Do you guys have any bad collab experiences? My worst one was a couple years ago with a VTuber. We were supposed to play Valorant together, but something came up on their end. They canceled less than an hour before we were scheduled to go live. I get that emergencies happen, so I reached out to reschedule… and got completely ghosted. A short while later, they even unfollowed me. We had similar-sized audiences, so it wasn’t like I was a nobody to them. I was just left hanging with nothing. I hope they were okay, but it definitely left a sour taste in my mouth.

Streamers, and Creators with Discord servers, seriously... adding a "HoneyPot" was the best thing I ever did for my server. Spam bots and kids post there, instant ban, all spam gone. Took 2 seconds using "NadekoBot" and since then mod actions have dropped immensely

Here's my bi-annual post to remind people to check who has made you a mod in their channel without telling youuu 😁 👉 twitch.tv/moderator You can go into their chat and type /unmod YOURNAME to remove the sword Please ask people before you assume they want to be a mod 💜

This is your unfair advantage for live streaming. Introducing Meld Spark ✨

Meld Studio has finally announced its new feature, Spark, and after spending some time with it... I understand why the lead-up to its announcement was kept a secret. It's generative AI. That's the big reveal. They have created a way to destroy the creative ecosystem. Not only that, but like all generative AI, it is trained on IP that it does not have the rights to. How do I know this? Well, I've recorded a few examples found above: First, a Sub Overlay (Sound Element was created in Meld by Spark) Second, a Chat Widget (sound element was corrupted. Added my own) Third, a Follow Overlay (sound element was corrupted. Added my own) The prompt was to create these three elements using a classic Final Fantasy 7 aesthetic, both in sound and visuals. Each fully formed element was created in 30-40 seconds. Full disclosure: the Chat Widget sound and the Follow Sound were implemented by me because the sound they produced was unusable. However, the Sub Overlay Sound is what I want you to really pay attention to. Now, if Spark is not trained on or pulling from an IP that it does not have the rights to, how does it generate this? Sure, the leveling fanfare with the Sub Overlay isn't the exact composition, but it clearly knows the correct fanfare in order to change the notes to protect against copyright while still giving you the feel of Final Fantasy fanfare. Is it easy to use? Yes. Is it soulless? Also, yes. Meld Studio's Spark is a feature designed for people who don't want to put in the work of being a Content Creator and feel completely okay stepping on the backs of countless artists in this industry... that it clearly has been trained on. (There are pre-loaded chat widgets that look incredibly similar to popular widgets sold on Etsy.) That's not what being a creator is. Sure, you can have overlays and cool effects play during events, but Spark is not going to teach you comedic timing. Spark is not going to give you the gift of gab and hold the attention of a large group of people for 5 hours. You're just playing dress-up and wearing the uniform of a creator expecting success. They say that Spark is going to change the game, but in reality, all it really does is separate the true creators and artists who work with them from the pretenders who feel like they don't need to pay their dues. Still, I'd like to thank Meld Studio for giving me an early preview of the feature. As disappointing as it was, it was eye-opening to see an open disregard for the ecosystem of streaming in exchange for personal profit.

Hot take: Everyone would be miserable if we went back to the old style of Let's Plays. Mr. Beast has nothing to do with why people don't make them anymore. The real reason is that nobody wants that content, and if they do, they go to Twitch and watch a livestream

What's does "good retention" actually look like? The director of the YouTube algorithm, Todd Beaupre, revealed this chart in a private YouTube meeting :) Save this!