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Popular streamer and creator IShowSpeed made his first $1 million at 16. Also known as Darren Watkins Jr., he currently boasts an impressive 33.5 million subscribers on one of his YouTube channels alone, as well as an additional 26.9 million followers on Instagram. His early motivation to keep creating content as a freshman in high school also stayed with him, he explained on the “Club Shay Shay” podcast with Shannon Sharpe. “My sophomore year, I kind of gave up on school. I kind of gave up on everything that I had in my old life and just put everything on my stream. I streamed every day. I didn’t care about nothing else except Youtube streaming,” IShowSpeed said on the podcast. His mother initially had hesitations about streaming, even after his first viral clip garnered 30,000 views. She gave him an ultimatum: quit streaming or leave her home. With 2,000 subscribers at the time, he chose the latter and moved in with his father in Detroit, MI. “Once I start something, I’m not...
Authenticity has remained Kordell Beckham’s superpower beyond the villa. Beckham and his girlfriend, Serena Page, were crowned the Season 6 champions of Peacock’s “Love Island USA,” which had become the most-watched series on streaming platforms in the U.S. ahead of the season finale in July 2024, per NBC Universal. Beckham and Page also made history as the first Black couple to win on the show, The Hilltop mentions. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Jennifer Hudson Show (@jenniferhudsonshow) Investing Cash Prize The couple — who now have 7 million followers combined across their TikTok and Instagram accounts — earned a $100,000 cash prize on the show, which they split evenly, according to US Weekly. Beckham has decided to be wise with a portion of his earnings going toward investments, and this will include the launch of his own clothing brand now in the works with his team. “We’ve been talking with a bunch of businesses to see what we can do to jumpstart a clothing...
Cardi B is always going to stand on business while being about her business. The “Invasion of Privacy” artist recently took to Instagram sharing that four of her songs are now in Spotify’s Billions Club. The singles listed are “Girls Like You (Maroon 5 ft. Cardi B),” “WAP (ft. Megan Thee Stallion),” “I Like It (J Balvin, Bad Bunny),” and “Taki Taki (Selena Gomez, Ozuna, Cardi B, DJ Snake),” per Essence. “Wooow I got FOUR songs that hit the billion mark on Spotify…I’m soooo excited to put out new music and reach even more milestones. Thank you sooo much everyone for listening, it really means alot to me.. I can’t wait for you to see and hear what’s next,” Cardi B wrote on Instagram. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cardi B (@iamcardib) Since the release of her debut album on April 6, 2018, Cardi B has remained in high demand. The proof is in the numbers. During an interview, she shared a text conversation with Rolling Stone staff writer Mankaprr Conteh regarding an offer...
The power and convenience of mobile devices have made content access nearly instantaneous. From social media to streaming apps, entertainment is at your fingertips — and content creators such as Kevin “KevOnStage” Fredricks are capitalizing on the movement. Fredricks is a comedian, actor, and entrepreneur who has been working to establish his brand as someone who connects people from various backgrounds and proudly focuses on amplifying Black voices and content. A significant part of this work is manifested in creating KevOnStage Studios, a multi-channel operation for original content, from podcasts to television shows and films. Although Fredricks’ work has taken off, it hasn’t always been this way. His journey started from the proverbial bottom, and now he’s working to build an empire that puts his name alongside those who own major streaming platforms including Netflix and Hulu.
Audius — a free-to-use streaming platform built on blockchain technology — is coming in swinging to compete with Apple Music, Spotify and TIDAL . According to Rolling Stone, on Sept.16, the platform announced a $5 million round of strategic funding with investments from artists, such as businessmen Nas and Pusha T. “I believe [blockchains] might be the most important technology to ever hit the music industry,” Nas said in a statement. “Everyone who uploads to Audius can be an owner. You can’t say that about any other platform.” It’s known knowledge that artists’ pockets barely rely on the slow and minimal income from streams — but Audius is on a mission to change this misfortune. With the platform, artists will get paid promptly. Rolling Stone reports that with Audius, “90% of earnings move in real time — with 10% going to the community that makes the system run.” “The blockchain is enabling entirely new revenue streams for artists and creators, like NFTs, social currency, and...
Facebook first launched its Black Gaming Creator Program in December 2020 to support the gaming community with $10 million over the span of two years. Now, the program has returned for its second year and applications reopened on Aug. 23. “We’re excited to reopen applications for the Black Gaming Creator Program’s second year and are eager to see the next wave of great gaming creators at Facebook Gaming,” said Facebook’s Global Director of Gaming Creator Partnerships Luis Renato Olivalves in a statement. “With many new partners in the first year, this program is proof of the growing excitement for entertaining, diverse and creative personalities and new communities within game streaming.” Along with its commitment of $10 million in funding, according to Adweek, the program’s benefits include official partner badges, early access to new streaming features and tools, exclusive access to a private Facebook gaming group and events, bi-monthly mentorship and training summits, and more....
