Snapchat Spotlight Paid More Than $250 Million to Creators in 2021 – Variety

This year, Snap finally caught user-generated content fever: In 2021, the company has paid out more than $250 million to more than 12,000 creators through its Snapchat Spotlight programs. Of course, Snap’s total payout is tiny compared with YouTube, the 800-pound gorilla in the digital creator economy: According to YouTube, over the three-year period from 2018-20, it paid more than $30 billion to creators, artists and media companies. And Snap actually dialed back its payouts for Spotlight. When it first launched the TikTok-style video feature in November 2020, the company said it would shell out upwards of $1 million per day in total among Spotlight contributors with top-performing videos. If it had kept up that pace, Snap would have paid, well, $365 million or more to creators in 2021. According to Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, the company reduced overall Spotlight payments to discourage people from creating viral, one-off copycat videos. Snap has yet to prove it can turn Spotlight into a meaningful business. But the company’s investment in the platform shows it is committed to help creators of all kinds meaningfully grow their audiences and build a business, said Sam Corrao Clanon, director of content who leads the Snapchat Spotlight…
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