Spotlight Stories |
Podcast Watch Time Surges On YouTube And Spotify, Opens Revenue Opportunities For Creators And Brands YouTube Star Steven He Takes Lead Role In Action Comedy ‘Kung Fu Deadly’ Pioneering Political Creator Management: How Colossal Influence Is Turning Controversial Content Into Brand Success How a Computer That 'Drunk Dials' Videos is Exposing YouTube's Secrets
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Great Reads |
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Influencer.com is expanding its services beyond traditional social media collaborations to offer comprehensive, multi-channel solutions for global brands. With offices worldwide and proprietary technology supporting every aspect of service delivery, the company now covers content enhancement and distribution, strategic long-term creator partnerships, and sophisticated measurement of business outcomes like sales and brand awareness. |
A recent Nike campaign showcased Influencer.com's integrated approach, blending digital influence with real-world activations to drive authentic community engagement. As the creator economy evolves, the company is well-positioned to help brands navigate the shift towards commerce creators and leverage creator insights throughout the creative process. Influencer.com's independence and agnostic approach to platforms and creators enable it to remain a strategic partner for brands seeking to maximize the impact of their creator marketing investments. |
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Podcast viewership on major platforms like YouTube and Spotify is surging, driven by rising video podcast consumption. According to WARC Media, video podcast watch time reached 40% of U.S. users in 2024, up from 28% in 2022, while audio-only podcast usage declined. YouTube reported over 400 million hours of monthly podcast viewing on TV, while Spotify saw a 39% yearly increase in average daily video streams. Spotify's new Partner Program, offering creators video monetization, has boosted video podcast consumption by 20% since its January 2025 launch. |
The video format opens new opportunities for creator partnerships, brand integrations, and content strategies like influencer marketing and e-commerce initiatives. However, challenges include age restrictions limiting reach and user preferences for background listening. Overall, the transition to video podcasts signals a significant shift in content consumption and monetization in the creator economy. |
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TikTok has returned to U.S. app stores after Apple and Google restored the app following confirmation from the U.S. Attorney General that a federal ban will not be immediately enforced. The reinstatement comes after the companies removed TikTok last month to comply with 2024 legislation mandating a ban unless ByteDance divested its U.S. operations. |
The Biden administration directed a 75-day pause on enforcement to evaluate potential paths forward amidst national security concerns over TikTok's Chinese ownership. However, ByteDance's long-term U.S. status remains uncertain, with potential buyers emerging but Beijing opposing a forced sale. Competing platforms like X and Bluesky have rolled out vertical video feeds to capitalize on TikTok's troubles. |
Campaign Insights |
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LinkedIn has introduced new video analytics that provide creators with metrics on video views, total watch time, and crucially, average watch time. This focus on view duration signals LinkedIn's growing investment in video content as more creators leverage the platform to reach professional audiences. Initial data suggests promising engagement rates compared to other platforms. |
LinkedIn's unique demographic of business decision-makers offers an opportunity for creators to effectively connect with this valuable audience through video. The platform aims to enhance its video capabilities to facilitate greater insight and success for creators tapping into its professional user base. |
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A new report analyzing $100 million in advertising spend reveals humorous content drives higher engagement for direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands on social media, despite representing a minority of total ad creative. The research by Motion found that while only 14% of DTC ads incorporated humor, these ads accounted for 25% of campaigns spending over $1 million. The data shows longer comedic videos introducing products later perform well in achieving performance marketing goals, departing from conventional quick product presentations. |
With 71% of surveyed DTC brands planning to increase their investment on Meta's platforms in 2025, the integration of humor signals an industry shift combining brand marketing with performance tactics. Successful brands are customizing comedic content across different platforms, with video formatting showing notably higher engagement rates. The trend toward humorous ads reflects DTC brands' strategies to stand out and build lasting connections with consumers in an increasingly crowded market. |
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YouTube offers NGOs a powerful platform to amplify their message, showcase impact, and engage supporters through compelling video content. By leveraging storytelling, varying video formats, utilizing analytics, and integrating donation tools, NGOs can educate audiences, foster emotional connections, and drive fundraising efforts. |
Additionally, collaborating with influencers, engaging viewers through comments, promoting content strategically, and continuously measuring success enables NGOs to optimize their YouTube strategies for maximum impact. Overall, YouTube empowers organizations to convey their missions visually, reach broader audiences, and cultivate lasting support for their vital initiatives in the digital age. |
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TikTok creators with mid-sized followings between 50,000 to 499,999 followers represent the largest segment at 42% of all creator accounts followed by U.S. adults, according to new research from Pew Research Center. The study examined posting habits, content trends, and profile optimization across different creator segments on TikTok. |
