Select YouTubers are getting offers of $50,000 to $500,000 to post their videos to Features, Instagram’s new horizontal format for videos up to 90 minutes long.
The deals don’t require anyone to leave YouTube. Creators upload to YouTube as usual and post the same video to Instagram the same day.
Meta confirmed the payments but called the terms confidential. “We’ve been public about the fact that we are funding Features content directly with some creators right now to support them,” a spokesperson said. Business Insider didn’t report whether the money is paid per video, monthly or as a flat fee. When Instagram unveiled Features on Monday, it said it was “too early to share a long-term monetization model,” and it still doesn’t share ad revenue the way YouTube does.
Creators outside those deals get reach instead of a check. Instagram cuts long uploads into Reels that link back to the full video and promotes them on Explore, but there’s no ad money behind the format yet. Instagram head Adam Mosseri acknowledged the gap on X this week. “We understand the economics matter a ton, and are exploring multiple options to help long-form creators get paid,” he wrote.
YouTube used the same move in 2021, launching a $100 million fund to pay creators to post Shorts as it chased TikTok. Instagram’s version asks for no exclusivity, so creators can take the money without giving anything up on YouTube. Reza Izad, co-CEO of Underscore Talent, whose clients include Kareem Rahma and Noah Beck, called the deals an “exciting opportunity” and noted there’s “not a lot of abundance” in long-form video right now.
IGTV, Instagram’s first attempt at long video, shut down in 2022 after four years. Features is starting with paid deals for the creators most likely to bring an audience with them, and all Instagram is asking for is a copy of what they already post on YouTube.
