TOGETHER WITH

It’s Monday and Netflix wants everyone to know that it’s got the big bucks. According to CFO Spencer Neumann, the $18 billion dedicated to this year’s content slate is “not anywhere near the ceiling.”

Today’s News

TIKTOK TALK

As negotiations stall, Trump says he’ll “probably” give TikTok another extension

The delay: TikTok creators and viewers have been anxiously awaiting news of the platform’s future for months now—and it looks like they’ll need to sit tight a while longer. Nearly two months after Donald Trump ordered a 75-day delay for the Biden-era law, Axios has reported that Chinese officials have yet to negotiate with prospective buyers in the United States. 

Suitors are apparently still waiting to receive details of any potential deals, and it’s unclear who, exactly, would be in charge of brokering the final sale anyway. Vice President J.D. Vance is reportedly taking point rather than ceding control to a member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

In other words: a divestment of TikTok to a U.S. company is far from assured. As a result, Trump told a reporter that he will “probably” delay the start of the divest-or-ban law once again.

The context: From the start of Trump’s second term, the Chinese government’s role in the TikTok negotiations has been unclear. Initially, officials in Beijing suggested that they would step aside and let ByteDance broker its own TikTok deal. But as Trump escalated his attacks on Chinese trade, the Chinese Community Party appeared to change its tune, suggesting that it might nix a divestiture agreement.

Now that Trump is scaling back some of those promises and public sentiment has turned against a TikTok ban, it’s possible that he could reverse course in order to use the platform as a bargaining chip in dealings with China.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

From sleek editing facilities to 24/7 concierge service, Creators HQ offers an unprecedented creator experience

Nothing like this has hit the creator industry before.

The organizers behind the 1 Billion Followers Summit have unveiled Creators HQ, a creative and business development workspace in Dubai where creators will gain access to 300+ biz dev events, priority connections to major marketing campaigns, and more.

From lifetime resources to top-of-the-line editing facilities, Creators HQ is dedicated to providing unprecedented support to filmmakers, photographers, musicians, designers, journalists, entrepreneurs, investors, government experts, and community leaders.

An exclusive group of founding members will gain access to all these perks (and more):

• Lifetime access to Creators HQ facilities

• Guaranteed speaking slots at the 1 Billion Followers Summit 

• Priority access to government creator campaigns

• Introductions to major companies and partners

• 24/7 concierge services, including Golden Visa relocation support

• Invitations to exclusive events

• Eligibility for a special affiliate program

Visit the website to learn more about Creators HQ’s Founding Members Program:

Explore Creators HQ → 

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Discord is reportedly in “early-stage talks” with investment bankers regarding the possibility of an initial public offering. (TechCrunch)
  
  

• Meta is testing out a new personalization feature that would allow Threads users to add individual “interests” to their profiles. (TechCrunch) 
  
  

• Donald Trump revealed yesterday that the U.S. government is “dealing with four different groups”—aka potential buyers—in its efforts to arrange a sale of TikTok. (Bloomberg)
  
  

• A 78-page complaint filed by a whistleblower and former employee claims that Facebook took steps to ingratiate itself with the Chinese Community Party by setting up “a content censorship system” in the 2010s. (Gizmodo)

BY THE NUMBERS

2024 was Kickstarter’s biggest year yet, with over $706 million raised

The report: More creators than ever are using Kickstarter to crowdfund their art, inventions, and other projects. In 2024, for example, YouTube animator CircleTunesHD raised $729,197 to bring his fantasy tabletop game Fool’s Blade to life. Then there’s YouTuber and inventor Simone Giertz, who raised nearly $1.2 million across two projects: foldable hangers and a habit calendar.

Now, Kickstarter has released a 2024 postmortem to share details about the YouTubers, artists, gamemakers, and other creatives who raised $706,446,298.66 across 35,512 projects last year. Here are some of the most interesting stats:

• Average campaign contribution per backer: $116.32.
  
  

• Most money pledged by a single backer: $138,815.
  
  

• Most individual projects backed by a single backer: 2,053.
  
  

• Most-funded tabletop project: Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere RPG by Brotherwise Games ($15.1 million raised across 55,106 backers). Sanderson’s project set the record for most money pledged over 24 hours by bringing in a whopping $15 million in a single day. The fantasy author is a regular Kickstarter creator who’s raised over $85 million since 2022.
  
  

• Most-funded tech project: The Valerion VisionMaster ($10.9 million raised across 4,824 backers).
  
  

• Most-funded comic book: Skybound’s G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero ($3.4 million raised across 10,490 backers).
  
  

• Most-searched for products: Watches, tarot cards, dice, keyboards, and coffee.

The takeaway: Kickstarter’s 2024 data demonstrates fans’ willingness to directly support their favorite creators, a phenomenon that’s been on the rise since the early days of the COVID pandemic. Platforms like YouTube and Twitch are always developing more tools to facilitate this connection—but by securing funding through Kickstarter, creators are proving that their audiences are willing to follow them beyond social media. With platform policies shifting and TikTok facing a possible ban, that’s a big deal.

BOUNTY HUNT

Kick’s new fund will reward developers who use its API to make third-party tools

The fund: After providing public access to its API, Kick has announced a new fund that will reward the builders of innovative streamer products. The platform’s $100,000 “bounty” program was launched on March 6, and invites individual developers and teams to build and submit third-party tools that create “value for our viewers.”

That description could apply to a stream extension that adds flair to broadcasts or a franchise tie-in that deepens communal lore. Devs who choose to accept the challenge will have just over two months to submit the projects they build with Kick’s API: entries will be accepted until May 7, with winners announced two weeks later on May 21.

The context: As streaming exclusivity contracts become less common, Kick has taken steps to invest in its middle class through the launch of initiatives like the Creator Incentive Program. The platform’s new API bounty program feels like the latest investment in that strategy, which is likely more sustainable than its earlier approach of luring in top stars with splashy deals.

Although Kick cemented itself as a legitimate Twitch rival and earned cultural relevance by wooing some of the platform’s biggest streamers, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy has argued that a poaching-centric strategy would be a “complete mistake” in the long run.

LISTEN UP 🎙️

This week on the podcast…

“YouTube is Going Premium”: YouTube is leaning harder than ever into its premium era—and creators are scrambling to adjust their content strategies to match. On the latest episode of Creator Upload, hosts Joshua Cohen and Lauren Schnipper dive into the introduction of the platform’s new Premium Lite tier, the start of SXSW, and…the joys of crochet?

Find out more on the this week’s installment of Creator Upload. It’s all right here on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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