TikTok for sale? 🎥 Spotify flops + creators take on Shein

It’s Wednesday,

TikTok is fighting Canada’s shutdown order, filing for judicial review to keep its local operations running, arguing it’s in Canadians’ best interest to maintain a local team and platform access.

Quick updates…

🎥 Instagram is testing trial Reels that won’t appear to followers, giving creators a safe space to experiment.

👍 Meta is exploring options to hide like counts on Reels and enable replies on Threads to boost user comfort.

🛍️ TikTok renewed its shopping push in Europe, expanding e-commerce features to new regions.

🌍 YouTube widened access to auto-dubbing tools, letting creators translate content into multiple languages more easily.

🤖 Reddit rolled out Reddit Answers, using AI to generate discussion overviews, making threads easier to follow.

💡 Bluesky is mulling subscription features to generate revenue while expanding its creator tools.

⭐️ Trisha Paytas made a surprise cameo on SNL in a skit about Spotify Wrapped, adding a dose of creator humor to the show.

❄️ Skims teamed up with The North Face for a 14-piece winter collection, featuring ski-ready fleece jackets, leggings, and outerwear.

1: The billionaire who wants to buy TikTok

Billionaire Frank McCourt has an audacious plan: buy TikTok and hand over part ownership to its creators. Through his initiative, Project Liberty, McCourt aims to decentralize the app, allowing users to control their data.

“We want to eventually Green Bay Packer this thing,” McCourt said, referencing the NFL’s only fan-owned team. “Creators drive the platform’s value. They deserve ownership.”

Project Liberty claims to have $20 billion in informal commitments for a potential deal, engaging with ByteDance’s U.S. investors, private equity firms, and major endowments. Yet the road ahead is murky. ByteDance has shown no interest in selling, especially without its addictive recommendation algorithm, which is tightly regulated under Chinese export laws.

“We’d love the user base and the brand,” McCourt noted, “but until we know what’s on the table, we can’t put a price on it.”

With TikTok’s future uncertain and few buyers stepping forward, McCourt’s vision could signal a shift in how platforms value creators. Whether he succeeds remains to be seen.

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2: Spotify’s video push leaves creators unimpressed

Spotify’s latest move to integrate video podcasts in 2025 has creators scratching their heads. While the platform’s offering includes TikTok-style clips, premium revenue sharing, and dynamic video podcasts, the lack of social engagement features and clear monetization incentives has raised doubts about its ability to rival YouTube or TikTok.

What Spotify’s offering:

• Revenue sharing for U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia creators starting January 2025.

• TikTok-like podcast clips to boost engagement.

• Dynamic video podcasts aiming to lure creators and advertisers.

The challenge: Spotify’s audience is massive—170 million monthly podcast listeners—but it still trails YouTube for podcast engagement, particularly among Gen Z. Without features like feeds or DMs, it lacks the social appeal of TikTok or Instagram.

Creator sentiment: Talent agents and creators are cautiously optimistic. They see potential in Spotify’s loyal user base but need more clarity on how its revenue model stacks up against YouTube and TikTok. As creator Roxy Couse put it, “You’re capitalizing on a segment that was already interested,” but it’s not yet a game-changer.

The takeaway: Spotify’s foray into video podcasts is ambitious, but without better social tools and incentives, it may struggle to win over creators who already thrive on platforms like YouTube. For now, the platform’s future as a video powerhouse remains uncertain.

3: Helping creators build the next big brand

Pietra, the startup behind creator-led brands like Chrissy Teigen’s Cravings and Seth Rogen’s Houseplant, just leveled up by acquiring Factored Quality, a company specializing in quality control and factory compliance for brands like Brooklinen. The deal aims to simplify the complex process of launching e-commerce products, empowering creators to take on giants like Feastables or The Honest Company.

Why it matters: In a world where creators sell directly to shoppers through TikTok and Instagram, Pietra is doubling down on its mission to make brand-building as easy as hitting "post." With Factored Quality onboard, creators now have streamlined access to everything from product design to factory audits—no prior experience required.

A new era of operators: Pietra CEO Ronak Trivedi argues that the distinction between “creator brands” and traditional e-commerce is fading. Whether it's MrBeast’s Feastables or Jessica Alba’s Honest Company, these are simply modern businesses built for a social-first, creator-driven economy.

Future vision: As factories worldwide pass leadership to younger, tech-savvy operators, Pietra and Factored Quality see an opportunity. By enabling factories to go direct-to-consumer, they envision a future with "100 Sheins or 100 Quinces”—a world where digital-native manufacturers are creators in their own right.

This merger marks a big step toward democratizing the tools needed to launch the next big brand in a creator-first economy. Could your favorite influencer become the next DTC powerhouse? Stay tuned.

Creator notes 📝

💬: Snapchat shares top Snap trends of 2024.

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