What Does TikTok's "Series" Mean for Entertainment
Here's what happened on social media this week, March 20 2023
Thanks for reading! This week includes the first promoted post in this newsletter. It’s for an AI video editing tool I genuinely think is going to be helpful for overwhelmed creators. If you test Big Room, let me know what you think.
💻 ROADMAP
📲 TikTok Updates:
TikTok just announced the launch of Series, exclusive content creators can produce and put behind a paywall.
How does it work:
One Series collection can include up to 80 videos, each up to 20 minutes long
Creators can sell access to their series for anywhere from $1 to $190
Followers can access the content via direct in-video links or through a creator’s profile
*note this is still invite only but should be rolled out to more people later this year
Hot take: Should creators start thinking about their extended-length video content strategy? I’m conflicted.
For a certain type of creator — an educator with e-courses or tutorials to sell, a vlogger, or a really skilled storyteller who wants to develop long-form content — the feature could be promising.
It also helps TikTok compete with YouTube (and Netflix) with a full funnel of short- to long-form content that keeps audiences around and, of course, creates more opportunities to insert advertising.
On the flip side, people don’t like paying for content. It’s a fact. More than 30 million households in North America share Netflix passwords! So, even with the monetization potential, this is not an easy win for creators since TikTok’s put the burden of selling Series on them.
TikTok’s also changing the nature of the product creators and audiences signed up for — short-form clips that are easy to create and binge.
It’s really hard to pivot a company’s DNA once people get used to something. Creators experience this all the time. You know that if you started in one niche, it’s almost impossible to bring your audience along if you decide you want to focus on something different.
Since the idea seems like a concept hatched in a conference room over talks of revenue projections and retention strategies, I decided to ask some other industry folks for their thoughts. Reactions were mixed:
“It’s about the production — the right casting, the storyline. For example, The D’Amelios reality show would’ve made more sense as a TikTok subscription series. Which would’ve then evolved into it being the first mainstream media endeavor produced by and hosted on the app.
I'd almost love to see TikTok do something similar to what NBC is doing with its creator accelerator. Allowing creators who are already captivating attention with their storytelling, production, and other similar skill sets to produce and star in mainstream shows hosted natively within the platform.
There's so much potential to turn this into something bigger than just another subscription series — we already see how Snapchat and Instagram couldn't captivate our attention with them. We need something cooler.”
-Katarina Terentieva, brand strategist and podcast host
“With TikTok's max length now at 10 min, it’ll be interesting to see creators launch mini-series. Essentially turn into what Quibi wanted to be. The creators who currently focus on storytelling, skits or breakdowns will likely find the best success here.”
-Brett Dashevsky, creator-manager
“We are finding our entertainment and escape via TikTok. The relationships we cultivate with creators are almost one and the same as with a fictional character or a reality TV star, aka Bama Rush Girls etc. We are invested in their lives and also want to know what the next “plot” will be. With the launch of Series, this will push further the idea and thought that Creators and TikTok are the next big thing for eyeballs.”
-Christina Jovanna Olivarez, social media and business coach
“Given TikTok’s track record of being awful about paying their creators vs. YouTube that’s known for being great about compensating their creators. I don’t think this will work out, both from the creators and viewers perspective. Anytime you try to promote anything on TikTok they squash your views, I’m not confident they’ll even push these videos to make it worthwhile.”
-Emily Rose, It’s Become a Whole Thing creator
“Making a 30-second video can take me an entire day. I do not even want to think about how long a 20-minute video could take!!”
-Lindsey Lee Lugrin, FYPM founder and creator
Final Thought: It’s going to be a struggle for most current creators to convert their audiences to paid subscribers. But that might not be the goal. This feels like we’re at a similar inflection point as YouTube when it prioritized more brand-safe video publishers in 2017-2018. This could mean a new Hollywood-meets-TikTok creator content mashup where professional crews produce 20-minute videos based around creators. It’ll create new opportunities for some, even as it gatekeeps others.
📲 YouTube Updates:
YouTube is getting rid of overlay ads on desktop videos starting April 6th.
📲 Instagram Updates:
Meta is pausing its Reels Play bonus programs that paid creators in the US a monthly sum, according to Insider — that's at least five of 11 creator monetization opportunities slashed on the platform since 2020.
