Created Briefs: March 18, 2022

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This episode of "Created Briefs" was broadcast exclusively on Twitter Spaces. You can listen to the entire episode and read a transcript of the whole show on Zealous.


This Week's Creator News

Amazon's Clubhouse Rival Launches

Called Amazon Amp, the app allows anyone to create their own live show, while also streaming "tens of millions of licensed songs" from three major record labels and independent artists. As The Verge notes, the goal "is to turn any user into a radio DJ, able to program a playlist, talk to listeners, and chat with call-in guests."

Creators don't need to be subscribers to Amazon — it's free to use and up to five people can "call-in" at a time. Amazon Amp is only available on iOS right now and for those in the U.S.

Amazon launches a Clubhouse competitor that turns everyone into a DJ
No Amazon subscription required.
https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/8/22966229/amazon-amp-live-audio-radio-dj-clubhouse-competitor-ios-app

Instagram Will Soon Support NFTs, Mark Zuckerberg Says

As SXSW, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that NFTs will soon be coming to Instagram, though he declined to provide much specifics. He did reveal the timeline would be the next several months, creators could bring "some" NFTs into the app, and "over time be able to mint things within that environment."

Zuckerberg also touted that the metaverse could be a boon to the creator economy, especially around digital goods. He suggested that interoperability is important among devices and platforms to ensure that users can bring their digital purchases with them: "It's not that useful for people to buy their clothing in one game or one experience but they can't bring it to another one," he said. "Then they might not buy as much stuff, which means that there will be a smaller creator economy for everyone."

Mark Zuckerberg Says NFTs Are Coming to Instagram
At SXSW, Zuckerberg reiterated familiar themes about the future of the metaverse and talked NFTs on Instagram.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/mark-zuckerberg-says-nfts-are-coming-to-instagram/

The Bored Apes Yacht Club NFT Project Launches 'ApeCoin' Token

Supporters of the NFT project have formed a DAO to administer a token in which money generated from it will support efforts such as a play-to-earn game. Due to regulatory concerns, the startup behind the Bored Apes is careful to distance itself from the token, but says the DAO can use its BAYC project branding. Council members in charge of the token include Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, FTX’s Amy Wu, Sound Ventures’ Maaria Bajwa, Animoca’s Yat Siu and Horizen Labs’ Dean Steinbeck.

On the first day of sales, approximately $88 million was made, with the NFT hitting a peak of $39.40 per token but settled down to $10 in the final hours of Thursday.

According to TechCrunch, the breakdown of token allocation is as follows:

  • 8% will go to the founders of Bored Apes Yacht Club.
  • 16% will go to the Yuga Labs team (a portion of which equal to 1% of the total token supply will be donated to the Jane Goodall Foundation Legacy Foundation).
  • 14% will go to “launch contributors,” which will assumedly be made up of Yuga partners and investors.
  • 15% will go to owners of the Bored Apes and Mutant Apes collections.
  • 47% will be released over time as part of the DAO’s “ecosystem fund.”
Bored Apes NFT project gets official ‘ApeCoin’ token – TechCrunch
Even among the fastest-growing crypto startups, Yuga Labs has had a particularly explosive year. The startup is behind the NFT project Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC), which only launched in April of last year but has quickly grown to become the most valuable NFT project by market cap. The price of ad…
https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/16/bored-apes-nft-project-gets-official-apecoin-token/

Linktree Raises $110 Million to Hit Unicorn Status with $1.3 Billion Valuation

The link-in-bio company has now raised more than $165 million in funding with its most recent investment coming from Index Ventures, Coatue Management, AirTree Ventures, Insight Partners and Greenoaks. Linktree now counts more than 24 million users with close to 40,000 signups daily.

Along with its funding announcement, the company said it hired Mike Olson, Twitch's senior vice president of Growth Initiatives, as its president. He's tasked with expanding Linktree's operation in the U.S.

How much is ‘link in bio’ real estate worth? Linktree’s new valuation says $1.3 billion – TechCrunch
Who would’ve thought that an entire swath of startups would spring up all because Instagram, TikTok and Twitter only let you link to one website in your bio? Apparently, Linktree co-founder and CEO Alex Zaccaria did. “We started back in 2016 with a really clear use case to solve this pr…
https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/16/linktree-link-in-bio-series-c-valuation/

TikTok's Stories Opens Up to More Users

Initially announced as a test last summer, TikTok's ephemeral post feature is now accessible by more people. TikTok Stories last for 24 hours before they're automatically deleted and viewable on a user's profile and also in the app's For You page.

TikTok is expanding the pilot of its Stories feature – TechCrunch
TikTok continues to test its Stories feature, which the platform previously confirmed was in the works last summer.
https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/17/tiktok-stories-expanded-pilot-feature/