By Jonathan Azeroual
In an era where digital content creation is not just a passion but a profession, the creator economy is ripe for a revolution. There are over 200 million creators in the world today, comprising diverse skills and encompassing various profiles, including full-time content creators and hobbyists.
In 2024, this economic landscape is dominated by a few giants, where the creators – the very lifeblood of this thriving, wonderful, and constantly evolving economy – are often left with the crumbs. This status quo is not just counterintuitive; it’s a stifling of creative potential. It’s time for a change; it’s time to shift the power back to where it belongs: with the creators.
The Disparity in Monetisation: A Glaring Issue
In the prevailing model of the creator economy, the chasm between the value generated by content creators and their actual earnings is alarmingly wide. As a result, only about 4% of global creators are deemed professionals, meaning they pull in more than $100,000 a year.
Big platforms, wielding substantial control over distribution and monetization, have long capitalized on this disparity. Creators find themselves entangled in a web of algorithms and policies that offer little transparency and even less control over their earnings. Instances abound where creators, despite generating substantial viewer engagement and content, are left grappling with a fraction of the revenue. The idea of democratizing creator-generated revenue has emerged from a recognition of this stark imbalance, driven by a commitment to ensuring creators receive a substantial, transparent, fair share of their content’s value.
Democratizing Access: Breaking Geographic and Complex Barriers
At the heart of this philosophy is the democratization of access. Traditional platforms are often criticized for their limited scope, confining their services to specific, often already advantaged, regions. This geo-restriction is a disservice to creators’ vast, untapped potential in less-represented areas.
In practice, this means ensuring that whether you’re a vlogger in rural Indonesia or a graphic artist in downtown Paris, the playing field is level. Moreover, the labyrinthine complexity of setting up monetization channels on existing platforms can be a formidable deterrent.
Streamlining this process allows creators of all technical abilities to easily and quickly monetize their live content, thereby fostering a more inclusive and diverse creator community.
Instant Gratification: The Right to Immediate Earnings
Another cornerstone of this evolution is the overhaul of the archaic payment systems that currently plague the creator economy. The norm of deferred payments, where creators are often left waiting to reap the financial rewards of their work, is antithetical to the fast-paced, dynamic nature of digital content creation.
It is time to upend this model and foster the concept of instant payments. This move towards immediacy is more than mere convenience; it fundamentally reevaluates how creators are valued. Immediate earnings signify respect for the creator’s time and effort, fostering a more sustainable and gratifying creative process, and allowing creators to not only fully dive into their passions but potentially make a respectable living from them far more quickly than via traditional means on existing platforms.
Empowering Creators
This commitment goes beyond mere monetary transactions; it nurtures an ecosystem where creators are not just participants, but the driving force behind it. An ecosystem where creators can not only share their content but also engage with their audience and monetize their work on their terms and without a complex bureaucratic layer designed with the middleman in mind.
This empowerment extends to providing creators with data and insights, for example, via blockchain technology, enabling them to make informed decisions about their live content and audience engagement strategies. The future we should be building is one where the creator economy is not just an ecosystem for content sharing but a robust, equitable marketplace that rewards creativity, innovation, and hard work.
It’s Time for Change
The creator economy stands at a pivotal juncture, and the choices we make now will indelibly shape its future. Several leaders have surfaced, and chosen the path of disruption, challenging the entrenched norms to champion the cause of creators worldwide.
This mission is more than a business venture; it’s a crusade to reshape an industry to create an economy that’s as diverse, vibrant, and equitable as the creators it serves. The time for change is here, and to be part of a transformative movement redefining what it means to be a content creator in the web3 age.
The author is co-founder and CEO, Promeet
