Creator Upload

Today, we interview Marian Brannelly, Global Director of Awards for the Cannes LIONS Festival, to learn more about their Creators programming lineup and why creators should attend. Also: Vimeo helping creators launch their own streaming services, Netflix fires shots at YouTube, and the impact of tariffs on the creator economy.

Here's more detail on what we covered today:

• Learn more about Cannes LIONS Creators here. (Will we be seeing you there??)
• Follow Marian Brannelly on LinkedIn.
• Vimeo's new product lets creators build and monetize their own streaming services - Tubefilter 
• Trump’s tariffs killed his TikTok deal
• MrBeast says it'll be 'way cheaper' to make his Feastables chocolates outside the US because of Trump's tariffs
• QTCinderella's business is in trouble after tariffs
• Instagram's latest attempt to copy TikTok will bring improvements to its "content search" - Tubefilter
• Instagram tests locked reels that can be accessed with secret codes | TechCrunch
• Nas Daily's Dubai hotel has maker spaces for creators--and lets some share in its revenue - Tubefilter
• CoryxKenshin's manga just sold 200,000 physical copies in a week - Tubefilter

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Technically, TikTok is supposed to be banned again tomorrow. Will it? It remains to be seen...but in the meantime, a long line of potential buyers have risen their hands. What will Trump decide? Lauren and Josh break it down today, along with all the other creator economy headlines fit to discuss.

Here's more detail on what we covered today:

• Spotter just took YouTube's biggest creators to its own Upfronts - Tubefilter
• Creators want to go steady with big brands - Tubefilter
• Spotter Showcase – NYC 2025
• Trump to Outline TikTok Deal Proposal, With ByteDance Retaining Stake — The Information
• Trump team has weighed deal to save TikTok that would leave algorithm in Chinese ownership
• AppLovin and Amazon Emerge as TikTok Bidders Ahead of Trump’s Deadline - WSJ
• Amazon Said to Make a Bid to Buy TikTok in the U.S. - The New York Times
• Why a 30-Year-Old Magazine Is Embracing Creators — The Information
• QVC will be on TikTok 24/7 with round-the-clock shoppable streams - Tubefilter
• A fresh estimate suggests that YouTube could be worth as much as $550 billion - Tubefilter
• Hollywood studios were claiming AdSense revenue from YouTube's deluge of AI slop. Now what? - Tubefilter
• Movie studios are being financially rewarded for AI slop on YouTube | The Verge

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Today, Josh is joined by special guest cohost Drew Baldwin, Josh's partner in crime at Tubefilter. After 17 years, we finally got him on the show! On the show itself, first: YouTube changes up the definition of what a view is, as content consumption preferences continue to move away from legacy media. Elsewhere: Good Good Golf gets great money, a TikToker is running for office, and the most outrageous sigma grindset maybe parody video we've ever seen, featuring Saratoga Water. Dive in! 

Here's more detail on what we covered today:

• YouTube is making Shorts views go up - Tubefilter
• Seniors are watching twice as much YouTube on TVs as they were a year ago - Tubefilter
• YouTube sets viewership record beating out Netflix, Prime Video & Disney+ - Dexerto
• 2025 Digital Media Trends: Social platforms are becoming a dominant force in media and entertainment
• Peyton Manning Joins $45 Million Fundraising for Good Good Golf - Bloomberg
• Good Good just got $45 million to grow its YouTube golf empire - Tubefilter
• Influencers are shaking up politics by winning elections. A progressive TikToker wants to be next. - Tubefilter
• 'We Are in an Emergency': Progressive TikTok Star Launches Bid to Unseat Old-Guard Dem
• No, Ashton Hall isn't sponsored by Saratoga Water. But soon he might be. - Tubefilter
• Viral morning routine creator Ashton Hall doesn’t care about people copying his content - Dexerto

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Lauren and Josh are back in the studio (Josh, notably, caffeine-free) to discuss the biggest beef in kids content today...Bluey vs Brainrot? Well, at least that's what YouTube's new Youth Digital Wellbeing Initiative has us believing.

Elsewhere: more than half of brands will pay YouTubers to market their products this year; March Madness sells out its ad space early, and the biggest game show of all time is on for Season 2.

Here's more detail on what we covered today:

• Bluey is the top kids' show on streaming. Rights holder BBC is "only just getting started." - Tubefilter
• There's a lot of slop on the internet. YouTube, Moonbug, The Wiggles, and more say they'll stop kids from watching it. - Tubefilter
• More than half of brands will pay YouTubers to market their products this year - Tubefilter
• March Madness ads sold out "earlier than it has historically.” Did NIL influencer deals play a part? - Tubefilter
• Lilly Singh is launching a network for South Asian YouTubers - Tubefilter
• MrBeast will give away $15 million in prizes during second season of 'Beast Games' - Tubefilter
• Turns out Gen Z doesn't like video podcasts. Now what? - Tubefilter

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Lauren has just returned from SXSW (and announced a new role!) and is here with Josh to spill all the details on the creator front from the marathon conference. Then: creators are usurping TV ad dollars via their own version of Upfronts, and MrBeast's investor deck leaks additional detail about his various businesses. Plus: the biggest creator charity event of the year just happened in the UK, and it crushed. 

