Snap is its program that allows creators to make money from shortform videos. The company announced a new monetization program that will allow the app’s influencers to make money from Spotlight videos that are one minute or longer by earning a share of their content’s ad revenue.
The change will streamline Snap’s monetization features across Spotlight, its in-app , and Stories, where Snap first launched its feature. It also means the company its Spotlight Reward Program, the creator fund-like arrangement that paid creators directly. That program will be discontinued January 30, 2025, with the new monetization arrangement taking effect February 1.
Snap announced the update as TikTok moves closer to an outright ban in the United States. The ByteDance-owned service is currently facing a January 19, 2025, deadline to sell or be banned f doesn’t intervene. In its announcement, Snap notes that Spotlight viewership is “up 25% year-over-year” and that “there is a unique and growing opportunity for creators to monetize this format in the same way they do with Stories.”
Under the new “unified” program, creators are eligible to earn money from Spotlight videos or Stories if they meet the following requirements:
-Have at least 50,000 followers.
-Post at least 25 times per month to Saved Stories or Spotlight.
-Post to either Spotlight or Public Stories on at least 10 of the last 28 days.
-Achieve one of the following in the last 28 days:
-1 million Spotlight views
-12,000 hours of view time
Some of those metrics are a bit higher than Snap’s previous for Stories, which set the bar at only 10 Story posts a month. But, as TechCrunch notes, the new threshold is much higher for Spotlight creators, who could previously earn money from the company’s creator fund with only 1,000 followers and 10,000 unique views. The change also pushes creators to make longer content for Spotlight as they can no longer be paid for videos shorter than one minute.
If TikTok does end up being banned, Snap will be one of several platforms trying to lure creators to its product. And while the app is known primarily for its private messaging features, the company says that the number of people posting publicly has “more than tripled” in the last year, and that it will be “evolving and expanding the total rewards available to creators” going forward.
