Check Your Emails for Potential Bonuses

If you haven't received an email yet, there's still positive news to share from March 2022.

Excited, I promptly checked my Dashboard, and to my delight, I discovered a one-time bonus of $2.22 for February 2022!

Warren and his team indicated that starting from March 2022, Medium would incorporate listen time into their payout calculations.

I remarked, “Those small amounts will accumulate over time.” However, when I reached out to Medium Support to inquire about ongoing bonuses, they confirmed that they would indeed continue. Consequently, I informed my audience about the anticipated bonus wave.

Prepare for the Next Wave of Bonuses

Expect an email in the coming days regarding additional bonuses for listening time.

Sadly, that anticipated second wave never materialized. Based on the feedback I've received, many writers believe they are not compensated for listening time, prompting me to write another piece addressing this inequity.

Is It Unfair Not to Be Paid for Listening Time?

Why is Medium possibly withholding the money we deserve?

In my article, I argued that since February 2022, no further payments have been made, despite the fact that listeners are engaging with our stories. This seems unjust. While we receive payment for reading time, it stands to reason that we should also be compensated for listening time.

Recently, Judy Derby shared an interesting experiment she conducted that could serve as evidence that Medium does pay for listening time. She utilized the Speechify app on every article she read and asked fellow writers to monitor their statistics the following day, as she intended to read 15 to 20 articles in a single sitting.

One writer reported a $1 increase in earnings overnight, while another noticed a rise even from articles they had previously read. This raises questions: Are we actually compensated for listening time? Can one writer’s earnings increase through another writer’s listening activity? If so, why hasn’t Medium issued an official statement confirming this?

Medium’s Position on Audio Compensation

In my search for clarity, I stumbled upon a post in Medium’s Help Center discussing audio on their platform:

The critical takeaway from their statement is that adjustments appear as one-time engagement bonuses. Thus, as it stands, we do not receive payment for listening time; any compensation is contingent upon specific visibility of our content, indicated by a green box that appeared on my Dashboard in February.

It seems few, if any, are seeing these indicators, even though many listeners engage with our articles.

As for the earnings reported in February for listening time, Jenn Leach and Sally Prag received around $2 each, while Linda Kowalchek earned $1.69 and Misty Rae $3.04. Notably, larger creators like E.B. Johnson with 16K followers, Karo Wanner with 20K, and Anne Bonfert with 109K did not see any earnings from this initiative.

Conclusion: The Reality of Compensation for Listening

In summary, for those who may have skimmed through this text: Unfortunately, it appears that we are not compensated for listening time at this moment. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or insights. If you happen to notice that green box on your Dashboard or have any additional information, I encourage you to leave a comment.

© Kristina God

Thank you for reading this insightful exploration! If you appreciate my work and wish to support me as a writer, consider signing up for a Medium membership for just $5 per month, which allows me to receive a portion of your fee.

See you in the next article.

Happy learning, Kristina!

Want to dive deeper? Check out my latest viral article:

This Online Teacher Makes Millions of Dollars on Pornhub — Fully-Clothed

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