The next iteration of the creator economy is unfolding before our eyes. The blockchain provides a distributed order book for skills and services that unlocks multiple opportunities:
Consumers are able to support their favorite artists directly and gain access to exclusive member experiences through tokenized community gating;
Creators are able to plug their art into a network of brands and communities to monetize their talent while retaining IP rights;
Communities are able to tap into a composable library of designs and products to cater to the dynamic needs of their members.
Society is yet to realize the full implications of these capabilities. However, it must be remembered that we have yet to learn how to utilize the internet to its full capacity, despite it being commercialized nearly 40 years ago.
It took over a century to fully harness the capacity of electricity in terms of economic development—rapid industrial growth only started in the 1920s with the consumerization of electricity and the automobile. The internet is undergoing similar growing pains as it is in the process of realizing its potential to unleash a new era of productivity in the distributed service sector.
Blockchain will play a vital role in this transformation by enabling creator monetization and collaboration tooling that the internet had previously been unable to provide.
The evolution of the creator economy
Creator economy 1.0
Artists used to have no other option outside of working directly for a patron. During the Renaissance, artists were sponsored by aristocrats who put their works on display for their network to see.
As society evolved, institutions began to play this role. Artists would depend on various entities to distribute their works, such as museums, magazines, and other forms of media, which essentially act as gatekeepers. If an artist’s work was approved, they could monetize it.
Creator economy 2.0
As the internet developed, artists were presented with more tools. Instead of relying on an institution for a salary, they could sell directly to their audiences on social media. Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok lowered the barrier to entry for artists through distribution but also presented artists with many new problems.
Creator burnout did not exist until the treadmill of social media forced creators to churn out content on a daily basis or face being rendered irrelevant by the algorithms. 93% of creators say the profession has had a negative impact on their lives and 65% feel overworked and/or underpaid, according to a recent survey commissioned by Mighty Networks.
Enterprise platforms started emerging as well, such as Fiverr and Upwork, to provide companies with white labeling and outsourcing solutions. Geography is no longer a barrier as anyone with a computer and a skill can get a job, from any corner of the world. However, sellers face issues with exorbitant platform fees, unwarranted bans, and ultimately lack ownership over their content and audience.
Creator economy 3.0
NFTs have provided creators with the tooling to monetize their audiences directly while minimizing platform fees. This gives creators artistic freedom and enables them to capture revenue all across the demand curve as they are better able to sell art and memberships according to audience needs:
However, many creators still struggle to build audiences to create that demand. While NFTs may provide better revenue capture tools, they do not provide creators with scaling solutions.
Rather than focusing on simply creating content themselves, creators have to become skilled at marketing, cultivating relationships, and community management from the outset (or deputize community members who possess these skills). They must function a lot like startup founders: raising capital, evangelizing their vision, and balancing stakeholder interests along the way.
— Li Jin
Unfortunately, not all creators can (or want) to be involved in the busywork. Selling is not a skill that every creator has, and in the bootstrap phase, outsourcing is cost prohibitive for many. Many would much rather just focus on their passion.
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