Meta is offering YouTube content creators between $50,000 and $500,000 to incentivise them to publish long-form videos on Instagram, as the company moves to attract established producers from its rival platform and strengthen its position in the audiovisual content market — a segment long dominated by YouTube.

According to Business Insider, Instagram’s parent company has presented financial proposals to a selected group of creators, with amounts reaching half a million dollars in some cases. The agreements do not require exclusivity, meaning content can remain available on other platforms. However, some contracts stipulate that videos must be published on Instagram on the same day they are made available on YouTube.

When contacted by the publication, Meta confirmed it is directly funding content production for the new format but declined to disclose the amounts involved, citing the confidential nature of the agreements.

The initiative follows Instagram’s announcement in October of a format called Features, which allows creators to publish horizontal videos of up to 90 minutes in duration. The functionality is still in a testing phase and is currently available only to a restricted group of creators in Brazil and the United States.

The new format allows short videos published on Reels to be linked to full-length content, encouraging users to watch longer programmes without leaving Instagram. Meta also intends to extend consumption of this content to television screens, seeking to challenge YouTube’s consolidated presence in that segment.

The push is aimed particularly at producers of podcasts, comedy shows, interviews, and other long-form content. However, unlike YouTube — which allows eligible creators to receive a share of advertising revenue — Instagram does not yet have a generalised monetisation model for the new format.

Instagram Vice-President of Product Tessa Lyons said the company intends to create conditions to support both producers that already have commercial structures and advertising agreements in place and those who have not yet developed their own monetisation mechanisms.

While the announced payments may attract creators in the short term, Instagram’s ability to compete sustainably with YouTube will also depend on the development of regular revenue-sharing mechanisms, beyond the individual deals currently under negotiation.

Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/?p=557595