Eknoor Singh, a 22-year-old from London, earns at least £10,000 a month by making short social media videos designed to go viral. Singh works as a "clipper," taking longer videos from clients and cutting them into 30 to 60-second clips for platforms including Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. He says he needs only a mobile phone and an internet connection.
The model works because clients, ranging from record labels to clothing brands and movie studios, believe younger clippers aged 16 to 25 better understand what will resonate with that demographic. Clippers can earn up to $3 (£2.30) per 1,000 views across platforms. Singh said he became interested in clipping after making $300 from posting a short Dua Lipa video on Instagram. A clip he made of Sabrina Carpenter's reaction at the Met Gala also performed well.
Ethan Weems, 24, from Kansas makes at least $1,000 a month clipping videos for YouTuber Caleb Hammer. Weems said the work allows him to stay home with his wife and one-year-old son rather than take a traditional office job.
However, social media consultant Lia Haberman cautioned that very few clippers earn substantial income. "It mirrors the creator economy more broadly. The vast majority make little to nothing," Haberman said. Streaming industry analyst Devin Nash added that successful clippers must "watch hours and hours of content, and they just live in that world."
Intermediary websites connect clippers with clients. Sites like Clipping Culture, Vyro and Whop list available jobs and count major clients including Capital Records, Universal Music Group and HBO Max. Clipping Culture founder Evan Stanfield, 21, said the website connects brands to more than 340,000 clippers worldwide. He dropped out of the University of Kansas to start the business last year.
For companies, hiring young clippers is far cheaper than traditional social media advertising and often more effective. Boxabl, a Las Vegas-based modular home maker, reported generating about a billion views from clips. Prime Minister Andy Burnham's recent appearance on the Jimmy's Jobs of the Future podcast generated close to 50,000 long plays but millions of clip views.