Shocking Data About Creator Economy All Creators Need To Know
It's bigger than you think
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"50 million people worldwide call themselves creators."
For a long time, that's the only stats I knew about the creator economy.
While researching the Whitepaper I am writing for my employer, I learned about some numbers that no one wants to talk about.
This data explains the creator economy's realm more than we often read and experience.
Exploring the nitty gritty's showed me how it failed on what it promised to creators.
The stats below will make you ponder the truth of this exploding world.
Creator Economy is a $100 Billion Industry
The creator economy only looks like a newly formed industry, but it has been around 1997.
However, due to the rise of media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and others, it's only in the last five years it's picked up its pace.
Web 3 is a new addition to the economy, which previously only comprised creator platforms, influencer marketing, and creator businesses.
The recent rise of the NFT further strengthened the economy, with the recent spike of 21,000% to more than $17 billion alone in 2021.
With more people trying to become financially independent and having multiple sources of income, the number is increasing.
But is this enough?
Most creators' favorite platform YouTube doesn't pay its creators enough.
With people like Ali Abdaal and MKBHD making millions off their videos, 97.5% of YouTubers' earnings are below the U.S. poverty line.
Many creators started either moved to Patreon, or some even found better ways to monetize their passion when they saw no sign of growth in the platform.
The limelight of some famous influencers sidetracked us from addressing the real issues with these platforms.
Moreover, the shiny lifestyle of these influencers gives a false impression of the financial conditions of most creators.
The lack of transparency makes kids want to become famous YouTubers over astronauts and teachers.
The more issues creators have with big media platforms, the more new products and services emerge in the market — creating a solid supply-demand economy.
This excites the VCs and creators with an entrepreneurial spirit.
Creator economy acquired $1.3B in VC Funds in 2021 alone.
Other than content creation apps, monetization tools, fan interaction apps, course software, admin and operational tools, and production services benefit from the fund.
Creators now have more options to build wealth and create products more impactful than their content.
But what happens to the small creators who only wish to work small scale and create what they love?
The New Internet For Creators
They're not wrong when they say Web 3 is the renaissance for art and creativity — because it is.
Web 3 brings tons of opportunities for creators to own their work. Again, the numbers will tell you the whole story.
Gaming creators are making more money in P2E than streaming it on Twitch.
Axie Infinity has now crossed $3.6Bn on their in-house marketplace trading and has over 3 million daily active players.
Over 10.7 million people have attended Fortnite concerts and participated in on-chain commerce.
Roblox garnered over 10 billion hours of playing time in the first quarter of 2021.
In addition, around 42 million people visit the gaming platform daily to play and build on the Roblox ecosystem.
There was a 300% increase in “play-to-earn crypto games” in July 2021.
️There was a 300% increase in "play-to-earn crypto games" in July 2021. NFTs saw a $2.5 billion increase during the pandemic's peak when most of us struggled to survive.
This is the data that nobody talks about. Instead, they talk about the data that will help them get funds from VCs irrespective of how well their platform supports creators or not.
But the metrics that truly matters are not talked about enough.
Big fish can survive in all kinds of weather (or Web), but the small fish need to look after themselves.
Who's Got the Biggest Pie in this $Billion Industry?
Everyone knows who's got the biggest pie in this $100 Billion Industry — it's not creators when they're struggling to make a minimum wage from their content.
With decentralization, this gap between the people who build creator platforms and creators who run these platforms is getting trimmer.
We can either continue to do what we've been doing or embrace the new technology.
The best part is we're only getting started.
Share this post with your fellow creators!