Linktree announces Payment Lock, which lets creators on its paid plans add a paywall and use PayPal or Square to charge up to $150 for access to premium content (Mia Sato/The Verge)

Paul Sawers / TechCrunch:
A look at Backstage, Spotify’s open-source developer platform used at Netflix, LinkedIn, Epic, Roku, Box, and 200+ others, which the company seeks to monetize  —  Backstage is used by developers at Netflix, American Airlines and hundreds of other companies  —  With nearly a third …

David Pierce / The Verge:
YouTube rolls out Primetime Channels in the US, with shows and movies from 35 partners, including Paramount+ and Epix, and plans to add NBA League Pass soon  —  Streaming services are coming to YouTube.  The company is rolling out a new feature called Primetime Channels that will bring shows …

Mia Sato / The Verge:
Patreon launches a native ad-free video hosting tool for creators, expanding on support for third-party players, available to a select group in beta  —  The update marks a major shift in how creators on Patreon can share video content with fans.  Previously, creators had to upload videos …

Todd Spangler / Variety:
May 2022 survey of non-professional creators in nine regions: 48% monetize content, including 53% in the US; 77% of those who monetize started in the past year  —  A study funded by Adobe sheds new light on the creator economy, indicating that not only are a large number of people earning money …

Mia Sato / The Verge:
YouTube launches a video player for education, removing ads, external links, and recommendations, available for Google Classroom and other education apps  —  Plus creator tools for courses and quizzes  —  YouTube is introducing a handful of new features for creators and institutions using the platform for educational content.

TechCrunch:
A look at Unstable Diffusion, which is trying to monetize AI porn generators; the group migrated from a subreddit to Discord, where it has over 45,000 members  —  Of course, it’s an ethical minefield  —  When Stable Diffusion, the text-to-image AI developed by startup Stability AI …