Each week, we handpick a selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the creator industry.
This week, everyone’s favorite Diet Pepsi drinker headed to Fortnite, Norway’s biggest soccer star shared the secret behind his YouTube success, and a “chicken amusement park” got shut down.
Creator commotion
Addison Rae is the latest creator with a custom Fortnite skin.The TikTok star-turned-pop songstress is pretty in pink as she becomes the latest creator featured in the Fortnite Icon Series. Rae says she started playing Fortnite in high school, and her inclusion in the game will be a “big flex” among her little brothers.
ChuChuTV is the latest family video favorite to arrive on Netflix. After breaking out on YouTube, where its primary channel counts nearly 100 million subscribers, ChuChuTV is joining the Netflix lineup. Its animated sing-alongs will be a strong addition for a platform that already offers content from YouTube faves like Ms. Rachel.
ExtraEmily is sharing her “creator essentials” with teens on Disney+ and Hulu. The media company pocket.watch searched for creators who could appeal to kids and teens through serial, long-form projects, and it found a partner in the form of ExtraEmily. In a 15-episode series subtitled Creator Essentials, Emily Xuechun Zhang will highlight her personality through challenges, adventures, and social experiments.
The newest Overwatchhero is voiced by LilyPichu. After playing video games on her Twitch streams, LilyPichu has added voice acting to her resume. She has already voiced characters in games like Genshin Impact and MapleStory 2, and she is now delivering the lines for D.Mon, a newcomer to Blizzard’s popular hero shooter.
The latest tech
DittoDub played a key role in Erling Haaland’s World Cup glow-up.Erling Haaland didn’t just thrive on the pitch during the World Cup — he also grew his YouTube channel by leaps and bounds. How did he do it? The AI dubbing startup DittoDub gave him a boost by translating his content into 44 different languages at the start of the World Cup.
Hank Green reassesses his AI usage after relying too much on LLMs. Green’s fans revolted after he published a video with a script that felt AI-generated. The vlogbrother admitted that he had become too reliant on engines like ChatGPT, which gave him a dopamine rush while helping him research topics. As he adjusts, he is putting himself on a regimen of limited LLM usage.
TheWrap and What’s Trending are launching a conference called AI Creator Day. Working together, the two publications will explore the ethics, sustainability, and potential of AI artistry. The event will take place on September 29 in Los Angeles; the next day, TheWrap will host its annual conference, titled TheGrill.
Facing the music
Kickstarter is investing $1 million in rising artists.With a program it has dubbed the Kickstarter Culture Fund, the crowdfunding will deliver direct payouts to campaigns led by independent artists, filmmakers, and musicians. The idea is to support those projects early on, when a funding injection can generate momentum that pays off (literally) in the long run.
For musicians, YouTube and TikTok are the new late-night shows.On TV talk shows, musical bookings aren’t as numerous as they used to be. That creates a discovery problem for aritsts, but YouTube and TikTok are filling the void. By providing opportunities for up-and-coming musicians to go viral, those digital platforms are supporting artists while other avenues let them down.
The biz
More layoffs hit TikTok as Nashville office closes.In a space located on Nashville’s Music Row, TikTok housed members of its moderation team and other employees. Last week, TikTok announced that 250 workers will be let go, with the Nashville office set to close on October 5. No clarification has yet been made about the future of the app’s moderation efforts.
A fashion brand built with YouTube’s help is becoming a $12 million business.When she was in college, Hailey Weinerwatched YouTube videos to learn how to run a clothing company. That company became Heiress Beverly Hills, a fashion house that is seeing its valuation skyrocket in the mid-2020s. What else can Gen Z entrepreneurs learn from their YouTube watch lists?
Liquid Death wants some of that MrBeast magic.The purveyor of heavy metal-themed fizzy beverages has a new drink out that tastes like peanut butter cups. The inspiration for that product is Feastables. MrBeast’s snack brand launched its own peanut butter cup last year, and that item has received positive reviews. But will it seltzer?
The internet is a strange place
A “chicken theme park” is all fun and games until someone gets food poisoning.Omani influencer Ahmed Al-Saadi, who has 1.7 million Instagram followers, strapped whole chickens into theme park rides to create some sort of grotesque poultry carnival. It was all fun and games until the health department showed up and temporarily shut down Al-Saadi’s bizarre display.
Forget VTubers; Vita is a robot streamer. Show Robotics is behind Vita, a “physical robot” who streams on Twitch. Vita can sing or talk to chat, but she also has some functions humans can’t match. For example, she “hosts a small cast of characters that viewers can summon from chat,” including a Brazilian radio host and a desert mystic.
The evil corporation from The Boysnow has its own YouTube channel. Look, I’m not telling Amazon Prime Video how it should bring its popular franchise to YouTube, but if I were launching Vought on YouTube, I would aim for accurate lore by having the company operate as a shady multi-channel network.
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Trending Stories
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- YouTube nukes ASMR channels, accusing them of posting “sexually gratifying” videos and linking out to content on other platforms that violates YouTube’s TOS
- YouTube’s new video ideation tool has two “massive” features for creators
