iWorld
YouTube breaks out $100 mn creator fund to push Shorts space
KOLKATA: The competition in the short video ecosystem has been heating up for some time now, and YouTube has just upped the stakes with the announcement of a creators fund. Dedicated exclusively for those who create short form video content, the YouTube Shorts Fund is a $100 million pot that will be distributed over the course of 2021-2022.
The cash injection aims to reward the thousands of creators whose Shorts received the most engagement and views, YouTube said in a blogpost. The video viewing platform will also seek feedback from these creators to improve the product experience.
The Shorts Fund is not limited to just creators in the YouTube Partner Program. Any creator will be eligible to participate if they create original content for Shorts. Its biggest rival, TikTok, also rolled out a creator fund last year, followed by Snap a little later.
“The Shorts Fund is the first step in our journey to build a monetisation model for Shorts on YouTube. This is a top priority for us, and will take us some time to get it right. We are actively working on this, and will take the feedback gathered from our community to help develop a long-term program specifically designed for YouTube Shorts,” read the blogpost.
The company has qualified the grant of the fund on the grounds that only “original” content would gain rewards. However, it didn’t clarify how it will go about checking to ensure the content isn’t already uploaded on another platform, like Reels, Snapchat or TikTok.
Further details about the payments and eligibility would be available closer to the fund’s launch, which is expected sometime in the next few months.
YouTube also plans to expand Shorts player across more surfaces on YouTube to help people find new creators, artists and Shorts to enjoy. It will also begin to test and iterate on ads to better understand creators’ performance.
iWorld
Bollywood 90s Jamming set for April 26 at Bharat Mandapam
Live sing-along event in Delhi sees strong ticket demand on BookMyShow
MUMBAI: Rewind, press play and suddenly, it’s the 90s all over again. Bollywood 90s Jamming is set to take over Bharat Mandapam on April 26, 2026, promising a full-blown nostalgia trip for Delhi’s music lovers. Curated as a tribute to Bollywood’s golden musical era, the event will feature a live performance by India Music Collective, known for turning concerts into participative experiences where audiences don’t just listen, they sing along, often word for word. The format leans into collective nostalgia, blurring the line between performer and crowd.
Organised by Brand Spotify Marketing & Event Agency, the event is being led by a team comprising Rohan Sharma, Mishita Batra, Akshita Jain and Ravneet Kaur, who are positioning it as more than just a concert, an immersive throwback to an era when music was as much about memory as melody.
Early indicators suggest the pitch is landing. Tickets, currently live on BookMyShow, are witnessing strong demand, pointing to a packed evening where retro hits meet a new-age audience eager to relive them in unison.
Set against the expansive backdrop of Bharat Mandapam, the event is designed to recreate the communal energy of 90s Bollywood where lyrics were instantly recognisable and emotions universally shared. As the city gears up for April 26, the promise is simple, a night where thousands gather not just to hear the music, but to become part of it.
For Delhi, it’s shaping up to be less of a concert and more of a collective memory set to a soundtrack everyone already knows by heart.