Kanye West did more than just preview his upcoming album at his public listening event, he broke a record for Apple Music too. According to a report from TMZ, the billionaire rap artist not only sold out the Mercedes Benz Arena in Atlanta for his public “DONDA” listening party last Thursday (July 22), he also broke the Apple Music Global Livestream record with 3.3 million total viewers for the live in-person event. The outlet reports that this is an accomplishment no other artist on the platform has come near, far surpassing the 1.8 million viewers who tuned into the Verzuz battle between Jeezy and Gucci Mane on Apple Music late last year. The “DONDA” event was a one-time only occurrence that is not currently available to replay on Apple Music, so the 3.3 million viewers garnered solely happened off Thursday’s event alone. Sources also tell TMZ that upon the release of West’s album — which is set to supposedly drop on Aug. 6 — the listening event will then be posted for fans to...
N-I-G-G-E-R — t he letters flowed down my chat like a waterfall of hate. My heart fell to the bottom of my stomach. I had only been streaming for a few months when this incident happened. A random person took time out of their day to hit me with a racial slur, with the sole intent of ruining my day. It was just another reminder that as a Black person, not even video games are a safe space. Unfortunately, this is all too common in the world of video game streaming. Black people in the Average Gamer Community have endured relentless, unwarranted disrespect for years. I was playing Overwatch and tried to make effective call outs to help my team win the match. Someone on my team proceeded to imitate my voice, then called me a “ghetto, broke nigger who sucks at the game.” In this arena, your audience is largely watching your stream to see how you react to the game. That’s why it’s essential for streamers to show their face via webcam if they hope to grow their following. As video game...
Nigeria-based media company IROKO has big plans to go public in the next year on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market. Founded in 2011 by Jason Njoku and Bastian Gotter, IROKO is a West African film streaming service that showcases an extensive catalog of Nollywood film content. It was rumored that the company planned to go public back in 2019, but after a few mishaps and having to weather business through the coronavirus pandemic, talks of IROKO going public are back on the table. “What we can achieve in private, we can equally achieve as a public company. We will likely open up the IPO to our loyal members too so they can capture the value too, which I am super excited about. One thing about IROKO is that we have always been pioneers and we’re okay being super experimental,” Njoku told TechCrunch. “I plan to open-source the entire process so any other African company coming behind — if we’re successful — will benefit from our experience.” This is such a big step...
Content is ubiquitous. That’s great for consumers who devour streaming audio and video voraciously each day. But it’s a mixed bag for content creators who have to cut through the clutter to have their creative work seen and heard. To be fair, not all content is good content. But everyday content creators are often competing with established television, film production, and record companies on the same platform for the same eyeballs. And even the talented aspirants often struggle to stand out. Historically, many young Black Americans have gravitated towards sports or entertainment as career choices. And with platforms like YouTube, where anyone with a smartphone can quickly showcase their singing, rapping, or dancing ability, dreams of fame and fortune feel closer than they’ve ever been. Many aspiring musicians start by putting their music out there on streaming platforms like SoundCloud, Spotify, and YouTube. Doing so is a good start. But, understand, streaming revenue from these...
Music artists often lament about having access to the money generated from their music streams. In some cases, it takes months for them to receive their royalty checks. Create Music Group (CMG) is implementing a system to address that. The music distribution and publishing company has introduced a beta program called Create Carbon, a credit card directly linked to artists’ royalty revenue, according to Rolling Stone. Create Carbon is a sleek black titanium card powered by MasterCard and can be used anywhere MasterCard is accepted. With this program artists can instantaneously access their earnings as soon as they get them. This allows them to explore more marketing opportunities, tours, and other expenses without any barriers. “ For independent artists, almost anything you do involves you being able to act instantaneously. If you want to invest in any type of marketing campaign, you can’t wait two months,” says CEO and co-founder of CMG, Jonathan Strauss . “That’s the reason you see...
Verzuz was created back in April of last year as a way to unite people from all over while sheltered in-place at home. The platform’s battles first began with appointed artists streaming from the comfort of their homes. Then its partnership with Apple Music gave it an in-person upgrade to make the battles more accessible for viewers. Following delays and postponed events, the platform is now taking new COVID-19 precautions to switch back to its original format. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Verzuz (@verzuztv) The live streaming platform posted a message on their socials this morning stating that it will be returning to its original format of having artists stream from separate locations. “This has been an emotional week,” the platform stated. “In addition, as COVID-19 numbers continue to increase, safety is a top priority for us. As much as we enjoy having everyone together in the same room, to protect the artists and everyone who works with us in putting the...
Twitch’s music copyright infringement problem on its platform has brought on a lot of frustration from users lately. According to Polygon , the streaming platform recently informed its users that it has gone forth and deleted all content violating music copyright laws after receiving “a sudden influx of DMCA takedown requests” back in June. It is INSANE that @Twitch informs partners they deleted their content – and that there is more content in violation despite having NO identification system to find out what it is. Their solution to DMCA is for creators to delete their life's work. This is pure, gross negligence. pic.twitter.com/mhdXU5lEc5 — Devin (@DevinNash) October 20, 2020 📢 This week, we've had a sudden influx of DMCA takedown requests for clips with background music from 2017-19. If you’re unsure about rights to audio in past streams, we advise removing those clips. We know many of you have large archives, and we're working to make this easier. — Twitch Support...