YouTube

YouTube Shorts can now include 60 seconds of music or sounds, up from 15 seconds before • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 15, 2022Posted in Apps, Creators, Media & Entertainment, Music, shorts, Videos, YouTubeNo Comments

YouTube today is addressing one of creators’ chief complaints with filming videos for its TikTok competitor, YouTube Shorts: to date, the music and sounds added to videos could only be 15 seconds in length, even though Shorts themselves can be as long as 60 seconds. Now, thanks to revised licensing deals, YouTube says the majority of music on Shorts will be available in durations of up to 60 seconds. In addition, creators can “remix,” or sample, up to 60 seconds of sounds from other videos, instead of only 15 seconds, as before. Over the next few weeks, YouTube creators will begin to see the expanded options for adding music to their videos when using the audio picker in the YouTube app for iOS and Android. In some cases, the songs will only be 30 seconds in length, due to continued licensing restrictions, YouTube notes. The company, like TikTok and others, negotiates with songs’ rights holders, including the music label or distributor and publisher, before including the track in YouTube Shorts. While YouTube won’t comment on the state of its deals with its music industry partners, it says that most songs in its audio library will now have a maximum duration of up to 60 seconds. The update aims to make YouTube Shorts more competitive with its rivals, including TikTok and Instagram Reels, at a time when the length of what’s considered a “short-form” video is also changing. To access the longer music tracks, creators will need to tap the “+” icon to enter the Shorts camera in the mobile app then pick an audio track from the library. When choosing the sound in the audio picker, you’ll be able to see the duration time which indicates how much audio you can use from the specific track. Creators will also need to change their video recording duration in the Shorts camera in order to use more than 15 seconds of audio, YouTube notes. Similarly, the company is also expanding the length of audio that can be clipped and re-used from other videos. In April, YouTube announced the launch of a remix feature that allows Shorts creators to sample clips from existing YouTube videos that have been posted publicly on the platform — unless the video’s owner had opted out. Many creators see this functionality as a way to bring more visitors to their channel or to introduce their content to a younger generation of users who may have only discovered their videos through Shorts. Before, creators could only sample 15-second segments of original audio from eligible Shorts and video-on-demand content. Now, they can sample up to 60 seconds. While the length of music is being expanded, the maximum length of a YouTube Shorts video itself is not — it will remain 60 seconds. The new feature will roll out to YouTube users globally on iOS and Android. Currently, YouTube Shorts are being watched by over 1.5 billion logged-in users every month and garner over 30 billion views per day, the company claims. Unrelated to music expansions, YouTube also today confirmed the launch of Shopping on YouTube Shorts — a new feature being piloted with U.S. creators that lets them tag products from their own stores. The move follows the launch of TikTok’s own of e-commerce features. Currently, viewers in the U.S., India, Brazil, Canada, and Australia can view and interact with these tags for the time being, and the feature will expand to more creators next year.

YouTube Shorts begins testing shopping features and affiliate marketing • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 15, 2022Posted in Apps, Commerce, YouTube, YouTube ShortsNo Comments

