TikTok’s new creator fund, the Creativity Program, was announced in February and was initially invite-only until recently. The program was created to compensate popular content creators but only if they met specific criteria. The current expansion of the program aligns with the original TikTok creator fund, launched in 2020, which aimed to pay app creators $1 billion over a three-year period.
The requirements of the Creativity Fund indicate a slight change in TikTok’s focus. The most significant change is that creators must produce videos longer than one minute to qualify for payment through the fund. Additionally, users must have a minimum of 10,000 followers and 100,000 genuine video views within the last 30 days to be considered eligible.
Although the initial creator fund is still operational, it is uncertain what the future holds as the three-year time frame comes to a close and the new initiative grows. TikTok has announced that those in the original program can switch to the Creativity Program, but once they do so, they cannot revert to the old one.
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Despite the significant amount of money allocated to the original fund, TikTok users often expressed dissatisfaction with the payouts, stating that even popular videos yielded only a small amount of money. In February, TikTok declared that the new program would “increase revenue potential” for participants, although no specific amounts were disclosed.
TikTok’s latest program broadens its existing income-generating options for creators, as other major competitors are also enhancing their offerings. In the same month, YouTube began sharing ad revenue with Shorts creators, marking the first short-form video platform to successfully share ad revenue. This shift provides Shorts with a significant advantage over other platforms since creators can earn more revenue through YouTube Shorts than on TikTok, motivating them to produce exclusive content for the YouTube platform.
Additionally, TikTok is exploring alternative methods to satisfy its creators besides the updated creator fund. According to The Information, TikTok is working on a new feature that would enable creators to charge users a certain amount, like $1, to watch their videos. This concept of offering paid access to exclusive content is not unprecedented, as Instagram provides creators with the option to share subscriber-only content. TikTok hopes that this feature would enable the app to better compensate creators, who are the driving force of the app, as their viral videos are critical to the app’s growth and success.
