Posted by It is no secret that right now, TikTok is raising the bar for other social networks. The short video platform has become so popular that other apps are doing their best to compete with it. Such is the case with YouTube Shorts, which has just announced a $100 million investment to pay influencers and content creators.
This Tuesday, YouTube unveiled the creation of the fund, which will be used to reward the most popular creators on its Shorts platform. The amount will be distributed throughout 2021 and 2022 among an as yet undetermined number of users.
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The platform will choose those deserving of payment based on their popularity, the company explained on its blog. To receive a reward, videos must be original creations and respect YouTube community rules.
“Every month we will go to thousands of creators whose videos have achieved more views and popularity to reward them for their contributions,” YouTube stated.
As we work to build a long-term monetization plan for Shorts creators, we’re excited to announce the first step: The YouTube Shorts fund !! Read more about the fund, how it works, & other early steps for Shorts monetization here: https://t.co/vJ6OCy62Oz
– TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) May 11, 2021
Shorts allows you to record and edit videos of up to 60 seconds, adding music, text and basic filters, although “more effects will come in the future.”
The company reported that it’s already begun to implement a function “that will allow you to mix audio from YouTube videos.” However, YouTube clarified that authors can decide whether or not others can use the audio from their videos.
“We can’t wait to see what you do with it! Creators and artists are in control and can always opt out if they don’t want their full-length video mixed,” the company said.
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There are more ways to monetize content on YouTube
The Google-owned company was one of the first online platforms to position itself as a rich source of profit for creators.
We all know at least one YouTuber who has become a millionaire through his or her videos, from pioneers like Werevertumorro and Yuya to Luisito Comunica, Los Polinesios and Kimberly Loaiza. And those are only the most famous Mexican YouTubers; internationally, there are even more cases.
With this new approach, the most famous video platform seeks to remain economically attractive for the most creative young people on the web.
“Shorts Fund is the first step in our journey to create a monetization model for Shorts on YouTube. This is one of our top priorities and it will take us some time to get it right. We are actively working on this and will take input collected from our community to help develop a long-term program designed specifically for YouTube Shorts,” YouTube said.
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YouTube Shorts is for everyone
YouTube launched the Shorts platform in September 2020, but in its testing phase, it was limited to a select group of creators. Now, the company has decided to release it to all users.
The international release of YouTube Shorts will be gradual and by region. For now, it is already available in India and the United States, but it is only a matter of time before it reaches the whole world.
It’s official: the Shorts camera is now available to everyone in the US
And with it, a bunch of updates:
60 sec recording (vs. only 15)
filters (to change the color / vibe)
captions (auto-generated or manual)All the deets → https://t.co/wKwpBTtyOy
– TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) May 5, 2021
With this $100 million investment, YouTube Shorts joins the wave of social networks implementing new forms of monetization.
This week, Twitter announced that it bought the startup Scroll as part of its project to implement paid subscriptions. In addition, it activated the ‘Tip Jar’ tool, which allows tweeters to give and receive ‘tips’ for their content.
For its part, Instagram announced new tools for influencers to make more profits while Spotify already allows podcast creators to charge for access to exclusive content.
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