Creator Economy x NFT’s
In one of the previous issues literally called
Weird Edition, we wrote about what NFT’s are, how do they work, plusses and minuses etc. It was very well received. So, as we move into a bigger world of all things digital, let’s expand on it and talk about how a decentralised creator economy is being built using crypto, blockchain and NFT’s.
Let’s start with the obvious. What is a Creator Economy?
In the least technical terms, it is the economic activity created by people, may be aliens (if they exist) and robots who create digital content online and everything else which revolves around helping creators create - that includes firms, corporations, software, tools etc. The newest addition to this massive creator boom has been NFTs not to mention newer age platforms like Only Fans, Gum Road, Substack etc.. At a very basic level, with NFT’s the creator owns the right to their artwork and that helps them monetise it in many ways, many of which are waiting to be discovered! I mean we all have heard about the crazy numbers at which some artworks have been sold as an NFT. Beep Beep Beeple. Idk why I even wrote that! Check him out though!
De-centralisation of the creator economy!
Despite all debates, de-centralisation is important and necessary! Some Artists, weellll Kanye, went to an extent that he literally took a piss on his Grammy. I’m not saying that’s what artists should do but get the frustration? De-centralisation is enabling creators to build businesses around themselves that gives the artist more freedom to express themselves and gain independence from many legacy paradigms. NFT’s if not fully enabling is surely fast tracking the de-centralisation, it’s helping artists become more financially independent, collaborate in new ways under a new independent structure. I will put NFTs as a tool waiting to be explored in many creative ways.
How are NFTs boosting the creator economy?
To put it simply, its ownership driven content. Alright, let’s step back and keep NFT’s aside for a bit to help you gauge the creator economy we live in. There is no limit to creativity, it comes in many forms! Content creators can be literally anybody, from a painter who creates digital art, musicians who busts out seconds of great melody to Tic-toker’s and Youtuber’s who record themselves go through the day! Let’s take a minute to realise how a platform like Youtube has enabled the creator economy. It is essentially a new age media firm, we now mostly associate it with a tech company though.
A recent study of kids ages eight to 12 found that
nearly 30% aspire to become YouTubers. With countless examples of normal people achieving massive success on the platform, this should come as no surprise. Just last year, YouTube creator David Dobrik’s monthly AdSense checks from the platform were
$275,000 for an average of 60 million views. On Substack, the top 10 creators are collectively bringing in more than
$7 million annually. Charli D’Amelio — who recently became the first TikTok creator to surpass 100 million followers — is estimated to be worth
$4 million at age 16. She started on TikTok just a year and a half ago. - HBR
With NFT’s Media companies will explore new avenues to monetise bringing together collectives of content, artists, creators and the beloved audience together. A fun new innovation, something cool I have come across recently is Social Tokens unlike NFT’s are the exact opposite they are typically
fungible, meaning each token has the same value, this too is based on the tech that brings you Ethereum. Learn more about it
here. For all NFT and UX Nerds - Take a look at some exciting platforms based on NFTs
NBA Top Shot,
Crypto Kitties,
Decentraland
If this was not a good enough start for you and your reading pleasure - In this issue, explore a great collection of hand picked bytes, a fresh bunch of memes hot out of the bakery called ‘The Internet’, super cool yet informative tweets and much more. While you are at it, don’t forget to register for the last event of the WiDesign Fest ‘21. Now that the WiDesign Fest is coming to an amazing end, we are doing to don our long chef’s hat t0 cook something new and cool. Steaming hot stuff coming your way soon!
Scrr scrr scrr scroll…!
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