NewWave has a small set of nouns that recur across every flow. This page defines them in one place. If a term shows up elsewhere in the docs, it means exactly what it means here.

The core loop, in one breath

A brand creates a workspace and a campaign with a brief and a payout structure. Creators discover the campaign in the marketplace, apply, get approved, and e-sign a contract to enter the campaign workspace. The creator submits videos; the brand reviews and approves them; the creator posts the content and adds the published links. NewWave tracks views for a fixed window, calculates each video’s payout, and the creator’s earnings accrue, then settle, then become withdrawable through Stripe Connect.

See it from the brand side

See it from the creator side

People & accounts

NewWave — The UGC campaign platform that connects brands (who run paid campaigns) with creators (who make short videos and earn based on views). Brand — A company or agency that runs campaigns and pays creators. Brands work inside a workspace: they create campaigns, review submissions, and fund payouts. Creator — A person who makes short-form videos for campaigns and gets paid based on the views their content earns. A creator has a profile, a portfolio, and a connected payout account. Workspace — A brand’s (or agency’s) account container — the boundary for the team, billing, and all of that brand’s campaigns. A workspace can have multiple members.

Campaigns

Campaign — A single project a brand runs to get creator videos made. It carries a title, a brief, target platforms, dates, and a payout structure. A campaign is a draft until the brand publishes it (active), and can later be archived. Brief — The instructions and requirements for a campaign: what the brand wants creators to make, custom requirements, target language/audience, and which platforms to post on. Campaign version — Briefs are versioned. When a brand changes a brief, a new version is recorded rather than overwriting the old one, so the scope history is preserved. Payout structure — How a campaign pays creators. Three types: CPM (a rate per 1,000 views, optionally capped), view-count tiered (set reward amounts for reaching view thresholds), and flat rate (a fixed amount per video). May also include a fixed warm-up payout. Marketplace — Where creators discover campaigns to join: browsable and filterable by platform, with cards showing payout, time left, and applicant counts, plus an optional “For You” fit score. Fit score — An estimated percentage on some marketplace cards indicating how well a campaign matches a creator; powers “For You” recommendations.

Joining a campaign

Application — A creator’s request to join an open campaign. After applying, the creator waits for the brand to approve before signing. Private campaigns need an access code instead. Participation status — Where a creator stands in a campaign: Not applied → Applied → Approved (contract pending) → Signed (workspace active). Contract — The agreement a creator e-signs (by entering their legal name and agreeing) before joining. It becomes tamper-proof once signed and is available as a downloadable PDF afterward. Campaign workspace — The creator’s working area for a single campaign after signing, with tabs for reference scripts, submissions, analytics, settlement, and messages. Unlocked after setup. Setup guide — The first step inside a campaign workspace: brand-provided instructions a creator reviews before they can start submitting. Warm-up — A required early step (brand instructions, and optionally a warm-up video). A warm-up video can carry a fixed payout, separate from view-based earnings.

Content

Submission (content ticket) — A single piece of content a creator submits — a video or a slideshow. It moves through review, possible revisions, approval, and finally published. “Content ticket” is the same thing. Revision — When a brand requests changes instead of approving. The creator reads the feedback and re-uploads. Slideshow — A submission made of 1–35 ordered images instead of a single video. Platform — Where content is posted and tracked. NewWave supports four: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. A campaign specifies which ones creators post to. Published link — The URL of the creator’s live post, submitted after approval. NewWave uses it to track views and (where available) engagement.

Tracking & money

View tracking — NewWave periodically measures each published post’s views over time. Views drive most payouts — creators never self-report. Engagement (likes/comments) — Tracked alongside views, but only on platforms that report them. Facebook is views-only mid-campaign, so its likes/comments aren’t shown during the campaign. Payout group — How platforms are bucketed for payment. TikTok and YouTube are each their own group; Facebook’s views fold into the Instagram group (treated as the same cross-posted content). Payout is based on the single best-performing group’s views per video. See How tracking & payouts work. View-accumulation window — The fixed period (14 days by default) during which a published video’s views count toward its payout. The payout locks in when the window closes. Video cap — An optional limit on how many of a creator’s approved videos are eligible for payout per period; over the cap, only the top performers are paid. Earnings / payout — The money a creator earns from a campaign, calculated per video from its views and the campaign’s payout structure. Accruing — An earnings state while a video is still inside its window: a live estimate (shown with ~) that can still grow. Not yet money in the bank. Settled — After the window closes and the amount is locked in and credited. Settled amounts are real, not estimates. Pending — An in-between state where the amount is locked but not yet withdrawable — shown as “available soon.” Escrow / funding — How settled earnings become withdrawable: a transfer is held (escrowed), then released to the creator’s available balance. Available balance — Settled, released funds a creator can withdraw right now. Stripe Connect — The payout system creators connect to receive money. A creator must finish Stripe’s identity verification (KYC) before withdrawals unlock. Standard vs Instant withdrawal — Standard is free and arrives in 2–3 business days to a bank account; Instant arrives in ~30 minutes to a debit card for a small fee. Settlement panel — The per-campaign breakdown showing each video’s views, status, and amount, so a creator can see what’s still counting vs. what’s banked.

The statuses you’ll see

WhereStatuses
CampaignDraft → Active → Archived
ParticipationNot applied → Applied → Approved → Signed
SubmissionUnder review → Revision requested → Approved → Published → Inactive
Earnings (per video)Accruing → Pending → Settled (or Skipped)
WithdrawalPending → In transit → Paid
The single most useful idea to internalize: earnings “accrue” as an estimate while a video is still counting views, then “settle” into real money when its window closes. Almost every payout question comes back to this.