We knew podcasting would be hard, but nobody told us it would be dangerous! We barely made it out alive while filming this week’s podcast in an outside studio at SXSW in Austin, where it was 98 degrees and windy. Watch what happened on Instagram.
Facebook and LinkedIn aren’t typically top of mind when it comes to the creator economy. Both companies are now trying to change that by rolling out new ways for creators to make more money.
The approaches are different. LinkedIn’s is targeted and premium, while Facebook is betting that creators will want to reach its billions of users.
But they have two things in common: They are geared toward established, rather than emerging creators. They both also emphasize original or exclusive content.
This week, LinkedIn launched Top Voices 360. Creators like Corporate Natalie, Meghana Dhar and Ramit Sethi will develop exclusive shows that brands can sponsor through ads. Creators are paid through the BrandLink program, which shares ad revenue with participating creators. LinkedIn will also help those creators strike broader deals with brands across other content and events.
Meta, meanwhile, launched Creator Fast Track, a program that pays big stars on other platforms to post original content on Facebook. A creator with 100,000 followers on Instagram, YouTube or TikTok, for example, will receive $1,000 monthly for three months and have their reach boosted. Creators will also be added to Facebook’s Content Monetization Program, which pays creators for their content based on qualified views.
“We’re really looking to entice every main, large creator to come onto Facebook and make it their home,” Yair Livne, vice president of product for Facebook Creators, told us.
It’s a familiar tactic: Facebook and its sister app Instagram have run similar programs in recent years.
Zooming out, creator monetization programs from social platforms have a complicated history. They’ve been criticized for low or inconsistent payouts, opaque payment policies or restrictive eligibility requirements.
As you can see from the chart above, the social platforms have taken steps to improve their offerings. That includes ditching creator funds in favor of things like ad-revenue sharing and performance-based payouts, which tend to be more consistent and transparent. Snap, for example, shuttered its creator fund and expanded its program for Snap Stars to include Spotlight videos. Snap and others have also launched other ways creators can make money, such as through paid subscriptions where fans pay for bonus content.
But eligibility requirements for most programs are stringent and yet simultaneously murky.
While Facebook’s new program requires creators to have 100,000 followers on other platforms, Livne said they would consider creators with as few as 20,000 followers.
LinkedIn hasn’t specified a minimum follower requirement for Top Voices 360, but all of the creators are “credible experts in their field” with a “consistent presence on the platform,” Alex Josephson, vice president of brand and content strategy for advertisers at LinkedIn, told Jasmine in today’s episode of Scalable.
For the platforms, focusing on big creators makes sense. They want to work with creators who have a proven track record of generating high-quality content and engagement, which translate to ad dollars.
That’s especially true for places like Facebook and LinkedIn that don’t have typical creator audiences: Facebook is more boomer, while LinkedIn is originally a professional platform focused on text-based posts.
“We're not trying to manufacture original content from the ground up and hope that it resonates with our audience or provides value to our advertisers. We're simply facilitating the discussion and the engagement,” Josephson said.
For creators, though, there can be a trade off in time and commitment to audiences elsewhere: Creators in LinkedIn’s Top Voices 360 can’t publish their videos on other platforms for one year, for example.
But for some creators, it’s worth it. “I’m seeing a lot of growth on Instagram lately, but ultimately I think since my content is more serious, more future-of work, AI and tech related, LinkedIn is a more natural fit for it,” Dhar told us.
Tune into Jasmine’s full interview with LinkedIn’s Josephson, including how the B2B creator landscape has changed and whether creators now have to publish video, in our latest episode of Scalable. You can watch below or tune in on YouTube, Spotify or wherever else you get your podcasts. Plus, don’t miss our full interview with the Attorney General of California.
LTK Launches Quick Collabs
LTK, the creator commerce company, launched a new feature called Quick Collabs that allows brands to automatically send campaigns to creators on the platform. Creators, who can opt in to participating in those campaigns, are paid a flat fee within days of posting.
It’s essentially a more creator-friendly version of YouTube’s Open Call, which allows brands to post briefs and solicit applications from creators. Open Call was criticized for being too transactional and not guaranteeing that creators get paid for their work.
Quick Collabs is likely to appeal most to small and midsize creators who are looking for more predictable income than the affiliate marketing fees that LTK is known for. It also helps solve some of the challenges facing brands like scale and speed by eliminating long negotiations with multiple creators.
