How a TikTok MCN works in Italy
An MCN is an agency recognised by TikTok that signs creators, supports them in videos and live streams, and connects them with the products of brands selling on TikTok Shop. This guide explains who does what, how the money is made, and what to ask before you sign.
Written by the Ciao Media team, a TikTok MCN and TikTok Shop Partner (TSP) based in Sesto Fiorentino (Florence).
What a TikTok MCN is
MCN stands for Multi-Channel Network. On TikTok it is an agency the platform recognises as a partner: creators who sign with it are linked to the agency, which supports them on content, live streams and sales.
The difference from a traditional talent agency is the day-to-day work. An MCN doesn't just negotiate deals: it writes or reviews scripts, plans the live-stream calendar, chooses the products to sell and reads the data from every live to understand what to repeat.
MCN, TSP and TAP: three different roles
On TikTok Shop agencies play distinct roles, and it helps to know which one you are talking to.
- MCN (Multi-Channel Network)
- Works for creators: signs them, grows them and gets them selling, in videos and live.
- TSP (TikTok Shop Partner)
- Works for sellers: opens and runs the shop, the catalogue, the campaigns and the daily operations.
- TAP (TikTok Affiliate Partner)
- Bridges sellers and affiliate creators, who earn a commission on what they sell.
One agency can cover more than one role. Ciao Media is both an MCN and a TSP: it signs creators and runs brands' TikTok Shops, so the same team follows the product from the shop to the live stream.
TikTok Shop in Italy: the first year in figures
TikTok Shop has been live in Italy since 31 March 2025, launched the same day in France and Germany. These are the figures published in April 2026, one year after launch.
- active sellers in Italy after the first year
- 21,000active sellers in Italy after the first year
- of Italian online shoppers buy on TikTok Shop (NielsenIQ panel)
- 18.8%of Italian online shoppers buy on TikTok Shop (NielsenIQ panel)
- of revenue comes from videos linking to the shop and from live streams
- 38% + 20%of revenue comes from videos linking to the shop and from live streams
- of purchase value comes from customers over 40
- 41%of purchase value comes from customers over 40
The best-selling categories are fashion (21%), beauty (14%) and home (13%).
The figure that matters when you are weighing up an MCN is the one on formats: almost six euros in ten go through a video or a live stream, that is, through someone showing the product. That is exactly the work an MCN organises.
How a creator works inside an MCN
The account stays the creator's, and a good contract says so in writing. The agency takes care of everything around the content:
- the products to sell, chosen from the brands it works with
- scripts and running orders for live streams, reviewed before going on air
- the live calendar and a read of the data after each one
- the set and the equipment to shoot with
- negotiations with brands
A creator earns mainly through commission on the sales they generate. How that commission is split between creator and agency is decided by the contract: there is no standard percentage, and it is the first thing to read.
At Ciao Media, signed creators work under an MCN contract, with exclusive high-commission products, script review, algorithm support and access to the shooting spaces of the Fantastic Garden estate. Through our STARLIVE division we signed over 100 creators in four months.
What an MCN does for a brand
A brand selling on TikTok Shop has two options: find affiliate creators on its own, one at a time, or work with an agency that already has them under contract and knows how to make them sell live.
With an MCN, the brand brings the product, the samples and the commission it is willing to pay. The agency picks the right creators, prepares the live streams, hosts them with its own presenters and measures the result. If the agency is also a TSP, it can run the shop too.
Two examples from our work. Rossarina, an Italian fashion brand, stayed at the top of TikTok Italy's live-selling charts from June to August 2025, with creative, hosting and sales handled by us. ENCHEN reached first place in the personal care category on TikTok Spain.
What to ask before you sign
Whether you are a creator or a brand, these questions separate a serious agency from one selling promises.
If you are a creator
- How long is the contract, and how do you leave before it ends?
- How are commissions split, and on which income?
- Is there an exclusivity clause? On what, and for how long?
- Does the account stay yours? It has to be in writing.
- What concrete help do you get: products, scripts, a set, data?
If you are a brand
- Which TikTok Shops does the agency run today? Ask for the names and check them.
- Do the results come with a period and a source? A ranking without a date tells you nothing.
- Who hosts the live streams: in-house hosts, the agency's creators or outside creators?
- In which language? An Italian audience needs native-speaker hosts.
- Where is it shot, and who produces the videos between one live and the next?