TOGETHER WITH

It's Monday and TikTok’s top star kicked off 2026 with an apparent $900 million acquisition deal. Khaby Lame may be a man of few words, but he’s certainly not a man of few dollars.

RUMOR HAS IT

The leak: Would you subscribe to an Instagram version of YouTube Premium or Snapchat Plus? If your answer is ‘yes,’ that’s exactly what Meta is (allegedly) betting on. According to Alessandro Paluzzi—a mobile developer known for finding upcoming features on major social media apps—Instagram is reportedly working on a paid tier that would unlock several premium features.

After digging into the platform’s code, Paluzzi found a line that references “a new paid subscription that will offer new perks, including the ability to create unlimited audience lists.” Other paid features posited by the developer include the ability to “see the list of followers who don’t follow you back” and the power to “sneak a peek at a story without showing that you’ve viewed it.”

The motivation: Meta also already has proof that users will pay for status and utility inside its apps.

The company’s Meta Verified program launched in 2023 and charges a monthly fee in exchange for a blue checkmark, identity verification, account support, links in Reels, and added visibility. While it was initially framed as a creator-facing product, Meta Verified quietly normalized the idea that everyday users might subscribe to “pro” tiers of social platforms for perceived safety, credibility, and convenience (even if they need a little marketing push).

It’s not hard to imagine why Instagram would be compelled to launch another premium offering. YouTube’s paid tiers crossed the 100 million subscriber mark in 2024, and Snapchat Plus has been a boon for its parent company. Snap only needed a few days to reach one million customers for its $3.99-a-month add-on tier.

That kind of engagement would mean a major revenue boost for Instagram, while simultaneously helping the platform to draw traffic away from other apps. Right now, users who want to look up non-mutual followers must rely on either elaborate workarounds or third-party services like Followers Tracker and Unfolks. By bringing those kinds of features in-house, Instagram could do to the follower trackers what it did to the link-in-bio services.

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

ECONOMIC IMPACT

The report: TikTok’s $14 billion deal with the U.S. might still be making headlines, but the platform doesn’t want anyone forgetting the sway it holds in other regions. A report published by TikTok—which pulls from a survey conducted by Public First on the platform’s behalf—found that its direct and indirect impact in the European Union totals an estimated €31 billion.

Public First arrived at that figure (which TikTok says includes “direct, indirect, and induced economic output”) by synthesizing factors as diverse as ad spend, sales value generated by businesses active on TikTok, and music industry royalties.

In total, TikTok’s contributions to Europe’s creative sector added up to €2.6 billion, a sum that equates to about 52,000 full-time jobs. Germany accounted for the largest slice of the €31 billion pie, with the impact of its TikTok community reaching €7.2 billion. France—despite its government’s aggressive policing of TikTok—came in second on that list at €5.2 billion.

The details: Some portions of the economic contribution are more opaque than others. TikTok, for example, claims that it supports 5.3 billion hours of informal learning, and the report suggests its education value could be worth up to €20 billion in productivity gains across Europe. TikTok also argued that it saves consumers €10 billion annually by providing them with more choice and access through hubs like TikTok Shop.

Those gains are difficult to gauge, but they also explain what makes TikTok so powerful. The platform may not operate as a record label, for instance, but it still claims to generate €1.8 billion of value through music streaming, ticket sales, and merchandise purchases. When you consider that Europe and the U.S. aren’t even TikTok’s biggest regions, its global dominance comes clearly into view.

CREATOR COMMOTION

The 2025 event: In 2025, MIPCOM returned to Cannes with an “ambitious new focus” that put the creator economy at the heart of its event. The long-running TV industry trade show secured YouTube as a partner and welcomed over 10,600 attendees for three days of programming that celebrated the power of “the biggest generational shift MIPCOM has ever seen” (per Director Lucy Smith).

According to Smith, the 2025 edition of MIPCOM Cannes “featured major creators, creator-led studios, and platforms across the program, including YouTube, Tubi, Twitch, and Snapchat,” while “speakers like Sean Atkins from Dhar Mann Studios brought incredible insight,” and brands like Mattel delivered expert-led keynotes.

MIPCOM’s decision to embrace creators in 2025 was an acknowledgment that they “absolutely belong in a global market like Cannes,” Smith says. Mainstream media clients like Fox, Banijay, and Fremantle “were already leaning into creator partnerships,” and Smith notes that her team “saw a real desire among creators to build global partnerships, co-productions, and distribution opportunities.”

What’s next: Now, the MIP team is preparing for three major events in 2026. MIPCOM will return to the Palais des Festivals in Cannes from October 12-15, while MIP LONDON will take place from February 22-24 at the Savoy Hotel in London and MIP CANCUN is slated for November 17-20 at the Moon Palace in Cancun.

Creators will have a significant presence at all three events.

For the 2026 edition of MIPCOM Cannes, Smith and the rest of the MIPCOM team are looking at “creating a more dedicated and enhanced experience for creators and brands—potentially new spaces designed specifically for them.” Find out more on the website.

FYI: MIPCOM is a Tubefilter partner.

The episode: On the latest installment of Creator Upload, hosts Lauren Schnipper and Joshua Cohen sit down with Fixated co-founders Zach Katz and Jason Wilhelm to break down their massive $50 million investment from Eldridge.

Also on the discussion list: why the traditional management model is broken, how Fixated is applying music industry tactics to creator content, and the company’s recent acquisition of Ellify.

Check out the full episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to find out more.

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