TikTok users might soon be shelling out the big bucks to watch some of their favorite creators' content.
TikTok announced Tuesday it is rolling out a feature called "Series," which allows some creators to put their premium content behind a paywall.
A TikTok blog post announcing the rollout described Series as "a new way for creators to share their stories, talents and creativity as premium content while further deepening their connection with the TikTok community."
The tool will be available to only a select few creators in its early stages, the blog post said. More creators will be able to apply for access to the feature in the coming months.
Those who do have access will be in control of the price of their Series, and those who wish to pay for access can pay for access "via direct in-video links or through a creator’s profile," the blog post says.
Creators with access to Series can add up to 80 videos in a collection, and those videos can be as long as 20 minutes apiece. The format will give creators access to longer-form videos than what is now on TikTok.
Although Series will appear behind a paywall, creators won't have carte blanche to post whatever they want. The videos still must abide by TikTok's community guidelines, TikTok said.
Series is the latest of several new and revamped monetization tools on TikTok. Last month, TikTok announced its Creativity Program Beta, which lets users over age 18 in the U.S. generate more income. Creators can switch into the Creativity Program from the TikTok Creator Fund, a pool of $1 billion, which pays eligible creators based on their shares of the platform’s overall views. The fund was announced in 2020.
Early last year, creators expressed frustration with the Creator Fund because of its finite amount of money. Some creators previously advocated for TikTok to switch to a YouTube-style model, from which they would earn revenue from advertisements on videos.
Other social media platforms have tested the waters with paywall content as a tool for creators to earn money. In January 2022, Instagram announced it was testing subscriber tools for stories, lives and badges.
