Business of Creators 💬

Being a creator means more than just recording, editing and uploading…

In one day, you might need to mock-up some designs for your scheduled posts, bag a sponsorship deal, email back that supplier, chase an invoice and find that perfect licensed sound effect you’re looking for.

What’s more, digital platforms are constantly evolving their algorithms and trends get old quickly. Keeping up with the pace of the Creator Economy is overwhelming.

The Business of Creators is your comprehensive support guide, in the form of a weekly newsletter, giving you the run-down of what’s new for platforms, trends you could be jumping on and tools to help spend less time on the mundane and more on your interests.

⏰Top Stories

• 🤖 4 ways generative AI can stimulate the creator economy

• 📖 Influencers aren’t winning: analyzing the creator economy problem

• 👷 The five pillars of building successfully in the creator economy

• 🧑‍🎄 New tools by Meta to help festive advertisers during the first ‘AI powered holiday season’

• 💬 Afterparty launches AI-generated creator clones with new funding.

4 ways generative AI can stimulate the creator economy

Artificial intelligence is here to stay. It's not a fad or a craze -- it's a movement. Sure, the buzzwords will become less popular with time so ChatGPT and AI won't dominate the news. But AI tools will become the basis of how we do things in life and work, much like the industrial revolution changed the foundation of our modern existence and the internet did subsequently.

The form of AI you've likely heard the most about is generative AI. It's the one that ChatGPT uses to create a letter, that MidJourney uses to create striking images, and Bard uses to translate documents and summarize bodies of text. 🔗Read more

Influencers aren’t winning: analyzing the creator economy problem

According to a report released by Goldman Sachs, the creator economy is expected to reach a staggering $480 billion by 2027. The report demonstrates that, despite a stronghold of 50 million content creators worldwide, this number is expected to increase by a compounded annual growth rate of 10-20 percent.

Simultaneously, social media platforms new and old have experienced record growth on the back of content creators who are continuously struggling to keep their heads above water. As of today, only 4 percent of creators make more than $100,000 a year, according to that same report.

Some social platforms today have been augmenting platform features or algorithms. Both Instagram and Twitter removed their legacy verification programs that protected the identities of countless high-profile individuals. Instead, verification is offered to any person with a valid ID and $8 per month, reducing the barriers to entry for deep-fake and scam accounts to impersonate other members on the platform. 🔗Read more

The five pillars of building successfully in the creator economy

The creator economy has revolutionized how individuals engage, consume and monetize content. As startups and platforms navigate this dynamic landscape, it is crucial to understand the five pillars that underpin success. These pillars encompass prioritizing safety, focusing on creators and community, empowering creators in product decisions, fostering collaboration with creators and embracing diversity with an open-minded approach. 🔗Read more

Platform round-up

Here we give you the latest run-down on updates and new features introduced across digital platforms. Leverage these to help you get ahead of the game…

META

• 🧑‍🎄Meta has introduced new tools to help festive advertisers in what they’re claiming as the ‘first AI powered holiday season’. Tools include helping creators:

  • Manager your campaign send and optimize results

  • Bringing promotion, reminder and shops ads to more businesses

• ✅Meta’s expanding its paid verification program to business accounts.

• 🎁Instagram is expanding Reels Gifts to creators in more regions helping creators get support from fans who love their content and earn money.

TIKTOK

• 💬TikTok officially launches new in-stream labels for AI generated content.

• 📉TikTok implements Self-Attributing Networks (SAN) to improve ad performance tracking.

• 🎶TikTok partners with Billboard on new trending track listing.

X (TWITTER)

• 🪪X rolls out ID verification for X Premium users.

YOUTUBE

• 💰YouTube cut off comedian and actor Russell Brand’s account from making money after multiple allegations from women of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse.

Afterparty launches AI-generated creator clones with new funding

Afterparty, a blockchain-based startup in the creator economy, recently secured $5 million in funding led by Blockchange Ventures, raising its total funding to $12 million. With this capital injection, the company has introduced Afterparty AI, a platform that creates AI-powered replicas of creators to engage with fans individually. By utilizing open source technology, Afterparty has developed a proprietary large language model to capture creators' personalities and speech patterns, allowing fans to interact with these AI avatars through voice notes, photos, and videos, addressing the challenge of oversaturated DM inboxes. Creators can set pricing for interactions and media, and AI-generated images and videos will operate as blockchain-based digital collectibles, providing creators with ownership control. This development represents the growing trend of AI-driven services for influencers, fueled by investor interest, but it remains to be seen how receptive fans will be to engaging with AI versions of their favorite creators. 🔗Read more