TikTok announced today that it’s opening up its revamped creator fund, called the “Creativity Program Beta,” to all eligible creators in the United States. The company initially began testing the new program with select creators in February. TikTok says the new program is designed to generate higher revenue and unlock more real-world opportunities for creators.
To be eligible for the program, creators must have a US-based account, be at least 18 years of age, have at least 10,000 followers and at least 100,000 views in the last 30 days.
Once enrolled in the new program, creators will not be able to revert back to the Creator Fund. TikTok did not say whether the Creativity Program will replace the Creator Fund altogether, but it’s possible that once the Creativity Program launches more widely and exits the beta phase, TikTok will scrap the Creator Fund.
TikTok says the the rewards formula for the Creativity Program Beta has been formulated to offer a higher average gross revenue for qualified video views, but did not provide any specifics about payments. The company’s current Creator Fund launched in 2020 with a $1 billion commitment over three years, but has been criticized by creators who have complained about low payouts, with some saying they earned a few dollars for videos that got millions of views.
To start earning with the program, creators will need to create high-quality, original videos that are longer than one minute. For context, TikTok’s Creator Fund doesn’t require videos to be longer than one minute to be eligible for payment. Another key difference between the two monetization programs is that the Creator Fund only requires creators to have 10,000 followers to be eligible for payment, while the Creativity Program Beta has a 100,000 follower requirement.
The program gives creators access to an updated dashboard with more insights into estimated revenue, video performance metrics and analytics and video eligibility requirements.
“The Creativity Program Beta is in its early stages, and we’re continuously exploring ways to improve the experience for our creator community and the way creators are rewarded,” TikTok wrote in a blog post. “We’re looking forward to hearing feedback from our community.”
The Creativity Program is the latest addition to TikTok’s suite of monetization tools, which includes LIVE subscriptions and TikTok Pulse. The company also has tips and gifts monetization features.
The new program isn’t the only recent launch from TikTok that has the aim of appeasing creators. In March, TikTok introduced a new feature called “Series” that allows eligible creators to post content behind a paywall.
Series enables eligible creators to post collections of premium content behind a paywall that viewers can purchase for access. One Series can include up to 80 videos, each up to 20 minutes long. Creators can select the price for their Series that they believe best reflects the value of their exclusive content. Series is currently only available to select creators, with applications to join opening in the coming months.
