It’s Down

How creators are cashing in on their viral moments

October 05, 2021

Good morning y’all. Is everyone hanging in there after yesterday’s outage? If you’re one of the 3 billion active users of Facebook, you’ll have noticed apps like WhatsApp and Instagram going dark for several hours, much to the smug delight of the Twitter community. I was, of course, watching more of Emily Mariko’s ridiculously addictive TikTok recipe videos to pass the time. For creators, though, it was a timely reminder to invest your eggs into more than one basket. 

In Today’s Issue 💬

→ Breaking down TikTok’s new NFT drop

→ Why musicians can’t make a living off streaming alone

→ Unpacking Dan Mace’s YouTube exit

TikTok’s Top Moments Are Up For Grabs

Source: New York Post

Yep that’s right, even TikTok is getting in on the NFT game. The platform is launching its first ever creator-led NFT collection, sold weekly throughout October. The partnership features 6 notable TikTokers such as Bella Poarch, Brittany Broski, and Curtis Roach. The drop is curated around “culturally-significant moments on TikTok,” with each NFT released as a one-of-one and chosen to celebrate the impact these creators have had on the platform. 

Lil Nas X is the first drop of the auction roll out, landing on October 6, featuring a stop-motion recreation of his hit “Call Me By Your Name” created by Rudy Willingham. TikTok’s Global Head of Marketing, Nick Tran, said “now fans can own a moment on TikTok that helped shape the internet while supporting some of their favorite creators.” This gives a nod to TikTok’s emphasis that proceeds will “largely” go to the creators and NFT collaborators involved, without the platform taking a cut.

The auctions will be powered by Immutable X and will also be presented at a new TikTok Exhibit in Queens, NY beginning on October 1 and continuing through to November 5.

Our Take

For creators like Brittany Broksi and Bella Poarch, who have been able to launch careers off the back of viral moments, TikTok’s first foray into the NFT world marks a moment of recognition. For TikTok, investing in alternative models of monetization that don’t revolve around advertising revenue share or merchandising empowers more creators to earn financial recognition for their work.

Why Emerging Artists Aren’t Winning The Streaming Wars

Source: Publish Press

Is it possible for musicians to earn a sustainable living from streaming? A government report from the UK found that the benchmark for making a “sustainable living” was one million streams per month. Music reporter Cherie Hu unpacked the report and found that only 0.4% of music creators were hitting this industry standard as of October 2020.

By The Numbers

  • 1,000,000 monthly streams → $3,000-$5,000 per month 

  • 65% to 75% → of streams from top 0.4% of earners were coming from their back catalogue 

  • 6 to 1 → the ratio at which major-label releases have been outperforming non-major releases for the past six years 

This means that independent and emerging artists are disproportionately affected when it comes to securing a slice of the streaming pie.

Our Take

Despite more than 70 new artists getting signed off the back of TikTok last year, there are clearly still structural issues at play that impact new creators at the start of their careers. That’s where crypto comes in, such as 3LAU’s Royal, a new music platform that will let fans buy NFTs to share in royalties earned by their favorite artists. We think the future of equitable music payment structures will see less investment from labels, and more of a decentralized approach – where the investment is supported by the community that fuels its demand. 

Dan Mace Is Quitting YouTube...Kinda

Source: Dan Mace / YouTube

It’s been a crazy year for creators on YouTube, with content and creatorship evolving at record pace. That might help explain why Dan Mace, who has been creating on the platform since 2013 and has amassed more than 37 million views, is quitting the platform in favor of trying something new. In a video titled “I’m ending my YouTube channel”, Dan elaborates on his 8 year journey as a YouTuber, while introducing his “final chapter” on the platform. 

Dan’s end of an era content arc comes in the form of a 12-part show via Discovery+, which he cites as giving him the resources and time to attempt content simply not possible on his own. The show will launch in January 2022 and run til July, when he will convert his YouTube channel into JOE films, showcasing all the behind the scenes footage from his documentaries and feature films.

Our Take

We’ve already seen Emma Chamberlain evolve her content into a new format for her dedicated audience, as well as massive streaming partnerships for creators like the D’Amelios and Addison Rae. Dan’s YouTube exit, alongside his new Discovery+ venture, highlights how being a creator is often really hard. Not all creators want to be distributors, running their channels like a media company, which makes streaming deals like the above all the more attractive as creators continue to grow.

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