Instagram is trying to woo YouTube creators with six-figure checks

• Instagram is offering some creators six figures to help make it a long-form video hub.
• The Meta platform is reviving its IGTV ambitions, allowing horizontal videos of up to 90 minutes.
• Creators are required to cross-post their long-form YouTube content to Instagram as part of nonexclusive deals.

Instagram wants what YouTube has — and it’s willing to pay up to get it.

In an effort to persuade content creators to post long-form video on Instagram, the company is paying a select number of creators hefty sums, according to people familiar with the deals.

Not every deal is equal. The Meta-owned platform has offered select creators $50,000 to post long-form video to its new “Features” product, while others have been offered six-figure deals, some of which have reached $500,000, Business Insider exclusively learned.

“We’ve been public about the fact that we are funding Features content directly with some creators right now to support them,” a Meta spokesperson told Business Insider. “The details of those deals are confidential, but we’re excited to see the content going live.”

On Monday, Instagram unveiled an overhaul of its video formats. Most importantly, it’s resurrecting IGTV — a long-form video product Instagram launched in 2018 and sunset in 2022 — in the form of Features. The horizontal, wide-screen videos will exist within the Instagram app, and can be as long as a feature film: 90 minutes.

Long-form video isn’t exactly what people are used to watching on Instagram. Reels, the platform’s answer to TikTok’s meteoric rise, has redefined the Instagram experience and is driving time-spent and revenue across Meta’s apps.

YouTube, however, reigns king as the internet’s destination for sit-down, longer-form videos.

Instagram knows this. The deals do not require exclusivity to Instagram, multiple people familiar with the agreements said; one person familiar with the offers said it’s asking creators to post to Instagram any of the long-form content they publish to YouTube that same day.

Reza Izad, partner at Underscore Talent, whose clients include “Subway Takes'” Kareem Rahma and Noah Beck, called the deals an “exciting opportunity” for creators.

“Every time there’s a new feature in these apps that the company’s promoting, people will have more opportunity to be seen because there’s going to be algorithmic preference to this kind of content,” he said. “And unlike short-form, there’s not a lot of abundance.”

Money, money, money

This isn’t the first time Instagram has inked paid deals with creators to lure them to post more on Meta’s apps.

Last year, Meta was paying creators thousands of dollars to post short-form videos to Instagram and Facebook in the midst of TikTok’s potential ban. The company has tested several bonus programs paying creators for the performance of their Reels on Instagram, though those programs have dwindled.

Back in 2021, when IGTV was still part of Instagram’s big video bet, it inked deals with creators, funding long-form episodic shows from creators like TikTok’s “Sway Boys” and “Dance Moms” alum Nia Sioux. Briefly, IGTV had its own monetization program, too, which let some creators earn a cut from ad revenue on the format.

While Instagram is paying some creators directly, a big question looms over the creator economy: What about the rest of them?

A major draw of YouTube is its long-standing Partner Program, which pays eligible creators a share of the ad revenue generated by their videos. Even though YouTube has increased its eligibility requirements, the potential to turn a hobby or passion project into a cash-earning career has kept YouTube on top as the go-to video platform for creators.

It’s no surprise, then, that when Instagram announced its video overhaul, creators immediately had questions about monetization.

“We understand the economics matter a ton, and are exploring multiple options to help long-form creators get paid,” Instagram’s top executive, Adam Mosseri, wrote in an X post on Wednesday.

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