TikTok's second Creator Fund is opening up to more users starting today.
The program was first announced in February and has previously been invite-only. The fund, called the Creativity Program, aims to pay popular users for their content, but only if they meet certain requirements. This wide availability is in line with the original TikTok Creator Fund, which pledged to pay out her $1 billion over three years to the app's creators.
The Creativity Fund's requirements signal a slight shift in TikTok's priorities. Most notably, creators must create videos longer than one minute to be eligible to earn money through the fund. Also, for a user to qualify, he must have at least 10,000 followers and her 100,000 genuine video views in the past 30 days.
The original Creators Fund still exists, but it's unclear what will happen now that its third year is nearly over and new programs are expanding. TikTok said participants in the original fund can switch to the creativity program but cannot switch back.
Despite the large amount of money in the original fund, TikTokers frequently said they were not making much money through the program and only made a few dollars from their viral videos. At its launch in February, TikTok said the new fund would “create higher earning potential” for participants, but did not provide specific numbers.
Low payouts from the platform have been a long-standing complaint for creators, and TikTok has rolled out a number of monetization features for popular creators over time. In March, the platform announced it would allow creators to paywall some content, including 20-minute videos. Live streams are also becoming increasingly central, with creators able to earn tips during live videos or choose to target older viewers.
