How to start on TikTok as a creator

Pick the account type on purpose

TikTok has two account types, Personal and Business. You switch in Settings and privacy, under Account.

The choice decides your music. A Business Account only sees the Commercial Music Library when it adds a sound, and cannot use the Unlimited Sound Library. A Personal account sees everything.

It also decides your pay. TikTok says "Only Personal Accounts are eligible" for the Creator Rewards Program. If you are a person making videos, stay Personal.

Age

TikTok's terms set the minimum at 13 in most places. In the United States you must be 13, or 14 in Florida, to use the main app. Australia's minimum is 16. Monetisation has its own age rule of 18.

Video length

Videos can run up to 60 minutes, whether you upload or record in the app. Length matters for music, because TikTok's Music Terms generally permit up to one minute of a song from the general library, and for pay, because only videos over a minute qualify for rewards.

The Creator Rewards Program

This is TikTok's main way to pay creators for views. The requirements, in TikTok's words:

• Based in "the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, South Korea, France, Mexico, and Brazil"
• "at least 18"
• "at least 10,000 followers and 100,000 video views in the last 30 days"
• A Personal Account

Then each video has to qualify. It must be "original, high-quality content over 1 minute long" with at least 1,000 views on the For You feed, filmed in 1080p or higher. Duets, Stitches and Photo Mode posts do not count.

Payment goes out on the 15th of each month once you pass the 50 US dollar minimum.

The catch

Reposted clips can lock you out of both reach and pay. TikTok's Originality Policy counts "content with someone else's visible watermark or superimposed logo" as unoriginal. It "may be removed from the For You feed" and is ineligible for the Creator Rewards Program.

That includes your own videos exported from another app with its logo on them. The reposting guide has the details.

Violations add up as well. Five video violations in 30 days make an account ineligible for rewards, and five account violations in total make it permanently ineligible.

Other ways to earn

TikTok lists Subscription, which needs over 10,000 followers, along with LIVE Gifts, Video Gifts, TikTok Shop and TikTok One. Each has its own requirements on TikTok's Creator Academy.

Music and monetisation

Nothing in TikTok's programme pages says that using in-app music disqualifies a video. Videos must follow the copyright policy, and TikTok recommends the Unlimited Sound Library. The guide to what gets muted explains the rest.