make longer videos, get paid

Last year, TikTok launched a new monetization system for streamers called the Creativity Program to encourage longer videos that allow it to sell more ads. Now the company is rolling out the scheme widely under a new name, the Creator Rewards Programwhich only pays for videos longer than one minute.

“The Creator Rewards Program will continue to reward high-quality, original content over one minute in length with an optimized rewards formula focused on 4 key areas: originality, playtime, search value and audience engagement,” the company wrote.

TikTok noted that longer content is more profitable with “total creator revenue increasing over 250 percent in the past 6 months, and the number of creators making $50,000 each month nearly doubling” since the beta began the version.

TikTok is also expanding its subscription features for creators. Previously, only live streamers had access to offerings such as exclusive (paid) content, badges, and custom emojis, but now the company is expanding these benefits beyond live streams.

“In the coming weeks, eligible creators can sign up for access to a new way to strengthen their value-added community through exclusive content and benefits, while giving their most engaged communities the opportunity to connect even more deeply with your favorite artists,” TikTok wrote.

The company’s Creator Fund, which had no minimum video length requirements and ended last year, was often criticized for low payouts. Last year, streamer Hank Green said he made about 2.5 cents per 1,000 views on the platform — a fraction of his YouTube earnings and about half of what he earned on TikTok before the fund.

In comparison, select streamers have embraced the creativity beta program. Some (with subscriber numbers ranging from half a million to several million) received payouts ranging from the low thousands to nearly $100,000 a month, “a complete 180” from what they saw in the Creators Fund, according to one creator.

However, audiences are unsure about longer videos. In an internal TikTok survey last year, nearly 50 percent of users said videos longer than a minute were “stressful,” and a third of users watched videos online at twice the speed, according to With cable report from the beginning of this year.

How to pay creators isn’t TikTok’s only challenge right now. Yesterday, a group of US lawmakers introduced a new bill that would force parent ByteDance to sell TikTok so the app can stay in the United States.