Good morning. Do you need help writing up a contract for a brand deal or potential hire? We’re working on some super helpful legal resources for creators. Hit reply and tell us what templates or information you’d like to see.

One more thing: Big congratulations to our giveaway winners, Michael and Fred. We’ve emailed both of you with your B&H gift cards. Thanks to everyone who shared!

— Hannah Doyle & Nate Graber-Lipperman

Ethan Klein Accuses BBTV of Stealing Upwards of $620,000

Comedian and host of the H3 podcast Ethan Klein has alleged that the creator and content management company BroadbandTV (BBTV) stole some $620K from him.

FYI: BBTV is a multi-channel network (MCN) that acts as a liaison between YouTube and creators, helping the latter monetize their content and secure brand deals for a fee.

The details: Klein, who has worked with BBTV since 2017, said his contract 1) allowed him to keep 100% of all YouTube platform revenue and 2) enabled BBTV to take a cut only of sponsorships it facilitated.

• But Klein said he recently noticed that payments from BBTV didn’t match what he saw on YouTube analytics—the company appeared to have “skimmed $620,000 at least,” Klein said, specifically from his channel’s Premium membership program revenue.

• Klein’s contract with BBTV started before YouTube memberships existed, but Klein suggested his contract entitles him to keep 100% of the revenue generated by memberships.

• BBTV rebutted, arguing that it’s entitled to a 30% cut of membership revenue per Klein’s contract.

By Tuesday, BBTV had unlinked Klein’s channels from its network. Following Klein’s allegations against BBTV, other creators including the comedians behind Yo Mama and culture commentator Kavos voiced similar complaints about the MCN. 

Zoom out: MCNs can be helpful—Klein signed on with BBTV while living in Israel, where Klein said he couldn't get paid by YouTube directly. But today, the value prop of these networks remains in question. Two creator POVs?

• “I’ve stayed with them as an extra layer of protection, and to off-shoot large holiday payouts to the following calendar year for tax purposes,” Zack James of comedy creator group Brody Foxx tweeted. 

• “MCNs were created to take advantage of the fact that YouTube had no system in place yet to allow creators to place ads on their videos and get paid directly,” news commentary creator Bowblax said. “Ever since YouTube changed [...] MCNs have been useless.”

Dream SMP Ends Three-Year Run

Gaming creator Dream’s invite-only survival multiplayer (SMP) Minecraft server hosted its “Finale” stream Tuesday, ending a three-year run as the premier setting for top Minecraft creators to collaborate and tell stories.

The Dream SMP story: It started in 2020 and soon became what The Verge called a “worldwide phenomenon,” even attracting one of the biggest crowds at VidCon last year. But the server began to lose steam over the last several months as the founding creators went their separate ways. The final stream saw members TommyInnit, GeorgeNotFound, and Tubbo slay the Ender Dragon (Minecraft’s final boss) and bid an emotional farewell to the server.

By the numbers…

• 494 million. The number of hours viewers spent watching Minecraft content on Twitch in 2022, making it the ninth-most popular category.

• 238 million. The number of Minecraft copies sold as of April 2021, making it one of the best-selling video games of all time.

• 650,000 viewers. The peak viewership of TommyInnit’s “Disc Saga” stream in January 2021. It was the finale of the server’s longest-running story arc and attracted the third-highest number of concurrent viewers ever on a Twitch stream.

What’s next: Dream announced his “United SMP” server earlier this month. It’ll invite 60 creators across six languages and use a new “live translation” modification Dream’s team coded to help members communicate. 

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What If You Could Invest In Creators Like Startups?

Introducing the platform that helps you do just that: Everbloom.

On Everbloom, creators raise capital from their audience in exchange for a share of their platform revenue. With this investment, creators get access to funds that allow them to reinvest in the growth of their business—and their investors get to join in on the success.

The platform at a glance:

• Just this week, 3 new YouTube creators have launched on Everbloom with more than 160M views on their channels

• Everbloom not only provides capital but also serves as an accelerator—providing networking sessions with strategists and editing services

• The process is clean and easy to use, making participating as either a creator or investor super seamless

Learn more about Everbloom here.

Unspeakable and Aphmau Launch a Beverage Company

The two creators teamed up to launch JuiceBlox, a Minecraft- and Roblox-themed kids juice. It’s now available in 4,500 Walmart stores nationwide.

Context: Unspeakable and Aphmau, who have a combined YouTube subscriber count north of 30 million, developed JuiceBlox in partnership with talent management company Night, which was founded by MrBeast manager Reed Duchscher and has backed both MrBeast Burger and Feastables.

Zoom out: The beverage space has been lucrative for creators—Logan Paul and KSI’s PRIME sports drink grossed $250 million last year, and Full Send’s Happy Dad hard seltzer sold over 2.6 million 12-packs in 2022.

🔥 Press Worthy

• YouTube is offering discounts on NFL Sunday Ticket shortly after securing the exclusive rights to sell the subscription package.

• Journalist Taylor Lorenz is publishing a book about creators and internet culture.

• Dylan Lemay is hosting an ice cream social at his NYC store with streetwear brand The Hundreds.

• Pinterest expands its creator fund to include Canada, Germany, and more.

• Joe Rogan AI Experience is an eerily accurate (and informative) imitation of Rogan’s flagship podcast.

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