Amid the war with the Trump administration, TikTok announced the first wave of creators who will receive money from the $1 billion Creator Fund for making short, entertaining videos on the platform.
TikTok announced the creation of the Creator Fund in late July to “further support creators of all sizes and backgrounds through earnings that reward the passion and dedication they put into inspiring, uplifting, and entertaining the TikTok community,” as the company stated.
A message to the TikTok community. pic.twitter.com/UD3TR2HfEf
— TikTok (@tiktok_us) August 1, 2020
“Creating engaging and meaningful content takes time and commitment, and our creators are just as passionate about sharing stories and connecting with their audiences as we are about serving them and our broader community of users,” general manager of TikTok US Vanessa Pappas said in the blog post.
The introduction of the TikTok Creator Fund marks the first effort from the platform to pay creators directly for their videos. Previously, they could monetize live streams, but now TikTokers will receive regular payments for their content over the year, and the fund will gradually grow.
In the next three years, the company plans to increase the fund from $200 million to $1 billion in the US and more than double that globally.
The Internet Protocol
The first 19 creators set to receive payment (the amount of money is undisclosed) from the fund are Matt Broussard, Alex Stemplewski, Avani Gregg, Brittany Tomlinson, Cheyenne Jaz Wise, David Dobrik, Jess Andrade, Darryl Jones, Yumna Jawad, Kate Hudson and Chance Moore (the parents of Eliza Adalynn Moore), Michael Le, Justice Alexander, Dr. Fayez, Marissa Ren, Matt Gresia, Isabella Avila, Ross Smith, Spencer Polanco Knight, and Dr. Anthony Youn.
Some of these creators, including David Dobrik and Ross Smith, have extensive experience of being digital entertainment personalities, whereas some other people on the list, like Dr. Fayez or Jess Andrade, don’t have a media background but still gained wide popularity and attracted millions of followers on the platform.
For instance, Dr. Fayez is a healthcare professional who has gained more than 500 thousand followers since fall 2019. He makes videos in which he is mythbusting common misconceptions related to healthcare.
The Internet Protocol
First-wave creators have different audience sizes and produce various content, but they still share common requirements to be considered for the fund. They all need to be 18 years or older, create content that complies with TikTok Community guidelines, have at least 10,000 followers, and receive 10,000 video views over the last 30 days.
And to our TikTok family, your support means the world to us. pic.twitter.com/0PaJvSMOBN
— TikTok (@tiktok_us) August 10, 2020
Opening the fund for creators in the US is a strategic move for TikTok as it is still under a deadline to sell its US operations to a US company, or otherwise, there’s a risk that the platform will shut down completely in the United States.
