OnlyBans?

Good morning Publish Press readers. Last week I took a trip to visit friends in England, accidentally missed my stop on the train and ended up in the wrong country. Thankfully, I passed the time by diving into one of my favorite newsletters, okay zoomer by Kelsey Weekman. Her latest dispatch on the viral fake Met Gala list makes for essential reading: “If you think they’re undeserving of influence, then don’t be influenced by them.” What have you been enjoying this week? Lemme know. 👇

– Alice Ophelia

In Today’s Issue 💬

→ Unpacking the OnlyFans explicit content ban

→ What Billboard’s new creator chart means for music

→ Breaking down YouTube’s next Reality House series

OnlyFans To Ban Adult Material 

Just last week, we detailed the launch of OFTV, the new app from OnlyFans featuring original content from some of the platform’s top creators, including Tana Mongeau’s new reality show. But OnlyFans had other plans for their biggest news of the week, announcing their ban on “sexually explicit content” starting October 1st. 

The platform’s popularity soared during the pandemic, drawing celebrities from mainstream media to sign up, including actor Bella Thorne who made $1 million in her first 24 hours and rapper Bhad Bhabie who hit the same million dollar milestone in just 6 hours. OnlyFans takes a cut of 20% from all creators, pulling in $400 million in revenue alone for the platform last year. TL;DR Adult content is big, big business. 

By The Billions

• $3 billion → paid out to more than 1.25 million creators since 2016

• $2 billion → OnlyFans sales handled in 2020

• $1 billion → OnlyFans valuation in 2021

Lena The Plug, one of the platform’s top creators, spoke to Philip DeFranco last week and was vocal about her frustrations with the ban: “This felt like the only really safe place...I feel very betrayed and I do think we completely built the platform and we made it big.” Detailing the knock-on effect the ban might have for Lena’s business, she expressed worry for the team involved in helping her make OnlyFans content: “If I don’t have an income, then they don’t have an income.”

Creators now have until December 1st to wipe any trace of explicit content from their channels. The platform cited payment processors as the motivation to change policy, which “was necessary to secure banking and payment services to support you.” Mastercard denied involvement in the decision.

Our Take

Sex work has been hiding in plain sight on OnlyFans for years, bringing in traffic and revenue to the billion-dollar platform. The platform’s fortune was built off the back of sex workers and their content, creating a cultural shift in the way sex work is viewed and allowing a lifeline to many creators during the global pandemic. The sudden policy shift feels like a disappointing abandonment for many creators who have invested time in building community exclusively on the site, with nowhere else to turn.

Billboard Debuts First-Ever Creator Music Chart 

Some of the biggest songs of 2020, like Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” and Doja Cat’s “Say So”, blew up on TikTok thanks to trends started by creators. Now, there’s an official chart to recognize their input. Billboard's first-ever creator chart will provide a definitive ranking of creators driving music consumption across digital spaces. 

Billboard’s monthly chart, in partnership with Logitech For Creators, is based on music-focused content from platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Chart rankings look at engagement with this content, including viral dance trends and memes. Billboard says: “this chart acknowledges the impact that the creator community has on the music industry.”

Our Take

Creators are changing the way we listen to music, but the industry has a problem with giving them proper credit and recognition. Jalaiah Harmon had to fight for acknowledgement for her ‘Renegade’ dance, which blew up in 2019. Billboard’s new chart is a step in the right direction to acknowledge the individuals who create and popularize our favorite viral moments.

Kian and JC Ready Season 3 of Reality House

YouTube veterans Kian Lawley and JC Caylen are back with a third season of The Reality House, the duo’s episodic competition series. The YouTube series launched back in 2019 with sponsor Seat Geek, featuring creators like Trisha Paytas and Elijah Daniel battling it out through challenges like trivia and speed eating. The last YouTuber left in the house scooped the grand prize of $25,000. 

Building on the success of Season 1, which drew more than 29 million views over 10 episodes, Season 2 landed at the start of 2020 with a prize pool of $50,000. Now, Kian and JC are recruiting for the third installment of the popular series, promising “the biggest season to date,” with a multi-million dollar estate locked in to host the show and $100,000 up for grabs. With speculation as to who the contestants will be, Addison Rae has already declared her interest in competing. 

Our Take

Creators are the new reality stars. Repurposing the reality TV format for social gives creators the chance to shine in an environment that rewards interpersonal interaction. Expect the next generation of TV to be creator-centric, offering emerging personalities a long-form format to continue building their brands. Which reminds us, The D’Amelio Show is dropping on Hulu next week. Who’s watching?

Wow. We are completely blown away by the reaction to our first Publish drop so far: 500+ orders from 30+ different countries. 

This is truly a global community of creators who all believe in the mantra of Pressing Publish and getting ideas out into the world.  

Today all you need is an idea, an internet connection and a phone to make it as a creator, so if you’ve been sitting on an idea for a while now, consider this your push to Press Publish. 

We will be closing down the shop tomorrow morning at 9:00 am PT, so if you want to pick up something from Drop 1, today is the last day.

🔥 In Other News

• Instagram is getting rid of swipe up links 

• Taylor Swift joins TikTok

• Lil Nas X partnered with Taco Bell to become chief impact officer 

• Samir is up for a Panel at SXSW with Storyblocks, help us out and upvote the panel