Snapchat is committed to helping creatives by equipping them with the tools and resources needed to make their wildest dreams come true. The company has announced its Snapchat Sounds Creator Fund, a grant program curated specifically with emerging, independent artists in mind. The purpose of the new initiative is to not only shine a light on the creatives responsible for setting the trends and defining some of the culture’s hottest moments but to also ensure that they have everything that they need to fund those creative ideas. “We want to support the independent and emerging artist that are driving creation on Snapchat,” said Global Head of Music Partnerships at Snap, Ted Suh, in a company blog post. “By providing meaningful funding and creative support, our goal is for artists to feel empowered to continue creating and pursue a career in music.” The first-of-its-kind program will lace the top Sounds creators with monthly grants of up to $100,000. Artists must be distributing their...

Since its initiation on Feb. 14, 2005, YouTube has taken the world by storm, providing a platform for content creators across the globe. Over the years, the site has served as the blueprint for sharing videos across the Internet for its competitors. Today, the company works to continue to hold the title as the No. 1 place to watch videos, and of course, it’s no secret that the platform dishes out big bucks for its content creators. The platform first began to pay for the content produced in 2007, just a few years shy of its initial launch. Now, Fortune reports that over the past three years, YouTube has dished out $30 billion to its creators. “Our responsibility as a global platform has created this place that works,” said Neal Mohan, YouTube’s chief product officer, in an interview. And, the company plans to remain true to its original concept with no intention of letting up any time soon.

Social media platforms seem to have had enough of President Trump filling their platforms with hateful content.  Both Snapchat and Twitter have recently taken a stance against the president’s ill and misinformative rhetoric. According to a statement reported by NBC News , Snapchat announced it would no longer promote Trump’s content on its Discover section, citing that it will not “amplify voices who incite racial violence.” “We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion on Discover,” Snap spokeswoman Rachel Racusen told The Washington Post . “Racial violence and injustice have no place in our society and we stand together with all who seek peace, love, equality, and justice in America.” Twitter has also taken a stance against Trump’s violence provoking tweets. Recently the social media giant flagged the president’s “when the looting starts the shooting starts” tweet, as it broke the company’s policies on glorified violence. As...

Multiple Snapchat employees have abused their access to tools that can give them key information about users, according to a Motherboard report . That includes user data like location information, phone numbers, saved Snaps, and more. The abuse began “several years ago,” although Motherboard was unable to provide a more specific timeline than that. In addition, Motherboard couldn’t verify how the data abuse occurred or what employees did with the information they accessed. However, the report did hone in on one particular tool: SnapLion. This tool was designed to help Snapchat respond to law enforcement who’d need user information for court orders or subpoenas. Former employees told Motherboard that SnapLion comes from “LEO,” the acronym for law enforcement officer, and a reference to Leo the Lion. The tool’s existence was never previously reported, but a number of departments have access to it. According to the report, Snap’s “Spam and Abuse,” plus its “Customer Ops,” and security...

As Generation Z — the group born between 1997-2017 — comes of age, learning more about them is crucial for advertisers and platforms alike. Now, an annual study by Piper Jaffray examining the brand preferences of teens may be able to help. Piper Jaffray surveyed 8,000 teenagers from across the country and found they preferred companies advertised to them through Instagram and Snapchat. Seventy percent of respondents chose Instagram over other platforms for brand engagement. Inversely, 41 percent of teens chose Snapchat as their favorite social media platform, and Instagram as their second favorite at 35 percent. Facebook and Twitter clocked in at 6 percent each as teens’ favorite platforms. It seems Instagram is well aware of its potential. The app recently ramped up its consumer features allowing users to purchase products directly in the app. Last year, Instagram began offering direct links on posts, helping merchants push products through Instagram. Snapchat’s main user base is...

Snapchat announced the launch of its Creative Partners program helping brands connect with certified AR creators who are experts in using the multimedia messaging app’s AR lenses. The platform already has 30 creators using the Lens Studio—ranging from large advertising agencies to small augmented reality design shops—to create AR lens experiences with plans to increase that number over the next few months. Creators were selected based off their experience developing augmented reality. They were also required to complete a certification course on Snapchat’s development process, ad policies, best practices, and buy models for sponsored AR Lenses, according to Engadget . The company reports over 250,000 lenses have been created through the Lens Studio and have been viewed over 15 billion times.  

This year, the newly branded Snap Inc. released new versions of their Spectacles and a Snap Map to help you find your friends and events going on around the globe. But their most exciting announcement comes in the form of Yellow, the company’s startup accelerator that aims to uplift people with visions for what mobile storytelling can be. Snap announced that each year they will choose individuals and teams to join their three-month program starting on September 10 where participants will have access to the tools needed to grow their businesses and put their ideas to work. Both established and aspiring storytellers with big ideas should apply to the accelerator. A total of 10 applicants will be accepted in the first go-around of the accelerator. The program will offer $150,000 for equity on “founder-friendly terms,” commercial support and partnerships, mentorship from industry veterans, networking events with other creatives and media luminaries and a creative office space in Venice,...