The Professionalizing Creator Class

Who will we even consider to be creators? I see two trends having an impact here. First, the line between mainstream and digital talent will fade away: not so much through creators ‘breaking through’ into the mainstream (a narrative that already feels out-of-date), as through the opposite - talent that has (or would have) found an audience through ... See more

What’s striking about the creator phenomenon is that it isn’t a vertical trend; rather, it’s a through-line that cuts across social, gaming, crypto, media, commerce. It is both the future of work, with creators forming a new class of digitally-native entrepreneurs, and the future of leisure. And while the creator phenomenon is often thought of as a... See more

But the opposite is also happening; entrepreneurial minds who have built businesses at established companies or on their own are also choosing a path to become creators themselves.

The atomic unit of a media enterprise is the creator. It always has been. But, now armed with new mediums and technologies, more and more creators are becoming standalone businesses.

Numerous startups are attempting to help creators set up their standalone, owned properties online; earn more from fewer, truer fans; and lessen their dependence on social media platforms. But unless we radically change the foundation of the creator economy—how creators find and connect to a community in the first place—these solutions are incremen... See more