📲 Facebook Updates:
Facebook launched some new tools to make it easier to create Reels, including: ready-made reels from Memories, automatically synched musical Grooves, and trending Templates.
📲 Twitter Updates:
Twitter plans to extend long-form tweets for Twitter Blue subscribers to 10k characters.
🔨 RESOURCE
What is it: Big Room is an AI-powered video editing tool that automatically converts landscape videos to a vertical format — basically feeding the need for Shorts, Reels and TikTok.
How does it work: The AI identifies the most significant person or object in every frame and then optimally frames the subject for vertical video. Once a video is uploaded and processed, users can then download it as an mp4 or as an xml file compatible with most other major video editing systems.
Who is this for: The tool works best for creators who fall into the following verticals: podcasters, educational or motivational creators, entrepreneurs, comedians, foodies, and fitness creators. Based on my tests, the tech seemed to have the easiest time following a talking head, even if it’s a conversation between two people.
Full disclosure: Big Room reached out and asked me if I’d rate and review their product. And while this is part of a paid collaboration, I probably would have done it for free — that’s how useful I think it is for creators who don't have the time to do it themselves or the resources to hire an extra editor.
Here’s why I’d jump on this asap: The tool is currently FREE while in beta (as of today, March 10th). And it saves you hours of editing on every video, whether you’re going back to the archives to convert old footage or shooting something new and want it in both landscape and vertical versions.
*This is sponsored advertising content
👆🏻 CLICK THRU
🍫 There’s been a lot of debate around whether it was appropriate for MrBeast to lean on his fandom to clean up the Feastable shelves at Walmart. I think it was a solid marketing tactic to remind people the brand exists and get fans actively involved but I respect the critics who point out the irony of the request for free labor from a man valued at $500M.
🎧 Spotify is revamping its podcaster tools
Spotify’s going all in on creators, opening up its video podcasting features and interactive tools to all podcasters. They also announced a partnership with Patreon which would allow fans to listen to creators’ Patreon content on Spotify.
The updates include a new TikTok-style feed for for music, podcast, and audiobook discovery. And were announced at the company’s Stream On event in LA on Thursday, attended by podcast creators Alex Cooper, Emma Chamberlain, Hasan Minhaj and others.
*This is a tangent but if TechCrunch and other media are now referring to Chamberlain as a “podcast creator” that seems like a win for the podcasting industry.
▶️ YouTubers Share Results of First Month of Shorts Monetization
It’s been just over a month since YouTube launched its Shorts revenue share program. Now, creators like Zach King have been sharing how much they’ve earned in the first month: In King’s case that’s $2,918 for 196M views.
It’s not a lot but what is interesting to me is how most creators are giving YouTube a lot of leeway in ramping up the program — much like King did in this tweet:
“...when I look at almost 197 Million views in a month, I don’t look at the payout I get from the platform, I look at exposure and what my CPM and cost were to get those views. Right now it’s extremely low cost when comparing to the exposure which is why it’s not about the payout, it’s about brand building. My guess is YT monetization will slowly go up over the years and favor creators, but exposure and numbers like this will be more difficult to achieve.”
Related:
📖 ALSO ON MY RADAR…
Why brands are hiring creators as ‘creative directors’ -Digiday
The rise of the founder influencer -Modern Retail
What Hailey Bieber’s Skincare Company Reveals About Influencer-Led Brands -DotLA
20 women startup founders to watch in the creator economy -Insider (paywall)
YouTube’s Head of Gaming Outlines Exclusive Creator Deals, Strategy Under New CEO -THR
The Crazy Job of Being Logan Paul's Editor -Jon Youshaei
How Education-Driven Creators Will Change The Game -Greg Smith
Meta Plans Thousands More Layoffs as Soon as This Week -Bloomberg
Bluesky Social, a Twitter alternative from Jack Dorsey, launches as an invite-only app -AppStore
Reminders:
The Oscars air live Sunday on ABC — get your reactions and memes ready 🏆
SXSW kicks off in Austin today and I’m feeling the FOMO 🌮
Daylight Savings is here to mess you up at 2 am on Sunday ⏰