YouTube is adding shopping features to Shorts, its TikTok-like short-form video product, the company confirmed to ZebethMedia on Tuesday. The new shopping features allow users to purchase products as they scroll through Shorts. The news was first reported by the Financial Times. The company is starting to introduce shopping features on YouTube Shorts with eligible creators in the United States who are currently piloting the ability to tag products from their own stores. Viewers in the United States, India, Brazil, Canada and Australia can see the tags and shop through the Shorts. YouTube says it plans to continue to bring tagging to more creators and countries in the future. YouTube is experimenting with an affiliate program in the United States that allows creators to earn commission through purchases of recommended products in their Shorts. The company says the test is still in its early days and that it plans to gradually expand the experiment to more creators next year. “We firmly believe YouTube is the best place for creators to build a business and shopping is a piece of that,” a spokesperson for YouTube told ZebethMedia in an email. The news comes a few weeks after YouTube announced that creators will take a 45 percent share of ad revenue starting next year. In early 2023, creators will be able to apply to the company’s Partner Program if they meet a new Shorts-specific threshold of 1,000 subscribers and 10 million Shorts views over 90 days, after which they will earn 45% of ad revenue from their videos. YouTube’s Shorts has topped 1.5 billion monthly users, but despite this success, YouTube’s quarterly ad revenue declined 1.9% year over year and missed expectations, per Alphabet’s quarterly earnings report released last month. YouTube likely sees the new shopping features as a way for it to broaden its revenue streams amid a slumping advertising market. Over the past few years, YouTube has been working to transform its platform into more of a shopping destination with product launches like shoppable ads and the ability to shop directly from livestreams hosted by creators. Given these moves, it makes sense for YouTube to bring shopping to Shorts too. YouTube isn’t the only digital giant to bet on the future of shopping, as TikTok and Meta have also invested in the space. Last week, TikTok quietly began testing TikTok Shop in the United States. TikTok Shop allows users to buy products directly through the app. Prior to this expansion, the feature was only available in the United Kingdom and parts of Southeast Asia. Earlier this year, the company also began piloting TikTok Shopping in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada in partnership with Shopify. Meta-owned Instagram allows creators to share products in livestreams and in its shopping tab, which lets users scroll through recommended products and make purchases. Brands are also able to make their profiles shoppable through product catalogs.

YouTube’s new ‘Live Q&A’ feature makes it easier to manage questions during livestreams • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 11, 2022Posted in Apps, livestreams, Media & Entertainment, YouTubeNo Comments

YouTube is introducing a new “Live Q&A” feature that is designed to make it easier for creators to interact with viewers during livestreams. When creators start a Q&A, the prompt will appear as a pinned message in the chat. Viewers can then submit their questions and creators can select one and pin it, so viewers know what the creator is responding to. In the past, creators have had to parse through a flood of questions submitted in the live chat. The new feature will surface questions in an organized way that’s easier for creators to manage. When you’re done with the Q&A session, you can go back to the standard live chat. “Live Q&A lets you create and manage Q&A sessions in live chat during your streams and Premieres right from Live Control Room (LCR),” YouTube said in a blog post. “With Live Q&A you can more easily build community while replying to a series of on-topic questions written by your viewers. This option will appear alongside Live Polls, another great way for you to interact with those watching your stream.” YouTube says that questions are ordered chronologically, with the ones submitted first appearing at the top. Although there isn’t a maximum number of questions allowed, the oldest ones in the list will no longer appear after 200 have been submitted. Image Credits: YouTube Questions that are submitted through Live Q&A are managed by the same systems that allow creators to moderate live chat. It’s worth noting that moderators can’t manage questions in Live Q&As, but users with Manager or Editor channel permissions will be able to manage the Q&A list, which means they can view the questions list, select questions to answer and remove questions. The launch of the new feature comes as YouTube is looking to compete with Twitch and TikTok, the latter of which has its own dedicated Q&A feature for livestreams. As YouTube focuses on competing with other platforms, the company has beefed up its livestream offering with new features. YouTube has a Super Thanks feature that allows viewers who want to show extra appreciation for a video to pay creators with one of four pre-set amounts, ranging between $2 and $50. The company also has a Super Chat monetization feature, which is a way for creators to make money from their livestreams. There’s also a Super Stickers feature that is aimed at fans who want to show their support and connect with their favorite creators. Youtube announced last week that it’s gearing up to roll out a new feature that will allow select creators to invite a guest to go live with them. At launch, creators will only be able to co-stream via a phone, as the feature won’t be available on the desktop version of YouTube. The new feature will initially only be available to a select group of creators, but YouTube plans to expand co-streaming to more creators in the future.

