The Spotlight was first launched in 2020, and in the early days of its launch, Snapchat promised to distribute $1 million a day between creators who create videos for this tab. However, the company later limited its budget to up to millions a month. Now, Snap says its budget for Spotlight videos is limited to millions of dollars per year. While the decision might upset creators, the company says it wants to pay more creators in more markets. Of course, Snap stock has dropped at least 79% since the beginning of the year, putting the company in a critical condition. The app has also launched a paid subscription to increase its revenue.
Some creators even made six figures from Spotlight content
Snap could first entice users with a huge amount of money it was spreading among creators. Nathan Kessel is a Spotlight creator and claims he could earn between $20,000 to $50,000 a month on Spotlight last year, and in August 2021, his payment reached a six-figure amount. However, the payments have plummeted since November last year. “As a creator, it is absolutely terrifying to go from making this kind of money to then absolutely nothing,” Kessel said. “It will last for some time, and then all of a sudden it’s gone — without any kind of notice.” Another creator told Insider that he used to make $15,000 for every 150,000 views in 2021. The payment is now limited to $15 per 150,000 views. Creators on Snapchat now focus on developing AR lenses for the platform as an alternative monetization method. The company has also introduced Challenges to encourage users to create “top-performing Spotlight Snaps using specific Lenses, Sounds, or #Topics.” The total prize money for Spotlight Challenges ranges from $1,000 to $25,000 per challenge. Despite decreased payments, Spotlight is still a popular feature among users and creators. According to the company’s Q3 earnings report, over 300 million users watch Spotlight content every month, and the total time spent viewing Spotlight content grew 55% year-over-year.
