Hi, this is Amanda Perelli and welcome back to Influencer Dashboard, our weekly rundown on the influencer and creator economy. Sign up for the newsletter here.
Music is at the core of the
To shed light on the power players in this rapidly changing area, my colleague Dan Whateley compiled a list of the 24 music marketers, artists, digital creators, record labels, and other industry insiders who are using TikTok to help define popular music in 2020.
For large music conglomerates like Sony and independent labels alike, TikTok has become an essential marketing tool.
"Every music label, every record label, they have a budget now for TikTok because it's becoming so huge," Ariell Nicholas Yahid, a talent manager at the TikTok-focused talent-management upstart the Fuel Injector, told Business Insider.
In addition to helping artists and labels launch new tracks, song promotion has become an important source of revenue for TikTok's top creators who are looking for ways to make money on an app that still has limited monetization features.
And for up-and-coming artists, TikTok can offer an effective way to build an audience quickly. You can see that clearly in the seemingly instantaneous music careers of TikTok stars like Dixie D'Amelio, Jaden Hossler, and Josh Richards.
Influencers are seeing a rebound in travel and tourism sponsored content deals. But controversy has come with it.
Travel is still out of the picture for many Americans as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
Yet, the amount of travel and tourism sponsored content from
My colleague Sydney Bradley wrote about how across the travel and tourism industry, sponsored content has been steadily increasing over the course of the past few months (though it has not returned to pre-pandemic levels).
But the increase in travel content from influencers has also brought controversy, with some influencers being criticized for not following social-distancing guidelines.
Read more on how travel content has begun to make a comeback, here.
WATCH: Two YouTube creators took us inside their businesses
I recently hosted a webinar with
They also shared how they have adapted their businesses during the pandemic and the various ways digital creators are earning a living in 2020.
Here are a few topics they covered in the webinar:
How to price yourself as an influencer when landing a brand deal and ways to negotiate.
How to start a Patreon, from pricing to choosing what to offer your followers.
Why it's important to have several different revenue streams as a creator, and a breakdown of how they make money through membership programs, YouTube revenue, and sponsorships.
Watch the recording of the event here.
All the main ways TikTok influencers make money in 2020
While TikTok offers relatively few ways for its creators to make money, the app's top stars have found a variety of means to earn a living from their large followings.
TikTok does have some direct ways to earn money. It offers a "virtual gifts" feature that allows creators to earn money while livestreaming by receiving digital "gifts" from fans that can be converted into cash. It built a creator marketplace platform to help marketers connect with its top stars for potential brand deals. And TikTok announced in July that it's setting aside $200 million (and up to $1 billion over three years) to pay influencers who are "seeking opportunities to foster a livelihood through their innovative content."
But mainly, TikTok creators can earn big paychecks by doing brand deals, paid song integrations, app marketing, merchandising, and pushing product sales for storefronts on other websites.
Dan, Sydney, and I broke down the seven main ways influencers on TikTok are earning in 2020.
Check out the main ways TikTok influencers make money, here.
More creator industry coverage from Business Insider:
How much money YouTube pays for a video with 8 million views (by Amanda Perelli)
10 YouTube creators break down their exact monthly incomes from the platform (by Amanda Perelli)
How much money an Instagram influencer with 176,000 followers makes (by Amanda Perelli)
Addison Rae Easterling is the top-earning TikTok star (by Sydney Bradley)
Ask an influencer: "What are your top work from home tips?"
Amy Landino (384,000 YouTube subscribers): "The most important work-from-home tip is communication. You can have all the best home office tips and setup but if you don't set boundaries with those you live with and even those who call/text throughout the day, you'll easily succumb to pressure around you to split your attention. It's okay to tell the people you love how they can help you be a more productive version of yourself in your shared space. But if you don't let them in on how they can help, your uncommunicated boundaries can be taken the wrong way very easily."
Morgan Yates (322,000 YouTube subscribers): "My top tip for working from home is to set communication boundaries with friends and family during the work day. As someone who has worked from home for three years now, I used to get frustrated when it felt like people expected me to be able to reply to a text or hop on the phone at any hour of the day just because I was at home and working for myself. Take your work seriously the same way you would if you were in an office full of people and keep your personal life out of your work hours!"
Totally Meagan (13,000 subscribers): "I have a few quick tips for working from home and all of them allow me to stay motivated, focused, and on task through my work day. My days are scheduled a little more because of my specific position but I think these tips would be helpful for any position that is currently working from home.
My top work-from-home tips: 1. Create a designated work area 2. Prep meals and snacks ahead of time 3. Plan out your schedule for the day 4. Stay hydrated 5. Get up and get dressed for work (comfy clothes are my go to) 6. Get fresh air throughout the day."
Submit your questions about the influencer industry or for creators to aperelli@businessinsider.com. We'll answer your questions in an upcoming issue of Influencer Dashboard.
This week from Insider's digital culture team:
Influencer Lizzie Velasquez is condemning a 'hurtful' TikTok trend that she says promotes intolerance among children (by Margot Harris)
A comedian asked for stories of Ellen being mean and got 2,000 replies (by Kat Tenbarge)
Six of Bon Appétit's stars departed the popular YouTube channel (by Palmer Haasch)
Chinese-Americans say Trump's potential WeChat ban would destroy international lines of family communication (by Rachel Greenspan and Palmer Haasch)
Here's what else we're reading:
David Dobrik and Spencer X were among first TikTok US creators to receive funding under its $1 billion grant program (by Todd Spangler, from Variety)
Farm influencers exist and they are livestreaming their daily lives (by Ellen Barry, from The New York Times)
TikTok is making a play for Instagram's fashion marketing spend (by Lucy Maguire and Annachiara Biondi, from Vogue)
Thanks for reading! Send me your tips, comments, or questions: aperelli@businessinsider.com.