Ape Sh*t

Good Morning. I’m riding high this week, thanks in no small part to Taylor Swift and her re-recorded Red album. Anyone else get second-hand empowerment from her taking back ownership of her IP?

-Hannah Doyle

In Today’s Issue 💬

→ Why community-first creators are the future

→ How Airrack pulled off a creator-competition livestream

→ What food bloggers are using to monetize their recipes

Bored Ape Yacht Club Gets Musical In the Metaverse

Last week 10:22PM, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, announced the formation of Kingship, a band made up of NFTs from the Bored Ape Yacht Club. Think Gorillaz of the metaverse, with anonymous musicians playing instruments and vocals behind animated avatars.

Grammy-winning producer Timbaland also announced Ape-In Productions (AIP), an entertainment company that will promote Bored Apes as music artists in the metaverse. 

While 10:22 is focused on one band, AIP is looking to start multiple with other Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs.

Both music labels plan on releasing original music and NFTs, each with their own set of benefits, such as exclusive access to merch, events, and having a say in band narrative.

By the Numbers

10,000→ number of Bored Ape NFTs minted in April 2021.

$306,000→ the current value of one of the NFTs in Kingship, according to NFT marketplace OpenSea.

$24.4 million→ how much a collection of 101 Bored Ape NFTs sold for at Sothebys.

Our Take

The metaverse sets the stage for a new dynamic between creators and communities, where control is more diffused. While we’re used to seeing creators develop communities around themselves, this is as an example of the reverse, where a community develops a creator. We predict the next generation of creators will lead communities without being the foundation for which they exist.

Airrack Sells His First NFTs Via Livestream

On Saturday Airrack hosted Xtreme Pong, a ping pong competition among 12 creators including Brent Riviera, Charly Jordan, and Zach King for a $120,000 cash prize. 

The event was live-streamed through Airrack’s YouTube channel and amassed over 1 million views, with Zach King taking victory.

Planned over six months, the livestream was an event of firsts—Airrack’s first NFT sale, and first event of that scale, using multiple film studios and a 60-person crew. The prize was provided by banking company Current, and the NFTs were minted with Madworld. 

We spoke with Airrack’s team to get behind-the-scenes details of the livestream. Check out our exclusive Q&A at the end of this newsletter. 👇

Our Take

Airrack has his sights set on being a top YouTube creator, and pulling off a one-of-a-kind event of this size makes his work irreplicable. Between the live format, NFT minting and distribution, contestant management, and event organization, it took a roster of operators to pull off. Having management adds value to creators, allowing them to focus on what they do best, while leaving the building, logistics, and execution to the management team.

30 Creators Sign on for Recipe Monetization Platform Launch

Foody, an ad-free platform that lets creators monetize their recipes, closed on $1.5 million last week in pre-seed funding to officially launch.

Creators on board include long-time blogger What’s Gaby Cooking, Bon-Appetit’s Harold Villarosa, and Top Chef contestant Tu David Phu. 

It bills itself as the “iTunes for recipes”, allowing creators to sell recipes individually or as a collection. Creators keep 80% of earnings, with monthly payouts made to their debit card via Stripe. More features are to roll out in the coming months, including audience re-engagement tools and analytics.

Our Take

Most culinary creators run blogs, which are tough to monetize, and other platforms like Instagram and Youtube don’t have easy ways to sell recipes. This would be the first platform that lets cooking creators directly profit from their recipes apart from cookbooks and brand partnerships, giving them more ownership over their work.

🔥 In Other News

• YouTuber Hila Klein’s Teddy Fresh pop-up attracts a line three blocks long.

• Team Seas reaches half of their fundraising goal.

• Patreon CEO Jack Conte launches a creator economy podcast.

• Creative Juice is giving YouTubers 30-day advances on AdSense payments.

• Spotify allows users to block other accounts.

Creator Q&A: Airrack

Airrack’s team shares more about Xtreme Pong, including why they offered NFTs and chose a livestream format (The following interview has been condensed and edited for clarity).

Where did the Idea for Xtreme ping pong come from? 

It came together as the team was brainstorming ways to put a positive spin on live creator events. We wanted to create something that brought creators together in a way that was fun and engaging.

What made you want to do a live event with NFTs? What about the live format is good for selling the crypto asset? 

We wanted to find a way to give viewers an opportunity to join an exclusive group who we could work with on our next Xtreme events. NFTs were the best vehicle in achieving that and allowed us to gather a group of viewers who we could engage in more meaningful ways—whether that be live-audience participation, impacting event concept and creative, or even event participation.

This was your first time making NFTs for Airrack’s subscribers—were you surprised by the level of engagement? Why or why not?

While crypto and NFTs have gained a ton of hype in the tech world, a lot of the USA is still not up to speed with what NFTs are and how they work. It's actually been incredibly encouraging to see how many viewers have used this offering as an opportunity to finally dive into the NFT rabbit-hole and start educating themselves on the possibilities. 

Why did you link additional benefits to the event NFTs—like the ability to vote on the direction of future content and the access to participate in future Xtreme events? 

We've always been intrigued by the utility that can be tied to NFTs rather than just the hype around how they may appreciate in value. For us, it was far more interesting to use NFTs as a vehicle for community participation than just for driving revenue. 

How do you think the event went? Was there anything you would have done differently?

Overall, we're really happy with how the event came together in such a short amount of time. Looking forward, we want to continue to push the boundaries of what has been done in the creator space and throw another event that brings creators together in a fun and positive light. 

How will live programming play into your content strategy in the next year? 

Live-events are something that has become really native to the Airrack channel and brand. From surviving on an island to hit 1 million subscribers to now creating a live-stream creator competition. In the future, we're going to continue using live programming as a way to give the Airrack Mafia a way to feel more connected to the action by being able to watch, interact, and influence content in real time.

Before you go—do you know anyone who is talking about the creator economy in the education space? Classes, professors, or lectures that have centered on the subject? Hit reply and let us know—we want to look closer at the intersection of the creator economy and education.