A landscape-changing development announced during last monthโs inaugural Made On YouTube event has somehow flown under the radar. From 2023, the YouTube Partner Program will allow creators who produce Shorts to monetize their bite-sized content, and MrBeast predicts it could very well spell the demise of TikTok.
Granted, itโs a stance youโd expect from YouTubeโs poster boy. MrBeast (real name: Jimmy Donaldson) ism of course, practically synonymous with the platformโs most viral videos; having earned a record-breaking $75 million in 2021 alone and routinely investing almost the same amount into his productions.
But itโs no less true coming from his mouth. Especially once you hear the economics of it all broken down by the expert himself.
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โI thought the same but YouTube Shorts, theyโve really taken some huge strides,โ MrBeast explained when prompted about the possibility of TikTok surpassing YouTube on The Full Send podcast.
โStarting in January, itโs going to start sharing revenue with the creatorsโฆ I think TikTokโs done for.โ
โThe crazy thing is they have a goddamn [revenue] split and TikTok doesnโt. Not even a big one. Itโs an actual rev split.โ
โSo starting in January, if you get โ hypothetically โ a billion views on TikTok, whatever that is, thatโs like $1,000. A billion views here on YouTube, I mean that could literally make you $100,000.โ
Of course, an agile behemoth like the worldโs fastest-growing social media platform could always adapt. Right?
โYeah I think theyโre going to be forced to. The problem is, Google has Google AdWords, theyโve been in the ads business for like over a decade, where theyโve been sharing revenue with certain people,โ MrBeast said of Googleโs monstrous advertising machine.
โAnd the YouTube Partner Program has been around for a decade. They just have a ton of experience with doing it, that I think TikTokโs going take quite a while to catch up.โ
โOnce this partner program kicks in effect on YouTube Shorts, I think youโre going to see a lot of big TikTokers coming over here.โ
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โCharli [DโAmelio], Addison [Rae] โ all these people, if they can just literally do what theyโre doing but over on YouTube and make a bag off of Shorts and then on top of that, that boosts their long form which makes even more money, youโre gonna be crazy to be a TikTok first content creator, in my opinion.
โGain subs, get more views on your long form, and make fucking money.โ
So whatโs stopping TikTok from copying YouTubeโs model? Nothing, really. Itโs more a matter of unwillingness.
MrBeast added: โYou really think TikTok over here printing tens of billions of dollars is just overnight going to go, โYou know what? Half of these tens of billionsโฆ weโre just going to give it away.โ If TikTok was going to, they would have already.โ
The revelation comes to light as The Financial Times offers a โrare snapshotโ of TikTokโs overall business performance.
Reports indicate TikTokโs pre-tax losses climbed by over 30% in 2021, despite European turnover surging nearly six-fold within the same period. The majority of said loss was attributed to increased spending on staff.
โThe filing relates to TikTok operations for users in Europe, including the UK. These now have a monthly average of 4,396 employees, up more than 3,000 since 2020,โ writes Cristina Criddle of The Financial Times.
โSelling and marketing expenses were up nearly 90% to $666 million, while administrative expenses grew almost 30% to $212 million.โ
โRevenue was largely generated from the EU, accounting for $532 million, and the UK, which was $279 million. The figures the year before were $114 million and $52 million, respectively.โ
RELATED: TikTokโs #1 Creator Is Earning A Stupid Amount Of Money Per Post
It also comes to light weeks after the earnings of TikTokโs #1 creator Khaby Lame were thrust into the online spotlight. Manager Alessandro Riggio revealed the former CNC machine operator pockets up to $750,000 for a single promotional video these days, and is currently on track to bank a total of $10 million in this year alone.
Now keep in mind: these dollars come from third-party brands. Not TikTok themselves. The latter is simply an audience. And as MrBeast notes, thereโs no reason why these exact same deals wonโt successfully migrate from TikTok to YouTube Shorts. Although heโs sceptical about whether anyone is actually receiving as much as Khaby Lame (even Khaby Lame himself).
โThereโs no way itโs that much, itโs definitely not that much,โ MrBeast told the Sidemen podcast when prompted about the $750,000 fee.
โUnless Khaby himself says it that is just beyond cap. We can get $200,000 a TikTok, so like $200,000 to $300,000 is the highest Iโve ever seen.โ
Either way, video content is clearly king.
@youtube._..clipz #mrbeast reveals his earnings #sideplus โฌ original sound โ youtube._..clipz
