TheSoul Publishing: The biggest social media creator you’ve never heard of
If you are a frequent viewer of fun videos on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok and many of the other social media platforms, you’ve probably seen the company’s content. This is an opportunity to get a better understanding of TheSoul Publishing, the studio behind 5-Minute Crafts, Bright Side, Slick Slime Sam and many more.
What is TheSoul Publishing?
TheSoul Publishing is an independent digital studio that produces entertaining, positive and original content for a global audience.
TheSoul Publishing had the most views of any media and entertainment company across Facebook and YouTube — followed by ViacomCBS, Comcast, and Disney, according to Tubular Labs, a company that provides insights into metrics for each brand creator, in November 2020.
TheSoul Publishing began in 2016 in Limassol, Cyprus, having evolved from a brand called AdMe. Originally an informational advertising-focused website co-founded by Pavel Radaev and Marat Mukhametov, AdMe transitioned to producing more light-hearted, entertainment-style content with channels like Brightside. The company then launched the global phenomenon 5-Minute Crafts in 2016.
Since 2016, from their headquarters in Cyprus, TheSoul Publishing continued to grow these brands and launch additional entertainment-focused properties. A truly global organisation, TheSoul Publishing has international offices in the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Russia, Latvia, and the United States. The company’s state-of-the-art production studios are located across Europe in Limassol, Cyprus, Riga, Latvia, and opened most recently in the city of Budapest.
TheSoul Publishing drives revenue through programmatic social platform advertising as well as with branded channel integrations.
What does TheSoul Publishing do?
TheSoul Publishing produces original and popular entertainment content such as 5-Minute Crafts (the #1 DIY digital brand, Top-5 YouTube channel), 123 GO!, Bright Side and Slick Slime Sam, for a global audience across social media and streaming platforms including Amazon Prime, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snap, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. It distributes this content in 19 languages to be enjoyed by an incredible number of fans globally.
How many channels does TheSoul Publishing own?
TheSoul Publishing creates around 500 videos a month for about 100 multi-language YouTube channels, reaching more than 500 million subscribers. In addition, it operates more than 50 Facebook pages with more than 350 million combined followers. It also has more than 50 million Instagram followers across channels. Plus, TheSoul Publishing has newly launched channels on Pinterest, SnapChat, and TikTok which are fast growing in popularity.
Content is localized in 19 languages including; English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian, Korean and Japanese.
TheSoul Publishing’s numbers are undeniably impressive. Its largest channels have millions of subscribers and billions of views, according to information publicly available on the YouTube channels themselves. As of December 2020, 5-Minute Crafts’ primary English channel had 70 million subscribers, and a total of 19 billion views. Bright Side’s primary English channel had more than 37.8 million subscribers and 7 billion views.
According to Tubular Labs, a company that provides insights into metrics for brand creators, in November 2020 TheSoul Publishing had the most views of any media and entertainment company across Facebook and YouTube — followed by ViacomCBS, Comcast, and Disney. 5-Minute Crafts is among the top 10 most viewed of media and entertainment creators.
Based in Los Angeles, Craig Radow, VP of Global Communications for TheSoul Publishing shares, “The impressive organic growth of TheSoul Publishing and positive viewer reception is very exciting. As we continue to produce entertaining videos, our fans can look forward to even more of the enjoyable content that they’ve come to highly enjoy.”
Why have I never heard about TheSoul Publishing?
Craig Radow, VP of Global Communications for TheSoul Publishing, continues: “Over the last few years our main focus has been creating content that our viewers love. While you may never have heard of TheSoul Publishing, fans from all around the world are already very familiar with the names and brands of many of our channels, such as 5-Minute Crafts, Bright Side, Slick Slime Sam, and 123 GO!”
In October 2020, Forbes wrote about TheSoul Publishing’s position as a top media company by global views across Facebook and YouTube, as well as how the company works with leading brands like Mattel and PlayDoh. A second Forbes article focused on the power of positive content, referencing TheSoul Publishing. Likewise The London Economic posted an article about the consumption of positive content referencing three videos from TheSoul Publishing channels: 5-Minute Crafts, 123 GO! and Brightside.