Here's more detail on what we covered this week:

• Lauren's got a new gig!
• SXSW behind the scenes: 6 topics everyone was debating in TV, film, and the creator economy
• Top YouTube Creators to Hold Their Own Upfront Event in Bid for TV Ad Dollars
• Creators are making premium shows on their channels, so Spotter is giving them their own upfront - Tubefilter
• MrBeast's investor pitch deck shows why he's shifting his focus to Beast Industries - Tubefilter
• Snap introduces AI Video Lenses powered by its in-house generative model | TechCrunch
• Instagram is sliding into your DMs with 20 new features - Tubefilter
• Instagram Has Launched Over 20 New DM Features Recently: CHART - Business Insider
• Sidemen soccer match raises £4.7 million for charity, cements its legacy as top-tier creator entertainment - Tubefilter

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Josh rediscovers crochet and Lauren teases SXSW. Meanwhile, YouTube is leaning harder than ever into its premium era, and creators are scrambling to polish their content offerings to match.

Here's more detail on what we covered today:

• YouTube brings its more affordable ‘Premium Lite’ subscription to the US | The Verge
• YouTube's Premium Lite tier arrives, providing cheaper access to ad-free viewing - Tubefilter 
• YouTube wants to use its dominance on TV screens to sell more premium subscriptions - Tubefilter
• How YouTubers are adapting their businesses to cash on a TV gold rush
• The True Costs of Being on YouTube - by carla lalli music
• Twitter Co-Founder Ev Williams Is Building Another Social Network

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Lauren and Josh are finally back in the studio together, just in time for MrBeast to claim his business should be valued at $5 billion. Elsewhere, Alex Cooper dumps Alix Earle as the latter leaves Unwell, YouTube takes over the podcast crown, and Crime Junkie cashes in (though with over $40 million of annual profit...why?). All that, plus Reels might go standalone. Lots to cover!

Here's more detail on what we discussed today:

• YouTube Star MrBeast Is Raising Money at a $5 Billion Valuation
• MrBeast Admits He Lost A Lot Of Money On 'Beast Games': "I Lost Tens Of Millions Of Dollars On That Show. I'm An Idiot."
• YouTube's podcasts now reach one billion users per month - Tubefilter
• YouTube's next anti-ad blocker move? Introduce cheaper Premium - Tubefilter
• Instagram May Launch Reels as Separate App, Increasing Pressure on TikTok — The Information
• Alix Earle’s ‘Hot Mess’ Podcast Dropped by Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network (EXCLUSIVE)
• Alix splits from Alex: Earle dropped from Cooper's Unwell Network - Tubefilter
• 'Crime Junkie' Host Ashley Flowers Raises $40 Million to Build Podcasting Empire - Bloomberg
• The most popular podcaster not named Joe Rogan is building a $250 million true crime network - Tubefilter

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This week, Josh welcomes special guest cohost Billy Parks. Billy is a Venture Partner at Slow Ventures, which recently announced a $60 million fund for creators. On the show, we discuss the landscape of creator brands through the investor lens -- and also take a look at some headlines for the week, including the NikeSKIMS announcement and a peculiar case of true crime, fake content.

Here's more detail on what we covered this week:

• Follow Billy Parks on LinkedIn.
• Slow Ventures announces $60 million fund to back creator businesses in "high value verticals" - Tubefilter
• YouTube shuts down "true crime" channel that was all AI lies - Tubefilter
• NIKE, Inc. and SKIMS Introduce New B  rand for Women: NikeSKIMS
• How a computer that 'drunk dials' videos is exposing YouTube's secrets

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This week, Lauren is joined by special cohost Jamie Gutfreund (Forbes; Creator Vision) to look back at 20 years of YouTube through the lens of their 2025 letter from CEO Neal Mohan. Then: Netflix pursues podcasters, Poppi tarte-d at the Super Bowl, and Buzzfeed invests in hopecore via a new social media platform.

Here's more detail on what we covered this week:

• Follow Jamie Gutfreund on LinkedIn!
• Jamie covers the creator economy on Forbes -- more here.
• More on Creator Vision here.
• From the YouTube CEO: Our big bets for 2025
• Neal Mohan says YouTube is the new TV--and creators are the new Hollywood - Tubefilter
• Despite YouTube's investment in Shorts, viewers are gravitating toward long-form video - Tubefilter
• February 14 marks the 20th anniversary of YouTube's founding - Tubefilter
• YouTube and Spotify want to be video podcast kings. But they might have a new challenger: Netflix. - Tubefilter
• Netflix is eyeing video podcasts and once courted 'Call Her Daddy' star Alex Cooper
• BuzzFeed to launch new social media platform called BF Island
• Duolingo Owl Dies—But ‘The Dead Internet Theory’ Lives On
• Poppi sent vending machines to influencers — and it majorly backfired
• Celebrities Protest Kanye West in Fake AI Video; Scarlett Johansson Makes Statement

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It’s a rare occurrence that Josh and Lauren are in the same place — BUT, they come together today during SoCom 2025 to hit us with all the hot creator economy goss. Headlines include: YouTube’s Community push and creators at the Super Bowl.

Hike!

Here are the main headlines for the week:

1. YouTube wants creators and fans closer than ever with its new Communities update - Tubefilter
2. Creators are ruling Super Bowl advertising. Doritos brought back a classic contest to get in on the fun. - Tubefilter
3. Khaby Lame vows to "see all the world and its problems" as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador - Tubefilter

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