Happy Friday! BuzzFeed announced plans to acquire Complex this week, with the company confirming its intention to go public later this year. Additionally, Instagram may finally let you post from your desktop. If you want to stay up on news in between issues, be sure to check us out @ThePublishPress. Today, Max is exploring the latest headlines from the biggest creators and platforms. Enjoy ✌🏻✌🏽.

In Today’s Issue 💬

→ Breaking down TikTok Jump

→ Why KSI is having his best week ever

→ How Famous Birthdays is becoming the IMDB for creators

TikTok’s Newest Feature: Jump

TikTok is launching mini-apps to keep users scrolling for longer

Earlier this week TikTok announced Jump, a new third-party integration tool that allows users to connect outside services, like cooking sites or restaurant finders, to their videos with the push of a button. “Jumps” are essentially mini-apps within an already powerful app. They are TikTok’s answer to fans who want to purchase, learn, or reserve something they’ve seen right on their FYP. 

One App To Rule Them All

With Jump, TikTok is taking another step towards building a “super app” - a social platform that does anything and everything. The average user already spends nearly an hour a day on the platform. If you could order dinner or study for class while scrolling your FYP, would you ever leave?

The Apple of My Eye

Apple is the thorn in every creator's side because of the 30% cut they take from apps. By using Jump to let users do more without downloading another app, TikTok can pick and choose when they want to follow Apple’s rules and give up a piece of the pie. It’s like having your own App Store within TikTok.

Our Take

For young users, TikTok is swallowing the internet whole. If Jump succeeds, Gen-Z won't have to open an internet browser to use their favorite sites and apps. They’ll be able to message friends on Snap and do everything else on TikTok.

KSI’s Best Month Ever

Breaking down how the YouTuber multifaceted creator is taking over 

YouTuber KSI can do a little bit of everything. In the last few weeks, the English creator/rapper’s latest single is the UK’s #1 trending song, he’s launched a new boxing promotions company, and he’s agreed to step into the right with fellow YouTuber Austin McBroom in the coming months. The headlines come after years of careful planning for the creator, who has slowly been expanding his brand after being Logan Paul’s first boxing opponent back in 2018. Let’s put KSI’s work in perspective: 7,000,000 → The amount of streams KSI gets on Spotify a month. That’s more than Bo Burnham, Mac Demarco, and alt-J

$900,000 → The YouTuber’s earnings from his first fight versus Logan Paul. That's almost 20x the average boxer's salary.

2,250,000 → The number of views KSI got on his last fight Logan, nearly 2x the average viewership for the biggest boxing matches in the world broadcasted on Fox.

Our Take

Creators are curators. KSI has built his career by expanding to the types of content his fans love to see, and now being featured in a boxing match or song with him can change the trajectory of someone’s career forever. As creators scale, it’s interesting to see how they are building distribution platforms and brands that can serve as launch pads for new talent.

Famous Birthdays Goes Paid 

The IMDB for digital stars is launching a new paid offer to help brands and creators connect

Famous Birthdays, the encyclopedia site that focuses on digital creators, is testing a paid version called “Famous Birthdays Pro” that lets brands stay up to date on rising creators, founder Evan Britton told The Publish Press earlier this week.

Since launching back in 2012 as a Wikipedia for celebrities, the site has evolved to become a multi-language IMDB for online creators, who often find themselves ignored in favor of their mainstream counterparts.  The new paid product uses the site’s first-party data and proprietary popularity rankings to help brands decipher the growing list of popular, buzzworthy creators. Britton said the idea for Pro came after hearing repeated requests from agencies to tap into the site’s information to discover which creators fans love most.

Our Take

Catching creators on the rise before they blow up is a massive advantage for brands, imagine booking a year-long deal with Addison Rae or Charli D’Amelio in late 2019. As the line between creator and celebrities continues to blur, it’s the fans who determine who’s on the rise, and birthday searches are just one unique and interesting way to figure out who's about to make it big.

🔥 In Other News

• Charli & Dixie D’Amelio launched a pair of new digital cartoon characters 

• David Dobrik’s return was profiled by The Rolling Stone

• Ed Sheeren is debuting a new song at his upcoming TikTok concert

• Instagram is testing publishing for desktop

• Twitter opened applications for Ticket Spaces and Super Follows