YouTube Music and Premium top 80 million paid subscribers • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 9, 2022Posted in Apps, YouTube, YouTube Music, YouTube PremiumNo Comments

Today, YouTube announced that it surpassed 80 million YouTube Music and Premium subscribers globally, including customers using free trials. The year-over-year increase of 30 million subscribers is noteworthy and puts the company on track to becoming one of the top streaming music providers. In September 2021, YouTube reported 50 million Music and Premium subs. “We’ve worked hard to build an experience that puts people first, and we’ll continue providing the best, uninterrupted experience across all of YouTube, even on the go,” Adam Smith, VP Product, YouTube, said in a statement. Lyor Cohen, Global Head of Music at YouTube and Google, said, “Alongside our music industry partners, we’ve been working hard to make YouTube the best place for every fan and every artist, and today’s news marks a significant milestone in that journey. We’re not stopping here. We’ve got lots to do and look forward to driving more growth and contributions back to the music industry.” In YouTube’s official blog post, Cohen reiterated that, between July 2021 and June 2022, YouTube contributed $6 billion in revenue to the music industry, 30% of which was from user-generated content. The company made the initial announcement in September. YouTube Music Premium costs $9.99/month and allows users to download and listen to music without ads. YouTube Music recently introduced an iOS 16 Lock Screen widget, “Recently Played,” which allows users to quickly access recently played songs, albums, playlists and videos from their lock screen. YouTube Premium is $11.99/month and lets subscribers watch and download ad-free YouTube videos as well as access all the perks of YouTube Music. YouTube ran a short-lived test in October that asked free users to upgrade to Premium to watch videos in 4K. Now, all users can watch high-resolution videos without paying for a Premium subscription. A few days after YouTube ended the test, the company announced it would increase the price of YouTube Premium’s family plan. Despite the new milestone, it’s still behind Spotify, Apple Music and Tencent, a China-only music service. Spotify reported its third-quarter earnings last month, revealing a total of 195 million premium subscribers and 456 million monthly active users. In July, Apple noted that it had 860 million paid subscriptions across the App Store, Apple TV+, Apple Music, cloud services and its other businesses. Tencent Music Entertainment Group has about 82.7 million subscribers across its three music streaming apps.

YouTube will soon roll out a ‘Go Live Together’ co-streaming feature to select creators • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 4, 2022Posted in Apps, Media & Entertainment, TikTok, Twitch, YouTubeNo Comments

YouTube is gearing up to roll out a new feature that will allow select creators to invite a guest to go live with them, the company announced on its Creator Insider channel and in a blog post. At launch, creators will only be able to co-stream via a phone, as the feature won’t available on the desktop version of YouTube. The new feature will initially only be available to a select group of creators, but YouTube plans to expand co-streaming to more creators in the future. Creators can schedule a live stream with a guest from their computer and then go live from a mobile phone. Or, they can go live immediately from their mobile phone. Although you can rotate guests on your live stream, you can only have one guest appear at a time. Once you invite a guest, your stream feed will show above your guest’s. In the next few weeks, some creators will be able to select the new “Go Live Together” button on their accounts. Creators need to start by entering their stream details, including the title, description, monetization settings, thumbnails and visibility settings. After selecting the “Invite a co-streamer” option, creators will be able to choose a guest to invite to their live stream. After the guest clicks the invite, they will be sent to a waiting room. When both people are ready, the host can tap the “Go Live” button. YouTube’s guest streams can run advertisements, but revenue will solely go to the host. It’s worth noting that the stream won’t appear on the guest’s channel, but YouTube says it’s aware that visibility on guest channels is important, which indicates that the company could potentially ship the feature in the future. The launch of the new feature comes as TikTok and Twitch recently launched their own co-streaming features. A few weeks ago, TikTok rolled out a new feature called “Multi-Guest” that lets hosts go live with up to five other people using a grid or panel layout. Last week, Twitch officially launched a new feature called Guest, which lets streamers easily pull other creators and fans into their streams for talk show-like experience. Guest Star makes it possible for anyone to pull up to five speakers into a stream at once. Unlike with YouTube’s co-streaming feature, TikTok and Twitch both allow you go live with more than one person. Given that YouTube’s co-streaming is still in the early stages, it’s possible that it may expand the limit to allow creators to go live with multiple people.

