Should we start a podcast?

Hey, everyone! Did that sound different than it usually does? I’m Kinsey Grant and I’m a lot of things, but for today’s purposes: I’m Hannah’s replacement for one day and one day only while she’s enjoying some much-deserved R&R. 

—Kinsey Grant

In Today’s Issue 💬

• What a new podcast partnership means for the future of creator networks.

• Why some journalists are looking more and more like creators.

• How big is the freelance industry?

Two of TikTok’s Finest Make the Podcast Jump

I’ll level with you—as a podcaster myself: It’s not really that hard to start a podcast. But it’s really, really hard to grow a podcast. Tiny Meat Gang Studios (TMG), the brainchild of creators Cody Ko and Noel Miller, is hoping to solve that problem for two up-and-coming creators.

Brooke Averick and Connor Wood, the artists known as @LadyEfron and @Fibulaa on TikTok, are together the latest addition to the TMG Studios family. Their show “Brooke & Connor Make a Podcast” is set to launch this month.

It’s a notable next step for TMG, which is home already to podcast/YouTube hybrid shows The TMG Podcast and Trillionaire Mindset. With the launch of Brooke & Connor, TMG looks to be firmly solidifying itself as a network by creators and for creators. Ko and Miller are no longer just YouTubers or musicians, and TMG’s expanding roster is proof of life beyond virality.

Our Take

Brooke and Connor could have launched a show on their own, leveraging their existing audiences (they have a combined 1.6 million followers on TikTok alone), but partnering with TMG makes the difficult task of growing a podcast a little bit easier. They can potentially tap into network effects like cross-promotion, receive content guidance from Ko and Miller, and secure brand partnership revenue. 

As for Ko and Miller, the new tie-in presents an opportunity to replicate and scale their existing formula for success with a curated cohort of creators worth amplifying.

Vox Host Leaves to Launch YouTube/TikTok Series

“I’m officially a YouTuber.” That’s the opening line from Cleo Abram’s first video as an independent creator. The producer and journalist spent over five years at Vox before making the decision to strike out on her own. She describes her new YouTube/TikTok show “Huge If True” as “journalistically rigorous, genuinely optimistic explainers about tech that could change our future.”

By the Numbers 

285 → the number of retweets on the announcement that she was going independent

220,000 → the number of views on her first YouTube video which features former Vox producer and current YouTube creator Johnny Harris 

937,000 → how many TikTok followers Cleo has gained since she began posting in 2020 while working for Vox 

Abram’s move is part of a larger trend taking place. We also saw journalist Tara Henley leave her role at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation after 9 years, citing a desire to be editorially independent and to say “the things that are not being said, and ask the questions that are not being asked” as her reasoning for the departure.

Our Take

Becoming independent is one of the most empowering things a creator can do. It means navigating monetization alone, forgoing stability, and losing editorial sounding boards. We’ll be keeping a close eye on what products and services they use to compensate for that trade-off.

Who Wants to be a Millionaire Freelancer?

Just about everyone, apparently. A recent survey from the fintech company Oxygen found that 88% of respondents consider themselves a creator or freelancer.

By the Numbers:

More than 1/3 of Americans have started a side hustle during the pandemic. Close to half said those hustles are profitable.

74% of Gen Z and 82% of millennials want to make their side hustles a full-time gig. But…

41% of respondents are making some money as freelancers or creators, but not enough to quit their full-time jobs. 20% earn enough to call it full-time work.

Our Take

In the wake of the so-called Great Resignation, ​the creator/freelance economy continues to boom. With Oxygen pegging it as a $100 billion industry with more than 50 million independent creators, expect more resources and businesses to follow the flow of talent…and for that talent to sustain side hustle culture for the foreseeable future.

🔥 In Other News

• MrBeast is the highest-earning YouTube creator from 2021 earning $54 million.

• Tinx signs with WME to expand her presence in film and television.

• Podcash is giving away $100,000 to up and coming podcasters.

• This is the #1 social networking app in the app store this week.

• YouTube is helping creators build pitch decks.

• Gamers and crypto-punks are feuding again, this time over the future of NFTs.

If you enjoyed this edition of the Publish Press…a bit more about me.

When I’m not working with the Publish team, I have a podcast called Thinking Is Cool that deals in big ideas, big stories, and big conversations—not all that different from what the team here at the Press does. 

Thanks for reading. I hope you either 1) really enjoyed today’s newsletter or 2) developed a newfound appreciation for Hannah’s writing.

- Kinsey Grant