Oh, Snap
Snap to the future, Twitch is in hot water, and YouTube’s adding views to news.
It’s Friday! Did you catch that Amazon is buying MGM Studios for $8 billion? That gives them ownership of Survivor, James Bond, Silence of the Lambs and tons of other classic franchises. It might not be long before we’re all tuning in to Amazon Prime to catch the next Rocky movie...and overnighting a pair of boxing gloves to go with it.
Today Max is covering the latest in creator platform news - including Snap’s bid to change the world and the latest on Twitch’s hot tub controversy. If you’ve got news you want us to cover in our next edition, tweet @ColinandSamir and let us know.
In Today’s Issue 💬
→ What the future of Snapchat will look like
→ Why Twitch is doubling down on hot tub streamers
→ Why YouTube is coming for CNN, Fox and cable news
The Future of Snap
Snap becomes a one stop shop for creators
Last week Snapchat hosted its second Partner Summit, an annual event that gives users a look into the future of the company. Snap plans to reduce investment in Spotlight, its TikTok competitor, dropping the payouts from $1m per day to “millions a month.” To date, its creator fund has paid out $130 million to 5,400 creators using the product. But, Snap announced a suite of new creator tools including Spotlight ads, tipping, and a creator brand marketplace to offset the changes.
So why should you care about Snap’s newest offerings?
500 (Million) True Fans → Snapchat is used by a lot of people. The company has 500 million monthly active users (MAUs), and reaches 90% of 13 - 24 year olds in the U.S., UK, France and Australia. Spotlight was used by over 125 million people in the month of March. Those numbers rival Twitter (330m+ MAUs) and Pinterest (478m MAUs).
By Snap, For Snap → Snap knows many creators are repurposing TikTok and YouTube videos to make waves on its platforms. The announcement of a desktop version of Spotlight, alongside a mobile-native editing tool is Snap’s first push to create the first true Spotlight celebrity. Pair it with original programming for creators like Charli and Dixie, and Snap is truly building a creator-to-celebrity pipeline.
Our Take
Tipping, Marketplaces, Original Content, Hardware, a Creator Fund and more - Snapchat is very quickly establishing itself as a content platform that offers creators as much as TikTok or YouTube. Additionally, with a renewed commitment to their Artificial Reality Spectacles, it feels more and more like Snap is building Roblox-esque experiences for its creators, not just content. The company is transitioning from a platform to a fully functioning ecosystem that connects developers and creators.
Twitch Signs Off On Hot Tubbing
A final decision on one of streaming’s most controversial content categories
For the last few years, some streams streamers - predominantly women - have faced controversy on Twitch for emphasizing their bodies, receiving baseless accusations that they are “stealing viewers” from other creators. The controversy finally came to a head last week when Twitch announced it would allow creators to stream content on the platform while wearing swimsuits. The news is the culmination of a months-long debate on “the hot tub meta”, a trend that emerged in March where creators in swimwear stream from inside of hot tubs, pools, and beaches. Twitch firmly stated it won’t take action against creators on the platform for live streaming in swimwear from hot tubs, pools, and beaches - dubbed “the hot tub meta” - or based on a creator’s “perceived attractiveness.”
By The Numbers → Even before Twitch’s official announcement, Hot Tub streams drew in 7.4m hours of watch time in April, with the biggest creators peaking at 31.5k concurrent viewers. The format has helped top creators like Faith grow their average viewer count by 10x, from hundreds to thousands of concurrent viewers.
A Heated Debate → Both sides of the hotly contested argument had top streamers in support of and against hot tub content. One of the platform’s Top 20 creators, Amouranth, even lost access to Twitch ads due to advertisers’ discomfort with her content. Ultimately the company launched a new category targeted specifically at hot tub content to avoid creating overlap between its traditional gaming content and swim streams.
Our Take
Despite having billions of viewers on major platforms, we’re still in the early stages of defining what creator content looks like. Hot tubs, talk shows, video podcasts - the types of niche content that will define our favorite companies in the future are still being developed every single day. There’s a niche for everyone, and it’s important for both platforms and advertisers to recognize and adjust as new verticals emerge.
YouTube - Your Home for News
The media giant is offering grants and training for journalists
Earlier this week YouTube announced a $7 million investment into two creator grant programs focused on journalists. The grants target individual journalists and established news organizations and promise to give creators up to $200,000 in return for creating consistent news content on YouTube. The creators also get special support and training on YouTube best practices throughout the yearlong program.
So why is YouTube investing in news?
Building a Habit → The best part about news is that there’s always more of it. By increasing the number of news creators on the platform, YouTube is increasing the amount of content that people will come to the platform to watch on a daily basis. It’s why creators like Phillip DeFranco have been able to make videos consistently on the platform for 10+ years.
The Death of Cable → News and live sports are the last holdouts in the world of cable TV. By investing in bringing more journalists to the platform, YouTube can continue to expand its bundle of content (which includes Shorts, live streams, and long-form videos) to keep up with both breaking news platforms like Twitter, and media companies like Disney and Netflix in a post-cable world.
Our Take
As the world loses interest in traditional journalism and print media becomes less accessible to the masses, niche news from creators that people trust will grow as a category. It’s why the New York Times is rumored to be buying local sports media company The Athletic, or why Daily Mail is partnering with Snap to deliver news. By paying and training journalists to be YouTubers instead of purchasing or partnering with another media company, the platform is building natural loyalty and expanding its creator base to the benefit of both the news industry and the company itself.
🔥 In Other News
Amazon is reportedly buying out MGM in a deal worth $8.45 billion
Clubhouse is looking for a Head of Creators
Jake Paul is the 3rd richest boxer in the world
YouTuber CJ So Cool is Auctioning 35% of his future YouTube earnings, the bids start at $850,000
Facebook’s Gaming Platform announced tipping for V.O.D. content & mid-roll advertisement for streams