YouTube begins selling streaming subscriptions with its new streaming hub, ‘Primetime Channels’ • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 1, 2022Posted in Apps, Media & Entertainment, streaming services, YouTubeNo Comments

YouTube is bringing more streaming services to its platform in the U.S. with a new feature, “Primetime Channels,” allowing consumers to subscribe and watch content from over 30 services within the YouTube app. The company has signed up with streaming partners like Paramount+, Showtime, Epix, Starz, AMC+ and more. The new feature is in YouTube’s Movies & Shows hub, which can be found in the Explore tab. From there, users can sign up for various channels. Then, the channels will appear directly on the YouTube homepage. Now, users can discover MrBeast’s content alongside other streaming titles like “1883,” “The Chi” “Star Trek: Picard,” Anne Rice’s “Interview with the Vampire” series, and more, all on one feed. Users will get a personalized experience that includes recommended shows and movies, as well as curated trailers, behind-the-scenes footage and cast interviews, the company said. The offering is only available to U.S. users, but YouTube plans to expand to international users in the future. The company is also looking to work with more streaming partners and add channels over time, it noted. Image Credits: YouTube Paramount+ is currently the biggest Primetime Channel on the platform in terms of its subscriber base, and YouTube isn’t its only notable distribution partner. The streamer also recently partnered with The Roku Channel and Walmart, where it’s now a part of the Walmart+ subscription. “We are excited to expand our partnership with YouTube to offer customers of Paramount+ another way to stream the content they love,” Jeff Shultz, Chief Strategy Officer and Business Development Officer at Paramount Streaming, said in a statement. “This new feature gives us the opportunity to expand our presence on YouTube, broadening our reach and giving consumers even more choice when it comes to streaming the best in entertainment.” With its new streaming subscription hub, YouTube will now compete with tech giants Amazon, Roku, and Apple. Plus, the move makes sense for the company as 2 billion users already go to the platform to watch content about their favorite movies or shows. The feature is also a much-needed upgrade from its 12-year-old Movies category, which gives consumers access to full-length films. Earlier this year, YouTube recently announced free, ad-supported TV shows as well. The launch of Primetime Channels comes a few months after YouTube TV rolled out a new plan that allows subscribers to pick and choose from over 20 add-on channels. Primetime Channels available at launch include: Showtime Paramount+ Starz AMC+ Epix Shudder Acorn TV Here TV Curiosity Stream Comedy Dynamics Up Faith & Family Hallmark Movies Now ALLBLK Sundance Now ViX+ ConTV DocuRama Moviesphere Dove Channel IFC ScreenPix Fandor Law & Crime Screambox Dekkoo Tastemade+ Outside TV+ Gaia Atres Player VSiN Topic Magnolia Selects The Great Courses

YouTube redesign gives long-form videos, Shorts and Live videos their own tabs on channel pages • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 27, 2022Posted in Apps, Creators, Media & Entertainment, shorts, Videos, YouTube, YouTube ShortsNo Comments

