It’s only Tuesday, but what a week it’s been for KSI. He scored a Top 10 UK single, verbally agreed to fight against Austin McBroom, and launched his own boxing promotions company for celebrity crossover events. Today Alice is taking you through the top 3 stories from the creator business world. Enjoy ✌🏻✌🏽.

In Today’s Issue 💬

→ Charli and Dixie D’Amelio set up shop on TikTok

→ Buzzfeed puts a price on going viral

→ FEWOCiOUS proves NFTs aren't dead

The D’Amelios Sell Out

Charli and Dixie lead the way with live shoppable content on TikTok 

Last week, TikTok power sibling duo Charli and Dixie D’Amelio revealed the second collection of their Social Tourist brand via a TikTok live stream, where fans could shop the looks in real-time. The sisters, who have a combined TikTok following of 170 million followers, launched the Social Tourist brand back in May with Hollister, and plan to drop new collections each month. Unlike a traditional runway fashion show, the event featured dance sections and skits from fellow TikTok creators like Avani Gregg, Madi Monroe, and Curtis Newbill. Plus, a teaser of Dixie’s upcoming song “The Real Thing”. It’s the TikTok equivalent of the Victoria’s Secret show, except this time you can shop the looks before the models have even left the runway, without interruption to the main event. 

Building Gen Z’s New Mall

The stream was hosted on Charli’s TikTok and shared with her 118m followers. For reference, Hollister’s brand account has just over 200k followers. At the show's peak, it had more than 138k viewers tuning in, a viewership that rivaled The Weeknd’s TikTok Live in 2020. The event’s promotional video alone has over 16 million views on Charli’s account.

Old News In China

While the D'Amelios are breaking new ground in the United States, live-streamed shopping events have been around for a while. 100m viewers tune in to shopping live streams every month in China, and the country is predicted to do $400 billion in digital event-based sales by 2022. 

Our Take

With TikTok’s live-shopping functionality, creators like Charli are essentially paving the way for the future of America’s new home shopping network. If what’s happening in China is any indication, Charli and Dixie’s success is a sign of what’s to come in the live stream shopping space for North American audiences, and why TikTok is best positioned to become an all-in-one creator super app.

Why Buzzfeed Is Paying For Viral Content

Buzzfeed is doubling down on user-generated content this summer  

In a first-ever for Buzzfeed, contributors to the site now have the opportunity to get paid when their content goes viral in the Summer Writer’s Challenge. This is part of Buzzfeed’s strategy to invest in user-generated content (UGC), where its community is connecting around niche interests and fandom. 

To become a Buzzfeed Community contributor all you need to do is to sign up directly and start posting, pending editorial approval. In 2019 one of their biggest sources of traffic was generated by a teen creating quizzes for free, oh how times have changed.

So How Does It Work?

$10,000 → for a post with 4 million views

$2,000 → for a post with 1 million views

$500 → for a post with 500,000 views

$150 → for a post with 150,000 views

Our Take

While this is a great step for existing Buzzfeed contributors, achieving such high viewership is no mean feat and pales in comparison to the payout from the likes of Snapchat’s Spotlight, for equivalent views. If you can command millions of views for your content, you’re better off going it alone while owning and growing your audience, who can stick around to support you long term. Plus, you’ll take home 100% of the revenue.  

Why NFTs Aren’t Dead

FEWOCiOUS and Christie’s partner up in the latest NFT auction splash  

Teenage NFT sensation FEWOCiOUS aka Victor Langlois is selling five lots of artwork at Christie’s, in a collection to coincide with Pride month, with each painting representing a year of his life as he discovered his gender identity between 14 and 18. FEWOCiOUS only sold his first NFT in 2020 for $1k and has since totaled more than $18,000,000 in sales. Formerly, he partnered with RTFKT Studios for a sell-out drop that generated $3m in just 7 minutes.

Our Take

Despite recent headlines suggesting the NFT bubble is about to burst, artists like FEWOCiOUS paint a different picture of the landscape long-term. Creators that have invested in the community and culture surrounding NFTs long before the recent craze was in full bloom will undoubtedly outlive the speculation on their profitability. With collaboration at the center of this movement, those with true staying power have built value into their art and product from its inception. Like FEWOCiOUS, we’re in it for the long haul. 

🔥 In Other News

• Famous Birthdays is launching a paid pro service 

• Liza Koshy joins Netflix Rom-Com “Players” 

• Tati Westbrook returns to YouTube

• KSI is fighting again and launching his own boxing promotion company