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You can buy talent, but how long will it stay?
Social media conglomerate Meta continues its tactic of buying buzz, after CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised in July that the company would pay $1 billion to creators by the end of 2022. A report from The Information details how some of this money is being spent, with Meta-owned Facebook paying creators up to $50,000 to use the platform’s Live Audio Rooms feature — a rival to the once-buzzy live audio app Clubhouse.
When you make as much money as Meta does, buying success is a reasonable tactic, at least in the short term. The Meta-owned Instagram, for example, has been doing the same to boost its TikTok-rival Reels, paying creators up to $35,000 to post to the platform.
According to The Information, the terms for using Live Audio Rooms are similarly generous. “Facebook is offering to pay musicians and other creators $10,000 to $50,000 per session on its five-month-old live audio product, plus a fee for guests of $10,000 or more,” says the publication, citing “people with direct knowledge of deal terms.” For this money, Facebook reportedly wants creators to host four to six sessions at least 30 minutes in length. Live Audio Rooms launched in the US in June, with the feature sitting alongside other audio-focused products like podcasts, music, and short-form “Soundbites.” Established names who’ve appeared on Live Audio Rooms include singer Miley Cyrus and comedian Sherry Cola, though there’s no reporting that these individuals were paid to appear.
You may have the impression that only Meta needs to pay creators to use its platform, but really this behavior is common across the entire industry (Meta just has deeper pockets than most). TikTok has its Creator Fund, Snap has its Spotlight program, and Twitter has a paid “accelerator” program for its audio feature Spaces. Indeed, pretty much every major platform offers financial incentives of some sort to attract and retain talent. The only question is who will stay when the money runs out.
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