It found creators with over 1 million followers maintain a median of 777 lifetime posts compared to 154 for those under 10,000 followers. Larger accounts also tend to produce longer videos and incorporate more speech. While entertainment and humor are common themes, promotional content increases with larger followings. The research provides insights into the growing dominance of mid-tier creators and how content strategy and monetization varies by account size on the platform. |
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UK-based Colossal Influence is pioneering partnerships between brands and controversial political creators, overcoming industry skepticism. Founded in 2016 by Kristian Sturt, the talent management agency represents left-wing voices often avoided by brands due to controversial content. By carefully vetting opportunities and strategically balancing their roster, Colossal delivers authentic audience connections for ethical brands brave enough to take a stand. |
With the rise of creator-led brands, Colossal's specialized experience positions them to establish standards for responsible political influencer marketing as this lucrative segment gains mainstream momentum. Sturt anticipates more AI creators, user-generated live commerce, and continued growth of creator businesses. Through sustainable practices focused on exceptional results, Colossal is leading the way in ethically managing divisive yet influential voices. |
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A new study by TikTok and Luminate reveals the platform's profound impact on the music industry. The research shows 84% of songs entering the Billboard Global 200 chart in 2024 first achieved viral status on TikTok. Artists with strong TikTok engagement see an average 11% weekly streaming growth compared to 3% for those with lower correlation. |
TikTok's "Add to Music App" feature has generated over 1 billion song saves. The data indicates TikTok users spend 48% more time streaming music, are 68% more likely to subscribe to paid services, and outspend average consumers on merchandise and live events. A key "super fan" segment representing 27% of U.S. TikTok users drives outsized spending across music categories. |
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Dubai is strategically positioning itself as an emerging hub for the global creator economy. The city is offering incentives like tax-free residency and developing infrastructure to attract 10,000 creators through initiatives like the Creators HQ program. |
Dubai hosted the 1 Billion Followers Summit in 2023, showcasing its ability to convene over 15,000 attendees and 2+ billion combinedFollowData from top global creators. With its central location bridging markets, events like this demonstrate Dubai's advantages for networking across cultures. Key industry leaders see Dubai's initiatives as a calculated economic shift to become a central creator economy hub alongside cities like Los Angeles and London in the years ahead. |
Interesting People |
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YouTube star Steven He, known for his comedy sketches with over 13 million subscribers, has landed the lead role in the supernatural action-comedy film "Kung Fu Deadly." The Irish-Australian co-production, backed by Screen Ireland and Screen Queensland, follows two pest control workers who inadvertently interfere with a hunter's pursuit of Chinese undead, forcing them to team up. |
Featuring an international ensemble cast and crew, the film marks a strategic move to bridge traditional markets with digital audience demographics. With financial support from screen agencies and executive producers overseeing the project, "Kung Fu Deadly" positions He's casting as tapping into the growing influence of creators in the entertainment industry. |
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Lawyer Merlyne Jean-Louis emphasizes that creators are essentially running mini production companies and must prioritize legal protection, intellectual property management, and brand development. Key takeaways include treating your content as a business asset, securing trademarks, choosing the right corporate structure to safeguard personal assets, diversifying income streams beyond social platforms, and proactively managing risks. As the creator economy's market value is expected to double in the coming years, creators who approach their work strategically and seek legal counsel will be better positioned for long-term success in this maturing industry. |
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Kevin Paffrath, a popular financial YouTuber with over 2 million subscribers, announced the closure of his exchange-traded fund (ETF) citing underperformance and mounting expenses. Despite attracting $32 million in assets, the Meet Kevin Pricing Power ETF lagged the S&P 500 benchmark and Paffrath estimates $1 million in losses from operating the fund. |
This closure highlights the barriers to entry for creators in the ETF market, where high costs and performance pressures make it difficult for new entrants to gain traction. As the creator economy matures, creators must adapt their strategies, build sustainable business models, and navigate an increasingly competitive landscape to achieve lasting success. |
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OnlyFans creators are increasingly leveraging Premier League football culture to build lucrative content businesses, with several influencers generating significant revenue through club-affiliated content. Key figures include Elle Brooke, known for Manchester City-themed content, and Alex Le Tissier, who earns up to £20,000 monthly incorporating Southampton FC elements into her work. |
The strategy has proven effective but controversial. Content creators strategically use club loyalty and football-related controversy to drive engagement, with some deliberately provoking fan reactions for visibility. Platform analytics show engagement spikes during football-related controversies, though this often leads to online harassment and safety concerns at matches. Industry experts note this reflects broader shifts in digital content monetization, with creators often facing pressure to produce increasingly explicit content to maintain earnings. |
Dr. Iain MacKenzie of the University of Kent observes that social media dynamics reward extreme behavior and controversy, though online hostility can translate into real-world harassment. The trend signals an evolving intersection between sports culture and adult content creation, raising questions about fan culture and content moderation in traditionally family-friendly spaces. |
