philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

The Creator Economy is the future of the economy

... Though Creator Economy startups can be found in 65 global cities, just three city-regions—the San Francisco, Bay Area, Los Angeles, and New York—account for nearly two-thirds of all global venture capital investment in them.

The same three city-regions that lead in venture capital investment also have the largest numbers of startups—Los Angeles with 63, New York with 60, and San Francisco with 48. Next in line is London with 14 Creator Economy startups, followed by Chicago (seven), and Atlanta and Bangalore (with six each). Four cities, Austin, Miami, Denver-Boulder, and Tel Aviv, are home to five Creator Economy startups, and San Diego is home to four.  ...

TALENT MIGRATION—AND RISING POWER—IN THE CREATOR ECONOMY

While creators themselves are much more widely distributed than the platforms and startups that support their work, our interviews with leading creators and executives from Creator Economy companies, as well as our analysis of relevant data, identify Los Angeles and New York as by far the leading locations for Creators. ...

INEQUALITY IN THE CREATOR ECONOMY 

In fact, the distribution of economic rewards in the Creator Economy is as uneven as in the traditional economy. A vanishingly small percentage of Creator Economy superstars, such as YouTube’s MrBeastand TikTok’s Khaby Lame (the Senegalese-Italian factory worker who lost his job during the pandemic and then rose to fame on the strength of his quirky videos), earn tens of millions annually, but they are exceptions that prove a rule. ... Fully two-thirds of creators earn less than $25,000 annually, and more than a quarter earn less than $1,000. ...

When asked about their most important motivations in a 2022 survey, larger shares of creators listed self-expression (48%), fun (43%), passion (40%), and challenge (34%) than money-making (26%). Twenty percent said they were primarily motivated by a desire to advance a social issue or cause. ...

A PRESCRIPTION FOR A HEALTHY CREATOR ECONOMY

Digital platforms can promote less-established creators by tweaking their algorithms to introduce more discovery into users’ feeds.  ...

Public policy can help support creators as well. Federal, state, and local governments can identify, organize, and support clusters or networks of creators, much like their long-standing efforts to support high-tech and arts clusters. ...

See the full story here: https://www.fastcompany.com/90812387/the-creator-economy-is-the-future-of-the-economy