TikTok finally allows creators to cash in on their viral effects

Since 2020, TikTok creators can monetize their content through the Creator Fund, providing an income stream for videos that get a lot of views. But for the first time, the short video app offers a path to financial rewards for another key creative force in TikTok culture: securities makers.

Today (May 16), TikTok announced Effect Creator Rewards, a $6 million fund to “celebrate and reward effect creators on TikTok.” To qualify, creators must create their effects through Effect House, TikTok’s internal augmented reality platform. According to TikTok’s announcement(opens in a new tab), the fund is only for creators in the US, UK, France, Germany, Spain, the same countries that are eligible for the Creator Fund. The fund pays makers based on community involvement with their securities.

Effects are a crucial part of TikTok. The best effects can generate trends and discourse as well as any viral sound, from the dangerous “bold glamour” filter to the small-faced bee effect that has spawned hundreds and thousands of users who share what no one can stop them.

“For every effect used in 500,000 unique videos within 90 days of publishing, a creator will collect $700 USD. For every 100,000 videos published after that within the same 90 days, creators will collect an additional $140,” said TikTok in its declaration(opens in a new tab).

To apply for the fund, creators must be 18 years or older and have at least 500,000 published TikTok videos using their effect.

In the press release, TikTok also announced the Creativity Program Beta, an enhanced version of its Creator Fund. “The Creativity Program Beta offers a new formula that generates higher average gross revenue for qualified video views, enabling creators to earn higher rewards,” the TikTok press release reads. “In addition, the updated dashboard provides more insights, including estimated rewards, video performance metrics and analytics, and video eligibility details.” As of January, creators earned between $0.02 and $0.04 for every 1,000 Creator Fund views, according to Tubefilter(opens in a new tab). Shame(opens in a new tab) and wired(opens in a new tab) also reported on how little the average creator earns from the Creator Fund, so a change to the formula is welcome.

To be eligible for the Creativity Program Beta, creators must be based in the UK, France or the US and have at least 10,000 followers and 100,000 views in the past 30 days. In addition, creators must post “original, high-quality content that is longer than a minute.”

TikTok launched the $200 million Creator Fund in 2020 and has since added more ways for creators to monetize their content beyond brand sponsorship. Recently, the platform introduced “Series”, a way for eligible creators to post “Collections” of up to 80 videos behind a paywall. But Effect House Rewards is the first investment in effect makers.

Now if you post a video with the latest viral effect, you could finally put money in the hands of the creator.