Good morning. Back in 2022, M3GAN was the horror film that launched a thousand memes. Now, it’s available to watch for free on YouTube as part of Blumhouse Productions’ promotion for the film’s forthcoming sequel, M3GAN 2.0. Best movie meme in our inbox wins. Ready? Go.

— Hannah Doyle & Syd Cohen

The Economics of: Fashion Brand Deals

High fashion creator Wisdom Kaye, known for styling TV and movie characters to his 20 million followers, recently revealed that he’s made about $1 million in brand deals so far this year. Kaye said the lowest he’ll accept for one sponsored post is $20,000. 

Are those numbers par for the course? We spoke with fashion creators to understand the niche’s going rates and most important metrics. Here’s what we found →

On metrics: “When it comes to the fashion and lifestyle space, brand deals are really dependent on three main things—your demographic, ability to convert, and reach,” Amy Roberts, host of The Style Theorists, told us.

• Conversions are a number creators can price themselves against regardless of their follower size.

• “A lot of small creators take smaller payouts because they don’t realize they can have those higher conversion numbers and that’s the price they’re worth, not necessarily the reach,” Roberts said. 

On the market: For fashion creator partnerships, the payout can depend on the type of brand.

• Kaye has positioned himself in a luxury category, for example. 

• “Those brands will pay higher on average for less return because it’s about the lifestyle that you’re showcasing, and one conversion equals a lot of money for them,” Roberts said.

On the content: Short-form and long-form can represent different elements of a fashion creator’s business. For example, we spoke with a short-form fashion creator with 1 million followers who asked to remain anonymous. Their approach?

• One sponsored short-form post can range from $6,000–$15,000, depending on content and exclusivity terms. For example, creators can charge more when the brand plans to use their content on its own socials.  

• “In terms of rates, it varies whether or not a brand can whitelist it as a paid ad, put money behind it, and boost it as a paid advertisement,” the creator told us. “When they do that, the creator gets paid more.”

Judge Halts Some of Apple’s Subscription Commission

Last week, a federal judge ordered Apple to stop collecting commission on purchases that weren’t made through the App Store.

Context: Apple takes a 30% cut of any sales made through the App Store—part of why, for example, YouTube Premium costs $5 more per month on phones than it does on desktops. 

In 2021, game publisher Epic Games accused Apple of taking a cut of purchases made outside the App Store, too, and discouraging users from making purchases directly through platforms like Epic’s. A judge recently agreed, ordering Apple to stop collecting commissions on purchases that weren't paid through the App Store immediately.

The creator POV: “Creators won’t have to give up 30% of their businesses to Apple,” Patreon CEO Jack Conte said on Instagram. “This is a good day for creative people.” Platforms like those from Dropout and The Try Guys, which have previously eaten the cost of the App Store tax, are now positioned to keep more of their revenue.

Going forward: Apple said it plans to appeal the court ruling. Meanwhile, companies like Patreon and Spotify are submitting app updates to direct users to more payment options so they can bypass the fees.

Anthpo 🤝 Crocs

Anthony “Anthpo” Potero, known for creating viral stunts like Cheeseball Man and the Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest, has manufactured another viral hit.

Potero recently revealed he was behind Kid With Crocs, an anonymous Instagram and TikTok account that shares videos of 3D-printed Crocs on statues across NYC. 

Throughout the 40-day partnership with Crocs, Potero posted eight videos and gained 700,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok with zero ad spend.

Potero said he chose to partner with Crocs because they gave him full creative control. “The best advice I can give to artists, brands, and entrepreneurs in 2025: don’t take shortcuts,” Potero said on LinkedIn. “People want to see things created with passion—it’s infectious.”

👀 Creator Moves

• Baseball creator Dan Sarmiento is hiring a remote video editor with at least two years of professional YouTube experience.

• Coffee creator James Hoffmann is looking for a production manager to oversee shoots, budgets, and video workflows.

• Finance creator Codie Sanchez is hiring a short-form platform manager based in Austin, Texas, for her company, Contrarian Thinking.

Fiverr, the world’s leading marketplace for digital services, is partnering with creators to showcase the power of freelancing. Join the Creator Program and turn your influence into income.*

*This is sponsored advertising content.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Basketball creator Kenny Beecham hosts NBA commissioner Adam Silver on his podcast, Numbers On The Board.

• YouTube is testing blurred thumbnails for mature content.

• Challenge creator Isaiah Photo and surfer Brianna Cope start an electrolyte brand, Salty.

• Ian Jomha, aka iDubbbz, steps away from Creator Clash, the boxing event he founded.

• British comedy creators James Marriott and WillNE launch a coffee company called Rodd’s.