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Industry News |
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A computer program that randomly generates YouTube video URLs has unveiled new insights about the platform's vast scale and how it's being used, challenging prevailing narratives. Researchers estimate YouTube now hosts around 14.8 billion videos, with the majority being amateur, unedited clips under a minute long that receive little to no engagement. |
The findings suggest YouTube operates more as critical public infrastructure rather than just an entertainment platform for elite creators, underscoring the need for greater transparency from Google about the video site's inner workings that shape discourse and access to information globally. |
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Amazon is shutting down Inspire, its TikTok-style product discovery feed, after just over two years in operation. The short-form video and photo feature, which launched in 2022, allowed users to shop directly from content created by influencers and brands within Amazon's mobile app. The shutdown comes amid broader shifts in Amazon's social commerce strategy. The company has recently focused on partnerships with established platforms, including Instagram and Snapchat, enabling direct purchasing through these channels. |
These integrations may have reduced the need for Amazon's standalone social feature. Inspire faced challenges with creator engagement, particularly after a controversial compensation program offering creators $25 per qualifying video or up to $12,500 for 500 videos. Many influencers found these rates insufficient compared to earnings potential on other platforms. |
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YouTube announced a significant expansion of its AI capabilities, marking artificial intelligence as a key strategic priority for 2025. The platform is rolling out enhanced AI-powered tools, including auto-dubbing features for all YouTube Partner Program participants and improved content protection measures. |
A partnership with Creative Artists Agency will strengthen safeguards around AI-generated content, particularly focusing on protecting personal likenesses. The platform is also implementing machine learning technology to estimate user ages for more appropriate content delivery. Recent data shows widespread AI adoption among creators, with 92% already using AI tools. |
However, community feedback reveals growing concerns about content authenticity, particularly in YouTube Shorts, where users report increasing encounters with AI-generated voices and recycled content. The expansion follows controversy over AI companies' use of YouTube content for model training. An investigation revealed that major tech firms harvested content from over 173,000 videos without creator consent, raising concerns about intellectual property rights and creator compensation in the AI era. |
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Tech startup Uscreen has raised $150 million in growth funding from PSG Equity to power its creator-focused platform. Uscreen provides tools for creators to launch and manage their own video apps and subscription services across devices. As the creator economy grows, more creators seek control over their digital presence and revenue streams through platforms like Uscreen that enable direct audience ownership. |
Uscreen's technology includes content hosting, live streaming, messaging, and membership management capabilities. The company plans to use the funding for product development, engineering resources, and potential expansion into new markets and AI integration for video creation tools. Uscreen's focus on creator ownership and cross-platform subscriptions positions it alongside other community-driven startups in the maturing creator economy space. |
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Harvard student-athletes continue to bypass the university's official NIL (name, image, and likeness) marketplace, securing brand partnerships independently through direct outreach on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Despite the January 2024 launch of the centralized "One Crimson NIL Exchange" platform, adoption remains limited among athletes. |
High-profile competitors such as track star Mfoniso M. Andrew and triple-jumper Daniel O. Falode report earning between $300 to $5,000 per brand deal from companies leveraging their sizable followings on TikTok and Instagram. While Harvard Athletics aims to drive greater utilization through training and outreach, many athletes currently find more success pursuing NIL opportunities autonomously as the collegiate influencer market expands, projected to reach $1.67 billion in the 2024-25 season. |
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India's creator economy has seen explosive growth, surging 322% from 962,000 influencers in 2020 to over 4 million in 2024, according to new research from Qoruz. The gaming category emerged as one of the fastest-growing, with a 213% increase between 2020-2022. Travel influencers rebounded strongly post-pandemic with 212% growth in 2023. Fashion remains the dominant category with 470,000 influencers, followed by Arts/Entertainment and Gaming. |
Niche segments like Infotainment and Finance also showed significant momentum. Brands increasingly view influencers as strategic partners creating authentic, context-driven content that deeply resonates with audiences. The expanding creator economy reflects how influencers are transforming communication, shaping trends, and connecting with audiences as "cultural architects." |
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Fundmates is a fintech platform providing growth capital and support services specifically for YouTube creators. Instead of using credit scores, Fundmates analyzes over 50 YouTube metrics to assess a creator's potential, enabling them to offer 3-5x more funding than banks. Their revenue-share model maintains creators' income stability while giving them capital to invest in growth. |
Fundmates provides video editing, analytics, distribution and other services to help creators build sustainable businesses. As the creator economy matures, treating channels as real businesses requiring strategic investment is crucial for full-time success. Fundmates demonstrates how properly funded creator enterprises can scale effectively. The company plans to expand to other platforms while continuing to offer integrated financial and operational support tailored for the unique needs of digital entrepreneurs. |
