Features
Live Tech: The Blueprint Group Partners With Tsu ‘Social Media That Pays’
– Lil Wayne And Cortez Bryant
In the increasingly all-consuming world of social media, where relatively new market entrants like Clubhouse and TikTok can spread like wildfire, there are few that prioritize compensating their users. That’s where Tsu, a new social media platform billing itself as “Social That Pays,” comes in – and it’s already attracting high-profile partnership.
“It’s about time for content creators to make money for what they’re posting,” says Cortez Bryant, co-CEO of the Blueprint Group (pictured above, with Lil Wayne), which recently partnered with Tsu. “It’s pretty simple. You’re getting paid for the content you would post on all these other social networks. It gives content creators – and that’s anyone, a normal average person or superstar artist – the opportunity to earn revenue. A lot of these platforms have made billions of dollars off of consumers being a part of their platforms, it’s time to break that and that’s what Tsu is doing.”
Bryant would know, representing superstar artists including Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Drake, T.I., Lil Nas X and G-Eazy, among others. “Nothing,” he responds when asked what his clients have earned when they post something that might get a million views or 100 times that.
“That’s the value of Tsu,” he says. “We don’t see any revenue. When the music business became more digital, we had to start shifting. We had to think about things in different ways in a Facebook, Instagram, Twitter world. In the beginning, it was about reaching our consumers using this new way of technology of digital marketing. It was beneficial, too.”
What is not so beneficial is the lack of an equitable ad revenue split, not sharing in direct consumer purchases or monetizing in-app purchases, something Tsu will offer its users in a 50-50 split.
To reinforce that point, Tsu announced in January it had partnered with the Blueprint Group to pay $5 million in company equity to content providers who most actively support the Tsu platform. A smart business move that could greatly incentivize the platform’s users to engage and promote their content.
When asked about its partnership with the Blueprint Group, Tsu CEO Greg Fell stated that, “BPG is not only a leader in artist management, but its influence is felt throughout the entire media industry. The partnership will not only boost Tsu’s mission to cultivate great content and expand its creator community, it will provide a much-needed outlet for their artists, athletes, and celebrities to publish and get fairly compensated for their valuable content in the social media space.”
The company is working with online retail behemoth Amazon, which presumably will allow for more integrated out-of-app purchases. But that relationship could potentially benefit Tsu’s original content series play which is underway. BPG has co-produced a comedy streaming series exclusively for Tsu, entitled “Trippin On Sundays” which features comedians Nard Holston, OD Odell and Sunshine.
A recent Forbes article put Tsu’s valuation at $100 million. This follows five rounds of funding totaling $19 million raised between 2014 and 2019, according to Crunchbase. It’s interesting to note that as this story was going to press, Jack Dorsey’s Square bought a majority stake in Jay-Z’s streaming platform Tidal, in part to better “purpose of economic empowerment” to musicians and to help artists find new ways to support their work and find “financial freedom” – goals that would seem to align with Tsu’s.
The Tsu team also includes music industry vets Ryan Haslam and Billy Jones who oversee the day-to-day operations along with BPG. In a statement, the company’s co-founder and chief innovation officer, John Acunto, stressed the importance of the platform’s users. “We continue to be the only platform treating our creators as partners,” he said, “and we have gone further than ever before by offering company equity. No other social media platform can say that.”
Though still in beta, Tsu is currently available in app stores, and a full launch is imminent. “They want to make sure everything is great, tested and working,” Bryant says. “Now it’s about getting a voice and putting it out there. Letting people know the opportunity they have by being a part of the platform. You’re about to see a lot on it within the next month.”