Acorn-y fact for you… Despite supporting one of the highest human population densities, Japan is the first developed country with the highest percentage (74%) of forest-covered land. Japan’s forest management policy began over four centuries ago. Thanks to community management, the country’s forests were restored. That kind of collective action is pretty… un-be-leafable.
In today’s issue:
- No more copyright strikes on YouTube?!
- #BookTok revitalized the publishing industry, Penguin Random House buys in
- AI-nt it amazing? — Microsoft ads AI Art to it’s suite
Check out Create It — The Content Planner
🔑 Key Stories
YouTube to Allow Creators to Earn Money From Licensed Music
- You read that right. But, there’s a catch… Creators can only monetize content featuring licensed music as long as the song is on a list called “Creators Music”
- YouTube has been in talks with over 50 record labels, publishers, and distributors putting together a list of “hundreds of thousands of songs” for creators to use.
- This is huge because up until now, creators could only monetize videos with royalty-free music. Even a short clip featuring licensed music threatened demonetization.
- YouTube has been beta-testing this “Creators Music” program for the past few months and will open it through the U.S. before expanding internationally in 2023.
But how will this work?!
- Music-license holders will have two options: they will charge video-creators an upfront fee for the license or opt for a revenue share model. This article from Twinfinite breaks down the numbers.
Penguin Random House Buys into BookTok… Literally
- #BookTok is one of the most popular communities on TikTok with 82 billion views where users discuss books and share recommendations, as well as create skits, reviews, callouts and lists of all types of content about the book industry.
- BookTok is credited with revitalizing the publishing industry. Books published years ago become bestsellers and publishing houses are seeing profit growth over 200%.
- Penguin Random House recently made a deal with TikTok so creators will now be able to link to the books they’re talking about in their video; however, creators will only be able to link to books published by Penguin Random House.
- When viewers click the link they’ll be directed to a page with details about the book including a summary and a collection of other videos about the same book.
Is this just another ex. of a corp taking advantage of a small community?
- Probably. Many are not on board with the deal. In an announcement video posted by Penguin Random House’s TikTok, most of the comments are unsupportive.
- Many within the BookTok community call this new deal exploitative because videos rarely feature sponsored posts making reviews and recommendations feel genuine.
- Since the feature is limited to only Penguin Random House books, many are frustrated that this deal will lead to the algorithm favoring these videos, leading to even less exposure for LGBTQ+ and POC writers in an already very white BookTok community.
AI Art becoming the new clip art?
- Microsoft recently announced the addition of AI-generated art to its suite of Office software with a new app called Microsoft Designer.
- The app works similarly to AI text-to-image models like DALL-E and Stable Diffusion that allow users to type text prompts of an image they’d like the software to create which prompts the software to instantly generate a variety of designs/images.
- This could potentially be a game-changer for creators. Instead of spending lots of time searching for the right image, one could prompt an AI Art tool to do it for them.
Sounds too good to be true? — Many think so too
- Artists worry about copyright infringement, having their work totally ripped off by multibillion dollar corporations, and potentially losing their jobs to AI software.
- The question of “who is really the artist?” is coming up a lot. Many art communities are banning the use of AI generated images.
- There’s also concern for the images AI software outputs being bias, racist, and prejudice. Because the various software learns from tons and tons of input from the internet — which features all kinds of biases and misinformation — the images they create can be an “infinitely complex mirror held up to our society.”
- This video by Vox gives a solid overview of how AI-generated art works and the good and bad consequences. You can also watch this video of artists sharing their thoughts about what AI art means for themselves and other artists.
🌟 Creator Spotlight
How Creators like Kim Eun-hee conquered the world with K-Dramas
Korean dramas — or K-dramas, as they are commonly known — have been gaining in popularity all over the world in recent years. Thanks to the rise of streaming services like Netflix, which has made a number of Korean dramas available to international audiences, these shows have become a global phenomenon.
After Squid Game was released on Netflix last year, I’ve noticed more and more people both online and offline are talking about and watching K-dramas. In 2020, the pandemic brought life to a screeching halt. With a lot of extra time on their hands, many turned to the media for entertainment, distraction, and escape. This created the perfect opportunity for the exponential rise in popularity of K-dramas.