YouTube is rolling out a change impacting how videos appear on its platform. The company today announced a redesign that now splits video content into three different tabs on all channel pages — one for YouTube’s traditional long-form content, another for YouTube Shorts only, and a third for Live videos, including past, current and upcoming live streams. The changes will allow users to more easily access the types of YouTube videos they want to watch — a move YouTube says it made based on user feedback. In an announcement, the company said it heard from viewers they wanted to be able to navigate to the kinds of content they were most interested in when exploring a creator’s channel page, leading to this makeover. The update also means that Shorts content and Live streams will no longer be found in the main Videos tab on the channel page — something that could appeal to longtime YouTube viewers who haven’t appreciated the infiltration of YouTube’s short-form content into their favorite channel’s video feed in recent months. However, for those who do like watching Shorts, the redesign gives YouTube a way to direct them to more short-form videos. Now, when users are watching Shorts videos in the Shorts feed in the main YouTube app, then navigate to the creator’s channel, they’ll be sent directly into this new Shorts tab to watch even more Shorts content. This could help YouTube boost its views for Shorts as those users will no longer be immediately lost to the creator’s long-form content, as before. Initial feedback from users on Twitter responding to YouTube’s post about the changes has been positive, as users are expressing their appreciation for giving each type of content its own separate category. The redesign follows another major update to YouTube this month which introduced, at long last, YouTube handles in the @username format. These usernames will now allow creators to identify their channel and interact with their viewers across YouTube Shorts, channel pages, in video descriptions, in comments and more. YouTube says the tabbed redesign is rolling out starting today and will be available to all users across all devices in the weeks ahead.

YouTube’s ad revenue is declining, but creator economy experts aren’t worried • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 27, 2022Posted in creator economy, Google, Jellysmack, Social, YouTubeNo Comments

The social platforms that power the creator economy might seem like they’re starting to slip. YouTube’s quarterly ad revenue declined 1.9% year over year, per Google parent company Alphabet’s quarterly earnings report this week. Overall, Alphabet missed analyst estimates, earning $69.1 billion in revenue, about a billion dollars less than expected. For many YouTubers, ad revenue is a significant source of income, with members of YouTube’s Partner Program earning 55% of ad revenue generated on their videos. So, a decline in ad revenue could be cause for alarm. Still, creator economy experts are prepared to weather the storm. Digital services that make their money through advertising have faced intense headwinds in recent quarters. Between the overall macroeconomic downturn, global uncertainty around the war in Ukraine and major changes to Apple’s iPhone software that makes it more difficult for advertisers to track users, social media platforms aren’t posting great numbers. Russia’s invasion has also introduced new policy complexity for social platforms, which have been forced to navigate a delicate geopolitical situation while also serving as essential news gathering platforms over the course of the war. Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Snap and Meta all halted ad sales in Russia, and Russia blocked some of these apps and websites as well to block information about Ukraine. According to Amanda McLoughlin — CEO of Multitude Productions, an independent podcasting company, and longtime online creator — this decline in revenue is expected. “This is a really normal reaction by companies to any type of uncertainty in the world. Advertisers are overcorrecting to the specter of a recession by slashing budgets. If a recession actually hits, we’ll probably see ad spending bounce back faster than you’d expect. Uncertainty is much scarier than reality for companies,” McLoughlin told ZebethMedia. “This just happened in early lockdown; ad spending disappeared in March, April and May of 2020, but rebounded once we settled into the new normal (economically).” Like YouTubers, podcasters leverage advertising to support their creative endeavors. McLoughlin had previously written in the Wall Street Journal that when much of the United States went into lockdown in March 2020, she fretted for the future of her company, as well as her ten friends and collaborators who relied on their podcasts for income. She found that offering fan subscriptions was a more consistent source of income than advertising. “Direct audience support had always been part of the way we made our living, but I was stunned to see a surge in new Patreon supporters during those first few months of the pandemic,” McLoughlin wrote. “Even as so many of us were cutting back on expenses, there were dozens of people making supporting creators a new priority. Those supporters kept us going — and more than a year later, they are still here.” YouTube’s ad revenue stats do not include revenue from subscription services like YouTube Premium and YouTube TV. On YouTube Premium, subscribers can watch videos without ads. But YouTube shares some of the subscription fee with creators to compensate for any lost ad viewership. So, an increase in YouTube Premium subscribers could be a small factor in this decline in ad revenue. Jim Louderback, the former CEO of the YouTube-focused creator conference VidCon, pointed out some reasons for this less-than-stellar report in a LinkedIn post. He wrote, “The rise in short-form swipable viewing, led by TikTok, has eaten into time spent with YouTube’s traditional long-form content. Marketers are shifting dollars from Instagram and YouTube to TikTok — and Shorts isn’t ready yet to significantly arrest that.” YouTube Shorts, the company’s TikTok clone, is poised to give TikTok a run for its money, though. Next year, creators will be able to earn ad revenue on short form YouTube videos, an important step that TikTok has not yet taken. It’s a new way for short form creators to make money, but it’s an opportunity for advertisers as well. A number of creator-focused startups like Spotter, Creative Juice and Jellysmack rely on YouTube ad revenue as part of their own business models, which help expand creator businesses. Jellysmack president Sean Atkins isn’t too concerned about YouTube’s ad revenue decline either. “Cyclical moves in advertising might cause short-term discomfort, but the underlying opportunity for YouTube and creators will have staying power far beyond the near-term economic challenges,” Atkins told ZebethMedia via email. “We’ll also see savvy creators, who have invested in multiple platforms beyond YouTube, finding advantages during this period with diversified revenue streams.” McLoughlin agrees, pointing to this moment as a reminder for creators to never rely too heavily on one platform to pay the bills. “This should be another reminder for creators to diversity your revenue streams and allow your audiences to support you directly,” she said. “People have much better judgement than companies, and your audience will come through when ad dollars don’t.”

