The Creator Economy

The Creator Economy has replaced the Gig Economy as the buzziest, next-gen way of working. It’s technology driven and Gen Z approved. But what are its defining characteristics? Who really participates in it, and why — and is it changing how those outside of it do business?

We’ve grouped our content into three categories: Working in the Creator Economy; Making Money in the Creator Economy; Creating in the Creator Economy; and TikTok-ification.

Capitalize

Is Web3 Magic Money or Actually a Global Internet-Native Economy?

READ MORE: Understanding Web3 as the Internet-Native Economy (On Deck Journal) Cryptocurrency, blockchain and tokens are more than just magic internet money. These digital finance technologies are maturing into a […]
Adrian Pennington
TV television creator economy SVOD OTT television
Capitalize

The Next Phase for the Creator Economy (You Might Maybe, Possibly Have an Idea Where Things Are Going)

Adrian Pennington
creatory economy
Connect

Why Community Is Everything for the Creator Economy

Adrian Pennington
content creator economy
Create

“Content” and “Creator” Mean Nothing… and Everything

Adrian Pennington

Working in the Creator Economy

creator economy unicorn
July 14, 2022

Will Content Creators Become the Most Satisfied Workers in Our Economy?

READ MORE: 2022 Creator Economy Benchmark Research (The Tilt) When creators are profiled in the media, journalists usually focus on one of two extremes: Celebrity influencers who gain massive followings […]
Adrian Pennington
creator economy
June 28, 2022

Why the Creator Economy Is Banking on Web3

READ MORE: The future of the creator economy in a Web3 world (VentureBeat) Are we really in the midst of a profound shift in the centuries-old power dynamic between employee […]
Adrian Pennington
creator economy ”Golconda,” by René Magritte 1953 by oddsock is licensed under CC BY 2.0. View a copy of this license.
January 13, 2022

Now There’s a Creator Economy for Enterprise

"Golconda,” by René Magritte 1953 by oddsock is licensed under CC BY 2.0. View a copy of this license. READ MORE: How TikTok And Twitch Culture Are Changing Video Content Creation In […]
Adrian Pennington
"Garden of Earthly Delights, central panel detail 1" by f_snarfel is licensed with CC BY-NC 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/
August 17, 2021

Is the Creator Economy Really a Democratic Utopia Realized?

"Garden of Earthly Delights, central panel detail 1" by f_snarfel is licensed with CC BY-NC 2.0. View a copy of this license. It’s more than 70-years since James Stewart used his star […]
Adrian Pennington
creator economy
February 2, 2022

The Developer’s Role in Building the Creator Economy Is More Important Than You Think

It’s hard to earn a living solely from platforms like Spotify, Twitch and YouTube. An artist on Spotify would need to get about 300,000 streams per month to earn the […]
Adrian Pennington
creator economy creativity
August 17, 2021

Can the Creator Economy Actually Change… the Economy?

“When the tools of production are available to everyone, everyone becomes a producer,” former Wired editor Chris Anderson foretold in his 2006 book, “The Long Tail.” That time is now. The […]
Adrian Pennington
social media social video
January 14, 2022

How Social Platforms Are Attempting to Co-Opt the Creator Economy

"'La main (Les remords de conscience), The Hand [Remorse]),' by Salvador Dali" by mark6mauno is licensed with CC BY-NC 2.0. View a copy of this license,. While much is being […]
Adrian Pennington
TV OTT
September 12, 2021

Demand for Smart TVs Boosts the OTT Creator Economy

OTT video has never been more critical for content creators than it is right now. Obvious, right? The next trick is to monetize that online audience. First, some numbers. In […]
Adrian Pennington
NFT art
July 23, 2021

NFTs Are Another Sign of Creators Taking Back Control

Across the board, creators are striving to claw back control, agency and, increasingly, revenues from employers, publishers and distributors. One way is via non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which give creators new […]
Adrian Pennington
influencers metaverse web3
February 24, 2022

The Influencers Who Believe the Metaverse Is Already a Thing

READ MORE: 70% of influencers think the metaverse will replace social media, according to a new report. Here were 4 other key takeaways. (Business Insider) Think the metaverse is years […]
Adrian Pennington

Monetization

creator economy
July 5, 2022

We Have 200 Million Content Creators. Now Let’s Talk About Making Money.

https://twitter.com/ljin18/status/1544681087925993473 READ MORE: CREATOR REPORT (Linktree) The worldwide population of the creator economy is estimated to be 200 million, according to a new report by link-in-bio resource Linktree. The creator […]
Adrian Pennington
creativity
April 25, 2022

The Creator Economy Means Business. Your Business.