At a panel discussion earlier this month, Hwang Hyejung, chief content officer at Korean streamer TVing, suggested that the global success of Korean dramas is due to the fact that “that writers have broadened their outlook to include more current and realistic topics. Romantic comedies and melodramas are no longer the defining genres. Korean content has its foundations in family values and Confucianism. That compares with Hollywood’s super fantasy stories,” said Hwang. “These days, Korean realism is well-received among the MZ generation [people born between 1981 and 2005], due to COVID and the crises we’re experiencing.”
In an interview with CNN Kim Eun-hee — creator of some of the most popular K-Dramas of all time- agrees. She talks about how the K-Drama tropes of romantic comedies and melodramas include unrealistic depictions of love that feel unattainable to viewers. “I think our viewers are more drawn to the characters and stories that feel relatable and down-to-earth,” she says.
She also explains that she feels it’s her job as a writer to explore the darker aspects of human nature in her work. “I want to write stories that make people think, ‘Hey, this could happen to me.’ Or, ‘This is what I’m going through right now,’” she says.
Kim’s most famous work- Kingdom- does just that. The drama is set in Joseon Korea and follows the crown prince as he tries to uncover the mystery of a deadly plague that’s sweeping the kingdom.
The series has been a huge success, both in Korea and internationally. It was the most-watched show on Netflix in 2019 and was renewed for a second season before the first even aired.
Kim says she was surprised by the global response to her work. “I never imagined that so many people from all over the world would be interested in a Korean historical drama,” she says. “I’m just happy that people are enjoying it.”
Though it may sound contradictory to explore realism and universal themes of humanity through thrillers, Kim Eun-hee argues that we are currently living in a time where people are interested in stories with a “message of hope.” When characters are faced with larger than life circumstances, it allows writers to explore how people react under pressure, what values they hold on to, and what they are willing to do to survive.
There’s still space for fantastical and larger than life Hollywood blockbusters, but it seems that in recent years, people are increasingly craving stories that feel more real. And Korean dramas are giving them just that. I’m looking forward to seeing how the audience’s desire for these types of shows with compelling storylines, relatable characters, and willingness to tackle difficult topics potentially influence content from other big creators and studios.
If you have any thoughts, let us know at brittany@createitcompany.com
Have a Creator Spotlight idea or request? Let us know! (hyperlink)
🔍 Try this: Content Tips & Suggestions
Ever heard of “Answer the Public?” It’s pretty awesome.
This tool allows one to find out what people are asking about anywhere in the world. With over 3 billion Google searches happening everyday and Answer the Public allows you to get real insight into the minds of your customers to see what they’re needing, looking for, and trying to learn.
Enter 1–2 words, select the location and language for your search and get instant results for common searches, questions and comparisons for those keywords. It’s very visual and looks pretty too.
We like to use it to come up with some ideas for content creation.
Weekly Cause
WriteGirl is a Los Angeles-based creative writing and mentoring organization that spotlights the power of a girl and her pen. The program matches girls with women writers who mentor them in creative writing. WriteGirl is a thriving community with 200 volunteer women writers serving more than 500 girls annually. Every year, they produce dozens of workshops, panel discussions and special events to help girls get creative and get through high school and get to college! In fact, since 2001, 100% of their graduating seniors have entered college, many on full or partial scholarships.
Because of the pandemic they are still working with girls online but they’re committed to providing every WriteGirl teen with a journal, a pen and some creative inspiration. Help the teens get the resources and tools they need by making a $25 donation for a CareKit. Click here to make a donation.
How it works:
• Make a donation. $25 = 1 WriteGirl Care Kit created!
• They ship a WriteGirl Care Kit to a teen in the program
• Inspiration is delivered!
💭 Final thoughts
We hope you’re enjoying the holiday season as much as we are. It’s finally getting chilly in Los Angeles and we’re focusing on spending time with friends and family over the next few weeks… and eating a daily slice of Trader Joe’s Maple Streusel Bread ❤
Kim and Brittany