In December 2020, Adweek and ABC News Radio shared findings from a survey TheSoul Publishing commissioned through third-party research firm
Censuswide. They survey of over 2,000 people revealed how their consumption had changed over the course of the first six months of 2020.
Today, the company produces original content in 19 languages. In addition to 5-Minute Crafts, the most popular channels include Bright Side, 123 GO!, Avocado Couple, and Slick Slime Sam. TheSoul Publishing content is shared across social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube.
TheSoul Publishing makes videos through a combination of live-action video, vibrant digital animation, and family-friendly stop-motion. A lot of the content provides tips and hacks like how to clean dust off blinds or remove wine stains. Other videos focus on satisfying visuals such as water experiments which shows demonstrations from mixing together liquids.
TheSoul Publishing is very proud of its highly popular content enjoyed by millions around the world. From do-it-yourself crafts, to charming animation, to riddle and puzzle videos, TheSoul Publishing showcases a portfolio of light-hearted content watched across major social platforms.
Does TheSoul Publishing focus on news or political content?
Craig Radow, VP of Global Communications for TheSoul Publishing shares, “Political content plays absolutely no role in the content produced by TheSoul Publishing. In 2019 a few historically inaccurate videos on the animated Smart Banana channel came to light and quite honestly, it was an embarrassing situation. This led the company to take a closer look at our content and quality assurance policies. Finding that, of the thousands of pieces of content created, those factually incorrect videos made up a very, very small percentage — less than .001%. However, they were taken down immediately and a company-wide mandate was reiterated and continues to be followed — that there is no place on TheSoul Publishing channels for any political or divisive content.”
Following the posting of a Lawfare story, in December 2019, TheSoul Publishing addressed the issue via this blog on their website.
So where is all this content coming from?
TheSoul Publishing has about 1,500 team members across 70 countries. Approximately 80% of the team works remotely across six continents. From researchers, animators, editors, sound mixers, translators, voice-over artists, and more, cross-collaboration amongst production teams across continents is highly encouraged to streamline content with worldwide appeal.
Craig Radow, VP of Global Communications for TheSoul Publishing, shares, “We were remote first, even before the pandemic, allowing us to work with the best talent across 70 countries around the world. We’ve spent years honing a remote-first workplace and have already overcome many challenges that businesses are just now facing for the first time.”
List of TheSoul Publishing channels:
From handy life-hacks to clever craft projects, from head-turning beauty tips to brain-twisting puzzles, TheSoul Publishing’s channels emphasize the positive, the practical, and the purely entertaining.
TheSoul Publishing’s universe of well-known channels, including 5-Minute Crafts, Bright Side, 7-Second Riddles, 123 GO!, Avocado Couple, Frankenfood, Slick Slime Sam and Doodland, satisfy viewers’ curiosity on a vast array of topics through a combination of live-action video, vibrant digital animation, and family-friendly stop-motion. See some of TheSoul Publishing channels below:
The most watched DIY digital brand in the world, 5-Minute Crafts is known around the globe for its positive, fun and quirky DIY crafts. Videos on this channel are sure to inspire and ignite the creative sparks within all of us.
Featuring easy makeup and fashion hacks, lighthearted pranks and funny observations. 123 GO! delivers entertaining and positive videos about everything trending right now.
Featuring engaging narrated videos that showcase travel and exploration, self-improvement, gadgets, riddles and pop-culture, Bright Side’s brain tickling content is as diverse and robust as its global audience.
This is the place for the best riddles and answers in the world. Whether you’re a riddle wizard or a newbie we have the best riddles with answers all in one place. Put your mind’s puzzle power to the test.
Ava & Cado are our favorite animated couple and they want to share the fun with you! Their romantic adventures are sometimes awkward, sometimes spicy, and always hilarious.
Have you ever seen a talking slime? Well, meet Slick Slime Sam! He is pink, he is hilarious, and he is ready to help with your latest DIY or life hack project.
Doodland is a fun channel where ordinary objects come to life! Here, candy, toothpaste, and even bubble bath can all talk. Our channel proves that, from time to time, you can discover a whole new world among even the most ordinary things — all you need is a little bit of imagination!