But there’s no guarantee that these creators will be able to turn one-off, “quick collabs” into longer and more lucrative brand partnerships. Zooming out, the move by LTK is also part of a broader trend of platforms taking a bigger role in influencer marketing and automating the process.
Brand Buzz
Adobe launched an original workplace comedy series on YouTube, called The Marketers. The five-part series features comedians Hasan Minhaj and Patty Guggenheim with cameos from creators such as The Try Guys. The series promotes Adobe Acrobat, but is positioned as a TV show, rather than a traditional TV spot.
“It’s going to be edgier than what you’d normally see from Adobe,” Jared Carneson, head of social media at Adobe, told Jasmine in an interview before the series’ debut.
The launch of the campaign comes as more brands are figuring out how to lean into entertainment, including through microdramas released by Crocs and Procter & Gamble. Adobe says its series is part of a move to develop an entertainment franchise around the Acrobat product, including recurring characters, inside jokes and repeatable TV-style content formats.
“We’re starting to call it the Acrobat Cinematic Universe,” Carneson said. We discussed how the branded entertainment trend is shaping up in a recent episode of our podcast.
By the Numbers: $3 Billion
That’s how much Facebook paid out to creators in its Content Monetization Program last year, up 35% from 2024. It also said that the number of creators earning $10,000 or more annually grew by 30%.
But Facebook has millions of creators and $3 billion represents less than 2% of parent company Meta Platforms’ revenue last year. Meanwhile, YouTube has paid out $100 billion in the past four years, or $25 billion on an average annual basis. But that also includes artists and other publishers, including media companies.
Announcing the figure is all part of Facebook’s efforts to attract more creators. (See above).
The Round Up
Tubi is partnering with TikTok on a new incubator program this summer to pick creators who will develop long-form shows for the free, ad-supported streaming service. The scripted and unscripted shows will premiere exclusively on Tubi, while TikTok will help promote the shows. The partnership shows how more creators want to focus on long-form, but pivoting from short-form isn’t easy.
YouTube and the 2026 FIFA World Cup inked a streaming deal, which includes the ability for media partners to livestream the first 10 minutes of every match on their YouTube channel. They will also be able to stream a select number of matches in full on their channels.
NBCUniversal’s Peacock is launching an AI-generated version of host Andy Cohen, who will dish about new and recent Bravo shows, in a new, personalized vertical feed for the streaming service’s mobile app this summer. This spring, Peacock will also launch the ability for users to watch full live broadcasts of NBA games in a vertical format. (We want to know how much Cohen is getting paid for the deal!)
Rebel Audio, a new podcasting platform for first-time and early-stage creators, raised $3.8 million in seed funding.
Linden Lane Films, a new content studio, is pairing Hollywood talent with top creators. Its offering includes an independent film studio, a creative incubator, and data and analytics.
Creator Moves
TBPN, the popular tech and business show, is launching an Emmy campaign with billboards. It’s part of a broader push from creators and companies like YouTube to get awards shows, including The Emmys and The Oscars, to recognize creators’ work.
Talent Tracker
Adam Smith and Joe Earley are now the co-heads of Disney’s direct-to-consumer business. Smith, who will remain Disney Entertainment’s chief product and technology officer, notably isn’t a veteran of the company, which generally elevates long-time employees to leadership positions.
Smith was previously vice president of product management at YouTube, which surpassed Disney as the world’s largest media company in 2025, at least according to financial research firm MoffetNathanson. However, its estimates exclude Disney’s lucrative “experiences” business, which includes theme parks.
Joanna Stern, a former tech columnist for the Wall Street Journal, is partnering with NBC News to feature reporting and analysis from her new independent media company, “New Things,” on NBC’s TV and digital properties. It’s the latest example of the hybrid approaches journalists are taking to go independent, mitigating some of the risks of going solo and helping expand their reach.
Jason Li joined Agentio as vice president of marketing. Previously, he led global marketing at SharkNinja, where he built out its creator program. He also worked in product marketing at Meta for more than 11 years.
Lori Feldman, a former executive at Warner Records and Wasserman, launched Redefine Music Advisors, a new strategic consultancy for music companies, artists and brands.