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Privy Reviews aims to become the "Rotten Tomatoes for creators" - a platform where brands can share honest feedback about working with influencers and content creators. Founded in 2021, Privy provides creators with free landing pages to collect verified testimonials from brand partners, building credibility. Its database is searchable, allowing brands to vet creators before hiring. |
The platform prioritizes transparency with protections against harassment and malicious reviews. Privy offers premium features like website integration, analytics, and profile customization for professional creators. Looking ahead, Privy is developing an AI-powered "Creator Score" to assess brand safety across creators' social channels. The platform envisions becoming the industry standard for creator verification as competition for creator talent intensifies across social media platforms. |
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Hydrant Pay has developed an innovative fintech solution by leveraging traditional banking tools to pay creators within 24 hours after completing brand work. Their platform utilizes non-recourse invoice factoring, eliminating the draining wait while handling all payment collection follow-ups. By charging a 5% fee, Hydrant Pay bridges the gap, instantly paying creators while brands maintain existing payment terms. |
This solves problems for all parties - creators get paid immediately, agencies offer faster payouts without straining cash flow, and brands keep their terms. While educating the industry on invoice factoring is a challenge, Hydrant Pay's banking partnerships enable scalability. As the creator economy matures, Hydrant Pay aims to make delayed payments obsolete by providing essential financial infrastructure where creators can focus on creating content. |
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The study by The Cirqle reveals significant engagement rate increases across all Instagram creator categories in 2024, with nano influencers leading at 14.2% (up 184%), followed by micro at 11.7% (up 95%), mid-tier at 9.4% (up 135%), and macro at 7.3% (up 192%). Notably, celebrities saw a 2,700% surge to 5.6% engagement despite posting less. Cost-per-million rates declined, with nano influencer CPMs dropping 53.33% to $28 and celebrity CPMs down 62% to $114. |
However, influencer posting rates increased substantially, with nano influencers charging $504 (up 227.27%). The research highlights Instagram's platform developments like AI content discovery, Partnership Ads for influencer marketing, and in-app affiliate capabilities. With 44% of influencer budgets, Instagram projects over $12 billion in creator ad spend for 2025, cementing its leadership. |
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As creators expand into episodic content, production studios are exploring new models to repurpose and syndicate their shows across platforms. London Alley plans to launch creator-driven comedy series on YouTube, bypassing streaming deals to maximize viewership and brand opportunities. Mirage Digital repackages existing creator content into episodic formats for distribution across social media, FAST channels and OTT platforms. |
By owning distribution, these studios aim to generate recurring revenue streams for creators beyond the traditional monetization methods. As brands seek younger audiences through creator partnerships, episodic content offers high engagement potential if executed strategically. |
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Slow Ventures has launched a $60 million Creator Fund focused on investing in content creators who are building businesses beyond social media revenue. The fund will write checks between $1-3 million, targeting creators with engaged niche communities who are developing products and technology for their audiences. Partner Megan Lightcap emphasizes they're not investing in traditional influencers, but rather expert creators who function more like founders in specific verticals. |
The firm structures deals to primarily capture equity in creator-launched companies rather than social media earnings. General Partner Sam Lessin notes this represents an emerging entrepreneurial model where community-building precedes product development, unlike traditional software startups. The fund evaluates creators similarly to seed-stage companies, assessing factors like vertical value, competitive landscape, and founder qualities. |
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TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew delivered mixed news at Wednesday's all-hands meeting, reporting strong recovery from January's brief U.S. shutdown while signaling potential layoffs ahead. Ad campaigns have fully resumed, and the platform's top 1,000 creators increased posting by 26% post-shutdown, with user numbers exceeding expectations both domestically and globally. Despite this rebound, employees face mounting uncertainty as the April deadline approaches for ByteDance to sell TikTok's U.S. operations. |
The company is already experiencing talent drain to competitors like Meta, following recent reorganizations and staff reductions. Chew announced plans to "remove unnecessary layers" while working with the Trump administration, specifically Vice President JD Vance, to find a solution for continued U.S. operations. The platform reports complete restoration of paused advertising campaigns, though employee concerns persist about job security amid potential restructuring and the looming ownership transition deadline. |
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As creators expand into episodic content, production studios are exploring new models to repurpose and syndicate their shows across platforms. London Alley plans to launch creator-driven comedy series on YouTube, bypassing streaming deals to maximize viewership and brand opportunities. |
Mirage Digital repackages existing creator content into episodic formats for distribution across social media, FAST channels and OTT platforms. By owning distribution, these studios aim to generate recurring revenue streams for creators beyond the traditional monetization methods. As brands seek younger audiences through creator partnerships, episodic content offers high engagement potential if executed strategically. |
