The rise of the creator economy was made possible by combining two key factors: self-sovereignty and web platforms. Self-sovereignty allowed creators to maintain control over their work, while web platforms gave creators the tools to reach audiences everywhere.
Self-sovereignty first emerged in the independent music industry of the 1980s through creators like Fugazi, Minor Threat, and the Minutemen, who built their labels, distribution, and concert infrastructure. In the 1990s, the punk and indie rock scenes proved that a creator-owned business model could achieve mainstream success. The internet enabled a new level of self-sovereignty for creators in the form of web platforms like CD Baby, which provided tools that allowed creators to find their audience and grow their business without giving up their creative control.
As the internet developed and was overtaken by corporate interests, self-sovereignty for creators was one of the most significant casualties, and the creator economy has been in decline ever since. The primary web platforms that have come to dominate the internet are all built on a business model that favors maximizing attention over creator sovereignty.
Web2 layers have eaten their competition, altered user behavior through addictive user experience, and acquired the ability to influence our culture by attracting as much attention as possible. Millions of dollars were collected by walled platforms, which rarely trickled down to the content providers who created the initial stickiness. People seemed to believe that creators would be happy with a steady diet of Likes and Retweets, leading to a devaluation of creativity. Creators are forced to create forgettable, ephemeral content for eyeballs instead of genuine content for self-expression and inspiration.
In Web2, “Unicorn” social media platforms were focused on acquisition and retention metrics: how many eyeballs did I catch? The big platforms neglected to construct reliable, genuine, stable, and profitable revenue streams for creators.
In many people's minds, the future of media, both for creators and consumers, appeared to be divided into two parts: on one side were those who embraced the attention economy and walled garden ecosystems, while on the other side were those who sought to earn a living through quality content & niche micro-economies.
Creators must be empowered to become self-sovereign, independent, and micro-economics; each creator can be their platform and support themselves without middle layers.
In 2014, I predicted that independent "walled garden" platforms like Facebook and YouTube would lose creators to the "independent economy." However, the infrastructure needed to be in place to support such a move did not exist. At that time, most content creators still depended on the advertising-driven social media mode.
The creator economy can no longer function through the crumbs of monetization dropped by platforms that do not fairly compensate creators. A new business model prioritizing creators is necessary for the creator economy to thrive.