TikTok’s new creator fund requires 10,000 followers and longer videos

TikTok’s second creator fund is opening up to more users starting today.

First announced in February, the program has been invite-only until now. Called the Creativity Program, the fund is meant to pay popular users for their content, but only if they meet certain requirements. The wider availability now aligns with the original TikTok creator fund, which promised to pay out $1 billion over three years to creators on the app.

The Creativity Fund requirements suggest a slight shift in TikTok’s priorities. Most notably, creators need to be making videos longer than a minute in order to be eligible to earn money through the fund. Users also need to have at least 10,000 followers and 100,000 authentic views on their videos in the last 30 days in order to be eligible.

The original creator fund still exists, but it’s not clear what will happen now that the three years are nearly up and the new program is expanding. TikTok has said that participants in the original fund can switch over to the Creativity Program but won’t be able to revert back.

Despite the big pool of money set aside for the original fund, TikTokers frequently said they weren’t making much through the program and that even viral videos were only earning them a few dollars. At launch in February, TikTok said the new fund would “generate higher revenue potential” for participants but didn’t offer specific numbers.

The low payouts from platforms has been a perennial complaint for creators, and TikTok has introduced a slew of monetization features for popular creators in turn. In March, the platform announced that creators would be able to paywall some of their content, including 20-minute-long videos. Livestreams are also increasingly central: creators can earn tips during live videos and choose to target older audiences.