Why is the Creator Economy Growing?

Did you know that YouTube alone contributed 10,000 crores to the Indian GDP in 2021? All thanks to the creator’s economy, which has become a multi-billion-dollar industry.

Today, YouTube and other social media platforms have become such household names that even small kids are consuming content through these apps rather than TV or theatre. It’s not a shocker because everyone has smartphones right from a 5-year-old kid to a 70-year-old. Irrespective of age there is content to please every age group.

As billions of people consume content through such platforms on a daily basis, the growth of such content creators has been tremendous over the decade. Especially during the covid, there has been a rise of numerous social media stars who have converted their passion into sustainable careers.

And the fact that this economy is going to grow much bigger in the coming future, provides brands and marketers to leverage this booming industry. This is because one can earn a living by creating video content that interests people with the help of YouTube’s partner program that pioneered in this space.  

The Shift in the Indian Job Market

The pandemic has for sure changed the dynamics of the creator’s community. As many people ended up losing their jobs during COVID-19, they picked up their phones and created engaging short-form content, especially in vernacular languages, showcasing their talent and creating an audience for themselves.

Over time their popularity has converted their passion into careers by monetizing their content. Nowadays, there is an influencer on every corner of a street. This sudden upsurge in content creators has led to the immense growth of the creator’s economy and thereby contributed to the country’s economy.

But even though, there are millions of content creators and influencers out there in India, not everyone earns a lot through content creation. Only 15% of these people are able to earn and monetize their work properly. Of course, there are a lot of challenges like current trends, algorithms of the platform, and lack of support that creators have to fight as a one-man army to earn their share.

Statistics on Creators’ Economy

• According to Oxford Research, YouTube’s creative ecosystem supported 394K jobs equivalent in the United States in 2020, generating over $30 billion in income for creators, artists, and media companies. (source)
• Almost 41% of creators earn a living wage from their content with an annual income of $50k or more.
• VC investments in creator economies have reached $850 million since 2020.
• It is estimated that the 50 million creator economy has reached $14 billion at the end of 2021.
• Approximately 0.5% of creators earn over $1 million a year, while nearly 1.7% earn between $500K-1M. (source)

Driving the Economic Growth

This creator economy is only going to grow further in the future. There is no stopping it. There will be a steady raise in the number of content creators which in turn will lead to economic growth.

The most common revenue model for creators till now are memberships, subscriptions, brand sponsorships, google AdSense, merchandise, etc. In the future, there will be new monetization mediums and even platforms that will encourage brands and big companies to partner with content creators to promote their products and services. It doesn’t stop here, more content creators are starting their own brands, which are gaining popularity and producing huge revenues.

But this means the creators should also learn to adapt to the new trends and technologies and be ready to explore and experiment with new creative stuff out of their comfort zone to engage with more audiences.

Thus, the creator economy looks quite promising as it has opened new doors for a lot of new content creators with new opportunities.