Elon Musk, the CTO of X, has declared an expanded revenue sharing opportunity for creators using the app. X will now retain less of a cut from subscription revenue and offer more to the creators themselves.
According to Musk, while initially X was to keep nothing for the first 12 months and then 10%, the policy is now changed to X keeping nothing indefinitely until payout exceeds $100,000, after which it will be 10%. The first 12 months remain free for all.
Super Important to Support Creators!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 2, 2023
If you can afford it, please subscribe to as many creators on this platform as you find interesting.
People from every corner of the world post incredible content on 𝕏, but often live in tough circumstances, where even a few hundred…
Creator Subscriptions, reintroduced by X in April, allows users with over 500 followers to activate paid subscriptions. Creators must also have posted at least 25 times within the previous 30 days and be over 18 years old. They can set subscription rates at $2.99, $4.99, or $9.99 per month.
Despite X's enhancements, Apple and Google will still collect their 30% of all subscription revenue delivered via mobile devices. Musk plans to negotiate a more favorable deal for creators with Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Currently, creators stand to earn more from platforms like YouTube or Instagram than from subscriptions and ad revenue shares on X. This is because the entry requirements for X's ad revenue share scheme are steep, leaving subscriptions as the most viable monetization avenue for many.
Notably, very few online creators actually make money from their posts. Estimates show that only about 0.5% of YouTubers make more than $5,000 per month from the app, with most YouTube creators (88%) earning less than $50 each month. Meta creators see similar numbers.
Subscriptions require creators to provide additional exclusive content for paying subscribers, beyond their regular posts, making it a demanding route to success. Despite the challenges, X aims to build its creator ecosystem by providing optimal monetization opportunities and plans to introduce additional ways for creators to earn, such as creator tipping.
In the past, similar attempts like Twitter's 'Super Follows' and on-profile tipping did not gain significant traction. X's new management plans to offer ad revenue share, a strategy not tried by previous Twitter management. Elon Musk's vision of building a global marketplace with the X app may stimulate increased traction over time.
