Instagram is offering YouTubers up to $500,000 to post its new Features videos

Instagram is offering some YouTubers $50,000 to $500,000 to post long-form videos in its new Features format, Business Insider reported Oct 29. A Meta spokesperson confirmed to the outlet that the company is funding Features content directly with some creators.

What Business Insider found

Per people familiar with the deals, Instagram offered select creators $50,000 to post to Features. Others got six-figure offers, and some reached $500,000. Meta’s statement: “The details of those deals are confidential, but we’re excited to see the content going live.”

Tubefilter, which followed the story, says it’s unclear whether the money is paid per video, per month or as a one-time sum. Neither outlet reported who got offers.

The one condition

Multiple people told Business Insider the deals don’t require exclusivity. One said Instagram asks creators to post any long-form video they put on YouTube to Instagram the same day.

That’s a notable ask. Instagram gets YouTube’s content without making the creator leave YouTube. Netflix and Disney, Tubefilter notes, have tried to get creators to commit exclusively.

Why the timing matters

Instagram announced Features on Monday. It brings back IGTV, the long-form product Instagram launched in 2018 and shut down in 2022, as horizontal videos that can run as long as a feature film: 90 minutes.

1. Oct 26Instagram unveils Features, with videos up to 90 minutes
2. Oct 28Adam Mosseri says on X that “the economics matter a ton”
3. Oct 29Business Insider reports the $50,000 to $500,000 offers

Creators asked about money right away. Mosseri, Instagram’s head, wrote on X on Oct 28:

We understand the economics matter a ton, and are exploring multiple options to help long-form creators get paid.— Adam Mosseri, on X, Oct 28

Meta also told Tubefilter it’s “too early to share a long-term monetization model,” but is exploring ways for creators to earn from brands, fans and Instagram, including performance-based incentives.

What about everyone else?

Business Insider points out the obvious gap. YouTube’s Partner Program pays eligible creators a share of ad revenue, and that is a big reason it stays the default home for long videos. Instagram is paying a select few up front, and the rest of the creator economy has no public payout model for Features yet.

It isn’t Instagram’s first paid-for-content round. BI notes Meta paid creators thousands of dollars last year to post short videos to Instagram and Facebook, and funded long-form shows on IGTV in 2021.

What happens next

Instagram hasn’t published any terms for Features creators beyond the Meta statement and Mosseri’s post. Watch for a public monetization program, and for which YouTubers start posting the same-day uploads.