TikTok announced today that it is opening its revamped creator fund, called the “Creativity Program Beta,” to all eligible creators in the United States. The company began testing the new program with selected 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 account, be at least 18 years old, have a minimum of 10,000 followers, and have a minimum of 100,000 views in the past 30 days.
Once enrolled in the new program, creators cannot return to the Creator Fund. TikTok hasn’t said if the Creativity Program will replace the Creator Fund altogether, but it’s possible that once the Creativity Program launches more widely and exits beta, TikTok will scrap the Creator Fund.
TikTok says the Creativity Program Beta reward formula is formulated to provide higher average gross earnings for qualified video views, but did not provide details about payments. The company’s current Creator Fund launched in 2020 with a $1 billion commitment over three years, but drew criticism from creators who complained about low payouts, with some saying they made a few bucks for videos that garnered millions of views.
To monetize the program, creators must create high-quality original videos that are longer than a minute. For context, TikTok’s Creator Fund does not require videos to be longer than a 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 insight into estimated revenue, statistics and analysis of video performance and eligibility requirements for videos.
“The creativity program beta is in its early stages and we are constantly exploring ways to improve the experience for our creator community and the way creators are rewarded,” TikTok wrote in a blog post. “We look forward to feedback from our community.”
The Creativity Program is the latest addition to TikTok’s suite of monetization tools, including LIVE Subscriptions and TikTok Pulse. The company also has tips and gifts monetization features.
The new program isn’t the only recent TikTok launch that aims to please creators. In March, TikTok introduced a new feature called “Series” that allows eligible creators to post content behind a paywall.
Series allows eligible creators to post collections of premium content behind a paywall for viewers to purchase for access. One series can contain up to 80 videos, each with a maximum length of 20 minutes. Creators can choose the price for their series that they believe best reflects the value of their exclusive content. The series is currently only available to select creators, and applications to join will open in the coming months.