Social media influencer agencies flooded with applications
Law says company licence can cover everyone on their books
Influencer agencies are being inundated with applications after it emerged that individuals can be covered under a company’s e-media licence – potentially saving them significant costs in licensing fees.
Plans to professionalise and regulate the industry were first announced in March by the National Media Council.
It was initially believed that individual influencers would need to hold two licences – a trade licence and a special e-media licence – together costing more than Dh30,0000, to be able to continue posting content that advertises or endorses brands on social media.
But the National Media Council has since clarified the law, stating that there are three tiers of e-media licences available to influencers and agencies.
Tier 1 is an individual licence for independent influencers; Tier 2 is a partnership licence for small groups; and Tier 3 is a licence available only to official influencer agencies, which will cover all influencers registered on their platform.
Each licence tier costs Dh15,000 and requires a trade licence to apply, experts said.
A spokeswoman for the media council said reports about the number of applications that have been made were inaccurate because they were still being counted.
Vamp, a global content and influencer-marketing platform with a presence in the UAE, was the first influencer agency to be granted a Tier 3 e-media licence. It has 450 UAE-based influencers registered on the platform and is working with each of them to ensure they all comply with the legislation.
It has also received a flood of inquiries from influencers interested in joining.
“We have had quite a significant influx of influencers who are not registered with Vamp who have approached us to learn more about the licensing arrangements,” said Karl Mapstone, business director for the Middle East at Vamp.
Many influencers were relieved to hear that there is an alternative option if they are not able to afford the licence, he said.
“The feedback has been very positive from influencers and brands,” Mr Mapstone said.
Brand Ripplr, which has 900 registered influencers and claims to be the biggest in the UK, is in the final stages of applying for a Tier3 licence to cover its members.
It has also fielded a large number of inquiries from potential new clients in recent days.
“We have had about 200 or 300 inquiries in just this past week [from new influencers],” said Tanaz Dizadji, its founder and chief executive.
“We are signing their contracts and updating their records with their stuff for the department, so that we can put them under the licence.”
Ms Dizadji said the platform would not necessarily receive any more business as a result of the new rules – but she welcomed them regardless.
“You need people to feel comfortable that when they are looking at social media, they know what they are looking at. We had no limitations before,” she said.
Things are now moving in the right direction – but it is not going to be easy, she said. Registering people takes time and many influencers are confused about the rules.
One difference in future will be that influencers can only register, and work with, one agency. They can still work directly with brands but they must approve the content with the influencer agency they are registered with because it is responsible for the content.
“A lot of influencers at the moment are signed up to every platform, so they are getting the same notifications and thinking, ‘what should I do?’” Ms Dizadji said.
Sana Chikhalia, 26, from India, is the full-time food blogger behind Sana on Food. She is registered with only one agency but she has received several invitations in recent days from other companies.
She was happy to hear that she would be covered by an agency’s licence because she was questioning whether it was worth it to apply for her own.
She has received six invitations from influencer agencies to register with them and now has to work out which one will be best for her.
“In the past few days I have had at least five or six people contacting and calling me and saying, these are our rules, terms and conditions. If you would like to join us, just let us know. You just need your Emirates ID copy and your passport copy,” Ms Chikhalia said.
“I would rather join a company that has quality bloggers than quantity. After Ramadan is over I will sit down and go through everything. But there are quite a few at the moment.”
In the past few days I have had quite a few people calling me ... I would rather join a company that has quality bloggers than quantity SANA CHIKHALIA Food blogger