ASMR

Twitch is cutting subscription paychecks for its biggest streamers as the creator economy grows more competitive

Snacks / Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Cutting a check… literally. As the creator economy booms, Twitch wants a bigger slice of the $100B pie. The Amazon-owned platform is one of the largest live-streaming subscription sites with 30M+ daily active users and 100K streams running 24/7 (think: gaming follow-alongs). Twitch makes $$ by running ads and taking a cut from subscription sales.

  • Headline: Yesterday, Twitch announced that "premium" creators with a 70-30 subscription revenue split will receive just a 50-50 split after earning $100K.
  • Fine print: The change won't take effect till next June, and Twitch says it’ll affect only about 10% of its streamers. FYI: smaller streamers already have the 50-50 split.

24-hour “Fortnite” marathon… zero bathroom breaks. From ASMR bubble-popping to esports, live content has taken the world by storm. Live streaming has accounted for about 20% of all internet traffic this year, doubling from 2019. Nearly a quarter of 18- to 34-year-olds regularly watched live streams last year. Now sites like Twitch and YouTube are battling for the top spot.

Creators have more options than ever… Last month, Twitch got rid of its exclusivity clause for top streamers, who are frequently lured into high-paying contracts by rivals. Twitch has the most live-stream hours watched compared to rivals YouTube and Facebook, and makes up about 75% of the live market. But its new split could drive more creators to YT, which shares ad revenue 70-30 for channels with 1K+ subscribers.

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