushed back the second phase of Shop tests in the U.S. (according to the WSJ report) after struggling to attract sellers. Those tests have since continued.

A potential U.S.-wide ban could also be a major point of concern. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and his deputies have taken great strides to combat the proposed RESTRICT Act, but there’s no guarantee that a ban won’t come to pass—and that uncertainty may be creating problems for the app’s Shop launch. According to the WSJ, merchants in the U.S. are unsure whether they should sign on with a platform that could be banned in the near future.

In other words, a stunted rollout of Shop could be the result of several factors—but for now, TikTok isn’t admitting to any of them:

WATCH THIS 📺

Things are getting a little weird at NASA

NASA’s latest robot might freak out spectators with ophidiophobia (AKA a fear of snakes), but the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor—or EELS—has a lot going for it as a space exploration tool. Per EELS principal investigator Hiro Ono, NASA’s “autonomous snake robot” is designed to “boldly go where no robot has gone before.”

The hope (according to Gizmodo) is that EELS will be able to traverse alien terrains that are simply inaccessible to typical rovers and other robots. Before that can happen, though, the slithery machine will need to prove its mettle through a few more Earth-based tests.

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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.