YouTube opens up certification program for health-related channels • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 27, 2022Posted in Apps, Biotech & Health, certification, Health, misinformation, YouTubeNo Comments

YouTube announced today that it will certify channels of licensed health professionals like doctors, nurses, or therapists who produce health-related content. Last year, the company introduced a label noting that the info on the channel is from a certified healthcare professional. Plus, it showed videos from these approved channels in a new carousel called “From health sources” that shows up atop search results. While these features were available to select institutions like educational institutions, public health departments, hospitals, and government entities at launch, the company is now expanding the program and inviting U.S-based health creators to apply for this program. Image Credits: YouTube YouTube follows guidelines set by the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, the National Academy of Medicine and the World Health Organization to build a framework around credible sources for health-related content on the platform. All institutions and health-related creators need to follow these rules while making videos on YouTube. The streaming platform has set a bunch of requirements for creators applying for this certification: they should primarily have health content on the channel; they must have more than 2,000 watch hours of public videos in the last 12 months; and they must attest that they are a licensed doctor, nurse or mental health professional. YouTube will review the channel against its guidelines and it will also check with authorities to verify that applicants have a valid medical license. Once the channels are approved, they will get a special label noting them as “a licensed healthcare professional” resource, and their videos will also surface on health content shelves on top of related search results. YouTube said that this covers search results in most conditions apart from rare diseases (it didn’t specify which ones). The caveat is that if a creator makes a video that’s not directly related to healthcare, the channel still retains the label and the video might also show up on the health content shelf if the creator uses keywords related to a medical condition. In a call with ZebethMedia, Dr. Garth Graham, Global Head of YouTube Health, said that the onus of making health-related videos lies on the creator. However, the company doesn’t provide any toggle if they want to demark an unrelated video. Notably, YouTube launched a program last month that surfaces personal stories from patients or their relatives in a separate panel when users search for ailments cancer, and mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. But there is a chance that a health creator’s personal story might show up in the health resources panel rather than the personal stories panel. Image Credits: YouTube There is also a concern about certified health-related channels spreading misinformation. Dr. Graham insisted that the company uses a combination of processes (AI) and people (reviewers) to measure them against YouTube’s guidelines. “If a channel that is eligible for these features receives a Community Guidelines strike or has content removed for violating our policies, they will lose their eligibility. Channels can reapply in 90 days if the Community Guidelines issues have been resolved. This is similar to how our YouTube Partner Program works, which many creators are familiar with,” he said. The company also reviews these channels annually to ensure that it is following YouTube’s rules for health-related content and remove them from the program if necessary. Apart from the U.S., YouTube is also opening up the application process for healthcare institutions and individuals in Germany. Users in that region will start seeing healthcare certification labels and the health content carousel early next year once the first set of channels is approved.

