An influencer says that he makes more monthly via TikTok’s new creativity beta program than he did through the app’s creator fund.
In a TikTok posted yesterday, Brandon Edelman, known online as Bran Flakezz, says that while he used to make hundreds of dollars through TikTok’s creator fund per month, he made over $2,500 via TikTok’s creativity beta program in just 20 days. Edelman also says that because videos eligible for the program have to be over a minute long, a 17 second recent TikTok of his with almost nine million views was not eligible for revenue.
On Thursday, Edelman’s TikTok concerning the creativity beta program had almost 315,000 views.
@bran__flakezz the truth about the tiktok creativity beta program #relatable #influencer #transparency #tiktok #tiktokcreativitybetaprogram ♬ original sound – bran_flakezz
On its website, TikTok says that the creativity beta program can earn creators up to “20 times the amount previously offered by the Creator Fund.” To join the program, TikTokers must have over 10,000 followers, have received over 100,000 views in the last month, be over 18 years of age, and live in the U.S.
Many commenters on Edelman’s video said that they appreciated his transparency about his earnings on TikTok—and watched the entire video in hopes that he’d be paid more.
“The more open people are- the more things can change,” Edelman wrote in a comment on his video. “People were honest about the creator fund and now we have a better program.”
TikTok shuttered its creator fund, which was established in 2020, on December 16. The initiative was widely criticized as influencers said they didn’t make much from it.
And Edelman isn’t the only creator making a significant amount of money from the new program: One TikToker commented on Edelman’s video saying that she’d made over $35,000 in the last six months.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Edelman via email.
Update 1:42pm CT, Jan. 2: In an email to the Daily Dot, Edelman said that the creativity beta fund is more rewarding than its predecessor but that it won’t be his sole source of income.
“To make a lot of money you need to go viral consistently which is no easy feat,” Edelman told the Daily Dot. “The TikTok algorithm is far too volatile and unpredictable to rely on the TikTok app as a steady source of income.”
He says he plans to continue to work with brands and make money via sponsorship deals; the creativity beta fund will be “a safety net to keep afloat throughout [his] journey as a full time content creator.”