From Cardi B.’s “Money” READ MORE: To make it as an artist you have to be an entrepreneur (Elle Griffin) To be operators in the creator economy, every creator needs […]
Adrian Pennington
media monetization
November 23, 2021

Four Scenarios for Media Monetization

Revenue models are crucial for the evolution of the media industry, but it is not clear what media monetization will look by the end of this decade. Industry consultants at […]
Adrian Pennington
gold money
April 23, 2022

Let’s Look at the Money Moving Into Digital Content (A Lot)

“Money Heist,” courtesy of Netflix READ MORE: Internet Advertising Revenue Report: Full Year 2021 (Interactive Advertising Bureau) Exponential growth in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cr: IAB/PwC Digital […]
Adrian Pennington

Creating in the Creator Economy

June 21, 2022

Are You a Content Machine Or a Content Consumer? Both?

"Content" is one of my least favorite terms. Maybe it's because I count myself as a member of "the media" (another amorphous, ill-defined label that stirs me up; why is […]
Emily M. Reigart
August 17, 2021

Banksy Remakes the Creator Economy (Again) With a “Spraycation”

Banksy's latest installation/escapade is interactive in a way that only this artist could pull off. "A Great British Spraycation" highlights the reaction to the the graffiti artist's murals in seaside […]
Emily M. Reigart
AI brain artificial intelligence
May 1, 2022

We Have Some Wrong Ideas About Creativity

From the titles for Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo,” designed by Saul Bass READ MORE: We Have a Creativity Problem (The New York Times) Creativity is a good thing, right? Even necessary […]
Adrian Pennington
June 14, 2021

I Am a Camera: “Inside,” Bo Burnham’s “Selfie” Netflix Special

Bo Burnham in “Bo Burnham: Inside.” (c) Courtesy of Netflix 2021. https://twitter.com/boburnham/status/1531426724457480192 https://youtu.be/kpRGNxqv6Wk To view Bo Burnham’s “The Inside Outtakes,” click here. Comedian Bo Burnham, who wrote, directed, shot, edited […]
Adrian Pennington

TikTok-ification

TIkTok
June 30, 2022

TikTok May Have Just Won the Streaming Wars. Here’s How.

Lizzo’s “About Time” music video, inspiration for literally millions of TikTok dances READ MORE: TikTok Boom (Scott Galloway) Elon Musk’s Twitter spree has distracted us from what is the ascendant […]
Adrian Pennington
TikTok social video social media
June 5, 2022

TikTok Is Close to Social Domination (and/or Destruction, Who Knows?)

https://www.tiktok.com/@billieeilish/video/7057380555125656878 READ MORE: TikTok to surpass YouTube in US—and come after other apps in the process (eMarketer) TikTok users in the US will spend more time with the social media […]
Adrian Pennington
platforms social media
November 2, 2021

How Creators Should Reset Their Social Strategies

For every TikTok star raking in millions, there are thousands of other creators who can barely make ends meet. There’s a solution to that and it involves creators weaning off […]
Adrian Pennington
TIkTok Tik Tok social video
July 5, 2022

TikTok Is Not a Social Media Company (Says TikTok)

Confirmation in case any is needed: TikTok isn’t social media, it’s an entertainment platform. “Truthfully, we are not really a social platform,” says Carly Zipp, global head of B2B marketing […]
Adrian Pennington
TIkTok Tik Tok social video
July 1, 2022

TikTok is Coming After TV. Can It Be Stopped? (Should It Be?)

TikTok is a phenomenon and now a direct competitor for video viewers to everyone from broadcast TV and cable services to Netflix and studio streamers. But what, if anything, can […]
Adrian Pennington
streaming video SVOD AVOD
March 14, 2022

The TikTok-ing of Western Civilization

READ MORE: The Age of Everything Culture Is Here (Wired) Gen Z, look away now. Wired’s Jason Parham is dunking on your trends. In his article, “The Age of Everything […]
Michael Burns
“Only Murders In The Building:” Upper West Side neighbors Charles, Oliver & Mabel bond over a shared love of true crime. When a fellow resident dies in their building, the trio determine to solve the mystery and record an accompanying podcast. Mabel (Selena Gomez), shown. (Photo by: Craig Blankenhorn/Hulu)
October 3, 2021

Podcasts Are Hot, News is Not and GenZ is All About Netflix and TikTok

“Only Murders In the Building:” Upper West Side neighbors Charles, Oliver & Mabel bond over a shared love of true crime. When a fellow resident dies in their building, the […]
Adrian Pennington
live streaming video
September 10, 2021

How Live Streaming Fuels Social App Engagement

Glitch live streaming. Distorted emblem with 3D stereo effect. Online stream logo with glitched elements and pixels. Video broadcast template. Design for websites or social media. Vector illustration. Live streaming […]
Adrian Pennington