Mastercard's study - The creator class: How micro business is fueling the next wave of entrepreneurialism - provides an excellent overview of those identifying as digital content creators. Key quote:
Scaling up from a hobbyist to a full-time entrepreneur has never been easier, thanks to democratization around social media, as well as advances in payment technology, Web3 principles, and monetization models.
We don't know what "Web3 principles" refers to, but we still like the quote - mainly because we agree that scaling a hobby into a business has never been easier.
The report chart below (click to enlarge) shows the primary motivations for becoming a creator. These are consistent with why people give to becoming independent workers or small business owners.
The report covers the challenges creators face. They are not surprising to anyone following the creator economy - burnout, inconsistent income, and lack of control. Key quote from the report:
The pressure to always be creating is intense, as 89% of creators report experiencing burnout. A similarly high percentage feel beholden to algorithms and platforms that are constantly shifting, as 86% of creators feel they do not have control over their content. Financial challenges — from rising costs to inconsistent income streams — are also pervasive for over eight in ten creators.
Our one quibble with the study is that it doesn't actually say how many income-earning creators there are.
The report says there are 22 million content creators in the U.S., but also says "nearly two-thirds of creators envision turning their endeavors into businesses."
This leads us to believe the study found about 7-8 million content creators who consider their content creation activities to be a business, with the rest considering it a hobby or potentially a pre-business.
But that's a minor quibble, and we like the study overall and recommend it to anyone interested in the creator economy.
