MrBeast, one of the internet’s most popular content creators who racks up billions of views across multiple platforms, revealed how much he earned on TikTok: $14,900. A particularly low figure, revealing the problems that the platform is going through.
32.6 million subscribers, more than 312 million “likes” and millions of views on each of its TikTok. MrBeast, one of the internet’s most famous content creators, is also one of the most followed on TikTok. Despite all this, since April 2021, when the platform began paying creators, MrBeast has only received $14,900 (13,215 euros). That’s what he said on Twitter on January 21, 2022.
The sum in itself is not negligible. But, taking into account the fact that MrBeast has achieved several hundred million views, and comparing TikTok to other social networks, it becomes clear that the app faces a big problem: it does not compensate its stars enough. And that could have a significant impact on his future.
What’s going on with TikTok’s Creator Fund?
MrBeast didn’t start the debate alone: his tweet was a response to Safwan AhmedMia, better known as SuperSaf on TikTok. He is the first to have lifted the veil on the amounts paid to the creators of the platform. For his part, since the beginning of April 2021, the date of the start of the creator compensation program, Safwan explains that he has accumulated ” 25 million views “. All for $112. ” TikTok, as a platform for creators, has enormous potential “, he continues in his tweet, “ but I think they need to improve on revenue sharing “.
Launched on March 25, 2021, the TikTok Creator Fund is reserved for creators who have made “ at least 100,000 genuine views on their videos in the previous 30 days “Explains the dedicated site. ” This is not a scholarship, or an ad revenue sharing program. Creators receive funding, the amount of which is based on many factors. Creators know that performance on TikTok is dynamic — it changes naturally — so funds will also fluctuate. »
More precisely, ” the funds that each creator will receive will be calculated according to the number of views, the authenticity of these views, the rate of engagement on the content, and compliance with the conditions of use of the platform. The total will change daily, and will be dependent on the total number posted that day by the community, meaning it will fluctuate depending on the amount of content posted “. Clearly, the rules are extremely complicated, all for a particularly disappointing result.
Another detail shows that the program does not seem at all suitable for the app: TikTok initially committed to paying 200 million dollars (276 million euros) in all to creators over the next 3 years. Given the popularity of the app, and the number of users and videos surpassing 100,000 views each day, that figure seemed extremely limited, and TikTok has since announced that $2 billion will be allocated to creators. Despite this increase, and although TikTok specifies that there is ” no limit set for the money we will give to creators on a daily basis », it seems that the latter are quite low.
Why the Creator Fund is so important for the future of TikTok
If MrBeast, who is the 40th most popular content creator on the platform and has, according to him, more than a billion views on his videos, has only made $14,900 since April 2021, what do influencers earn less? famous? Certainly not enough to afford to do anything concrete with the sums affected. It is often these smaller but more numerous creators who represent the heart of social networks. And if TikTok can’t pay them enough, it’s not sure that the platform will be able to retain them.
The problem of platform monetization is not recent. YouTube is increasingly criticized by creators for its steadily declining monetization. This is also the case on Twitch, where streamers and streamers are complaining more and more about the commissions that the platform receives: between 30% and 50% of a channel’s income. But YouTube and Twitch have the edge over TikTok, not least because they pay very large sums to the most popular creators. The Twitch leak had notably revealed the salaries of top streamers in the world, some of which exceed one million dollars.
TikTok has, for now, no real competitors, the Reels launched by Instagram having failed to supplant the original versions. But Instagram is starting to introduce ways to compensate its creators, and TikTok videographers may soon be tempted to leave the social network to migrate to a competitor that pays better. TikTok is one of the most popular apps in the world, but nothing says it can stay that way for long if it doesn’t change its monetization and lose its stars.