Netflix and Spotify together paid approximately $100 million for an exclusive multiyear deal with Jay Shetty and his podcast On Purpose, as Sam Gutelle reported for Tubefilter, citing Variety. The deal prevents Shetty from uploading new episodes to YouTube; the video version will be exclusive to Netflix and the audio-only version to Spotify. Shetty’s On Purpose started in 2019 and has posted over 800 episodes totaling over a billion views across platforms, Gutelle noted.
The number is staggering. The logic behind it is worth examining. This is not about audience size — Shetty already had a billion views across platforms. It is about capturing a dedicated community that platforms can monetize through subscriptions. Netflix and Spotify are betting that a loyal, niche audience is more valuable than broad reach on YouTube. That bet redefines creator value: not by how many people see your content, but by how many will follow it to a paywalled destination.
Why MENA Creators Cannot Copy the Shetty Playbook
The Shetty deal looks like a blueprint for creator success. Lock in a platform, take the money, go exclusive. For a MENA creator, that blueprint is a trap.
MENA lacks a dominant platform like YouTube or Netflix that can offer a nine-figure guarantee. The region’s audience is fragmented across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and local platforms. A creator who signs an exclusive deal with one platform cuts off access to key audience segments on the others. The $100 million deal works for Shetty because his audience is global and his platform partners are global. A MENA creator with a regional audience would be trading reach for a check that does not compensate for the loss.
The Shetty deal, as Gutelle reported, removes his content from YouTube entirely. For a MENA creator, YouTube is often the primary discovery engine. Instagram and TikTok are where engagement happens. Going exclusive with one platform means abandoning the others. The math does not work unless the check is large enough to cover the lost audience, and the check is never that large for a regional creator.
The Sidemen’s Hybrid Model as a MENA Alternative
The Sidemen offer a different template. The British YouTube collective is launching a cooking competition series titled Sidemen Presents: SideMenu that will be released across YouTube and Amazon Prime Video, Gutelle reported for Tubefilter. The premiere episode will drop on the MoreSidemen YouTube channel on June 18, 2026, with the following three installments hitting Prime Video first before all four episodes become available on both platforms, Gutelle wrote.
This staggered release strategy is the opposite of Shetty’s full exclusivity. The Sidemen keep a free presence on YouTube while offering premium content on Prime Video. The first episode is free, building anticipation. The next three are premium, capturing subscription revenue. Then everything returns to the free platform, ensuring the audience does not feel abandoned.
For MENA creators, this model is more realistic. A creator could release teasers on TikTok, full episodes on YouTube, and extended cuts or behind-the-scenes content on a paid subscription tier. The key is that no single platform owns the entire relationship. The creator retains the ability to move audiences between platforms based on what each platform offers.
The key is that no single platform owns the entire relationship.
Building Direct-to-Audience Revenue with Subscription Tiers
Meta recently launched three paid subscription tiers — Facebook Plus, Instagram Plus, and WhatsApp Plus — priced at $3.99 per month for Facebook and Instagram and $2.99 per month for WhatsApp, Gutelle reported. The tiers include features such as unlimited audience lists, enhanced Stories viewership data, a ‘Super Heart’ reaction for Stories, extended Story duration beyond 24 hours, and the ability to spotlight one Story per week, Gutelle noted. Meta Head of Product Naomi Gleit alluded to a future MetaOne plan that would unite subscriptions across Meta’s social apps, AI platforms, and creator hubs, stating “This is just the beginning, with a lot more value to come,” Gutelle wrote.
These subscription tiers offer MENA creators a way to monetize directly without signing an exclusive deal. A creator can offer paid subscribers early access to content, exclusive Stories, or enhanced engagement features. The revenue is small per subscriber — $3.99 or $2.99 per month — but it adds up. More importantly, it builds a direct relationship with the audience that is portable across platforms.
Gleit’s mention of a unified MetaOne plan suggests that Meta is thinking about subscriptions as a long-term strategy. For creators, the message is clear: start building paid subscriber relationships now, before the infrastructure becomes more sophisticated and the competition for those subscribers intensifies.
Practical Steps for MENA Creators: From Exclusivity to Independence
The Shetty deal and the Sidemen model offer two contrasting templates. Shetty’s full exclusivity works when the check is large enough to compensate for lost reach. The Sidemen’s staggered release works when the goal is to maximize both reach and revenue without locking into one platform. For MENA creators, the Sidemen model is the more practical path.
The first step is to avoid full exclusivity. No MENA creator should sign a deal that removes their content from YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok unless the financial terms are life-changing. The region’s platform landscape is too fragmented to bet on a single player.
The second step is to use staggered releases. A creator can test premium content on a paid tier while keeping the core audience on free platforms. If the premium content gains traction, the creator can negotiate better terms with platforms or launch a dedicated subscription offering.
The third step is to invest in direct monetization tools. Meta’s subscription tiers are a starting point. A creator with a modest but engaged subscriber base can generate meaningful revenue that is independent of any single platform’s algorithm or payout policy.
The Shetty deal is a signal, not a blueprint. It tells us that platforms value dedicated audiences enough to pay nine figures for them. For MENA creators, the lesson is not to chase the nine-figure check. It is to build the kind of audience that makes that check possible — and to keep control of the relationship.