This new tech stack has also empowered creators with new ways to monetize. Salaries are being replaced by advertising, merchandise, subscription fees etc.

Finally, paying for creator-associated goods is nothing new: creators have been flogging merch, doing brand deals and adding affiliate links in their descriptions and bios for years.

Five years ago, a YouTuber ago might have run their entire ‘business of 1’ through YouTube. Today, that same creator might chop up clips of their content for TikTok, redirect traffic to their personal site through Beacons, sell their own branded merchandise via Shopify, and offer fan interactions via Cameo.