Welcome Back

Hi again, Publish Press readers. Does anyone have any fun weekend plans? I’ll be putting together furniture in my new place while listening to podcasts (riveting I know.) At the top of my queue is the new BFFs episode featuring gymnast and TikToker Olivia Dunne. Following the recent NCAA rule change, Livvy, who has over 4.3 million followers on TikTok, is about to make bank as one of college sports’ highest-paid creators. Should make for a good interview. 👀

 - Max Lowenthal

→ Breaking down Emma Chamberlain’s content transformation

→ The details behind TikTok and Audius’s new music partnership

→ The problem with Apple’s Podcast subscriptions

Only a week after announcing her break from YouTube, Emma Chamberlain is back - with a new style of video and a new outlook on life. Originally stepping away from the camera to focus on evolving her craft, the popular YouTuber’s return has been defined by a different type of content - with less click-baity titles and fewer jump cuts.

Spilling the Beans

Since returning to YouTube last Sunday, Chamberlain has already posted three videos, each one showcasing an authentic and vlog-esque look into her life. The videos feel distinctly more relatable than her previous work, with titles like “bed” and “haircut” highlighting a much more subdued Emma as she just goes through her day-to-day.

In the most recent episode of her podcast Anything Goes, Emma mentions that the break was just as much about her mental health as it was her content, citing a lack of passion in her channel as the driving force behind her unhappiness. Chamberlain even noted she’s back to editing her own videos, mentioning that her new style is already helping her reignite her passion for YouTube and inspiring more self-confidence. 

It’s a misconception that algorithms and audiences don't like change when it comes to their favorite creators. Emma’s successful pivot is proof that true communities will stick around and want to be part of the evolution. From a creator perspective, it’s important to embrace change in order to avoid boredom and burnout.

Music is the backbone of TikTok, but before this week uploading songs to the platform wasn’t easy. That’s changed thanks to crypto-based streaming platform Audius, who announced earlier this week that it had partnered with TikTok as the company’s first-ever music streaming partner. Now any of the platform’s 100,000+ artists can upload their music to TikTok’s sound library with just the push of a button.

Audius’s secret sauce is that it's decentralized - each song lives on the blockchain rather than on a company computer or server. That means that the company (and the artists it serves) are better protected from lawsuits and pressure from big record labels. The platform also prioritizes helping creators make a living above everything else, distributing 90% of its revenue back to the musicians who use its service. Fans of the company can even get in on the hype by buying AUDIO, the company’s own crypto token.

It’s a big deal that TikTok partnered with a blockchain music company before platforms like Spotify or Apple Music. This is a bold statement on the importance of distribution ownership and the power that crypto can bring to creators. 

Things have not been going well for Apple since they announced their podcast subscription service last April. The launch was delayed by two months, and multiple creators have already voiced frustration with navigating the complexities of the app. A majority of the problems stem from the distribution of the subscriptions themselves, with one producer telling The Verge they experienced multiple 72 hour delays when uploading content to the platform. While we’re still in the early days of paid podcasting subscriptions on major platforms, it’s been a bad showing for one of the industry’s most established players.

While Apple and Spotify have more potential for paid subscribers, there’s a long way to go before either company is a reasonable replacement for Patreon. If you’re a small team looking to launch a paid podcast on Apple, wait a bit longer before you make the switch.