Is MrBeast actually worth $1.5 billion? • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 25, 2022Posted in creator economy, Media & Entertainment, MrBeast, YouTubeNo Comments

Whenever YouTube superstar MrBeast crops up in business or tech headlines, you’re guaranteed to find a slew of bewildered comments: Who is this guy, and why is a YouTuber such a big deal? Am I old if I don’t know who this is? Why is he younger than me, yet makes so much more money? Is this dude actually giving people free islands, or is he full of it? If you don’t know who MrBeast is, that’s fine. That just means you probably aren’t on YouTube that often, or that you’ve never wondered what happens if you put 100 million Orbeez in your friend’s backyard. But let me ask you this: Have you heard of Cribl, Snapdocs, Sayo Bank or fabric? I haven’t either, those are just some names of companies worth more than $1 billion that I pulled off Crunchbase. According to Axios‘ sources, MrBeast — the 24-year-old whose name is Jimmy Donaldson — is trying to raise $150 million for his business, valuing it at $1.5 billion. It might seem hard to imagine how a content creator’s business can be worth that much, but the North Carolina resident has built an impressive empire. With 109 million YouTube subscribers, MrBeast runs the fifth most subscribed channel on the platform, and he’s the top earner among U.S. YouTubers. Across his five other channels, he’s amassed another 82 million subscribers — and that’s not even counting his three Spanish language channels, which have about 33 million subscribers combined. YouTube is one of the most profitable platforms for creators, because you can earn 55% of ad revenue as a member of YouTube’s partner program. But MrBeast has expanded his business beyond the realm of social media — he has leveraged his brand to open up MrBeast Burger, a ghost kitchen food chain, and a snack company called Feastables, which raised $5 million this year at a $50 million valuation from 776, Shrug Capital and Sugar Capital. But MrBeast’s business model isn’t as straightforward as making videos and raking in ad revenue. His uploads, which center on extreme stunts and competitions for cash prizes, cost an obscene amount of money to make. Last year, his 25-minute “Real Life Squid Game” video required a whopping $3.5 million to produce, including more than $456,000 in prize money. For comparison, the nine-episode “Squid Game” series cost Netflix a total of $21.4 million, averaging out to about $2.4 million per hour-long installment. A few weeks ago, MrBeast said that he spends $8 million per month on his businesses. Just last September, MrBeast told the creator-focused YouTube channel Colin and Samir that he spent $4 million every month. That’s a big jump. Some companies reach unicorn status (a valuation above $1 billion) before even turning a profit. Yet Forbes estimates that MrBeast made $54 million in 2021, so he’s already proven to VCs that they can bet on him to return their investment. “The videos get views even if I don’t upload, so if I really wanted to, I could just live off of the money that the views made,” MrBeast told Insider. But if the 24-year-old wants to grow even more quickly and turn a larger profit, then venture capital funding might actually make sense. MrBeast has already taken funding on a smaller scale from companies like Jellysmack and Spotter. Jellysmack uses AI to maximize top creators’ cross-platform growth in exchange for a revenue cut; Spotter gives YouTubers large sums of upfront capital in exchange for revenue from their back catalog. But as one of the most successful content creators in the world, MrBeast can go even bigger with venture capital. But is going bigger always better? MrBeast’s business model is like a snake eating its own tail — no one is making money like he is, but no one is spending it like him either. He described his margins as “razor-thin” in a conversation with Logan Paul, since he reinvests most of his profits back into his content. His viewers expect that each video will be more impressive than the last, and from the outside looking in, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before MrBeast can no longer up the ante (and for other creators, this has led to disaster). So, if MrBeast’s business really is a unicorn — I’d wager it is — then he has two choices. Will he use the cushion of $150 million to make his business more sustainable, so he doesn’t have to keep burying himself alive? Or will he keep pushing for more until nothing is left?