creator economy

SoundCloud debuts a fan engagement tool for artists

Music streaming platform SoundCloud is today launching a new tool to let artists engage with their fans better. The new product, conveniently called Fans, lets artists direct message their followers a

TikTok opens up its revamped creator fund to all eligible creators in the US

TikTok announced today that it’s opening its revamped creator fund, called the “Creativity Program Beta,” to all eligible creators in the United States. The company initially began t

Sex workers explain why blue check stigma and #BlockTheBlue aren’t so straightforward

Not every new blue check on Twitter is a fan of Elon Musk. As Twitter’s iconic blue check shifts from a badge of legitimacy to a signal that you pay the company eight dollars a month, some high-prof

Snapchat adds Public Stories, expands revenue share program for creators

Snapchat is rolling out additional features to help creators get noticed and make a living. Over a year ago, the platform piloted a program that allowed select creators to earn a share of revenue from

Instagram adds new features to its creator marketplace, expands access to brand agencies

Instagram announced today that it’s extending access to parts of its creator marketplace via APIs to make it easier for brands to discover and work with creators on the third-party creator marke

Pet influencers are hotter than ever. But how do dogs do taxes?

A dog-tired husky with bright pink ears rests on the marble hotel floor, napping before his next meet-and-greet. Around him, the atrium echoes with the sounds of Louboutins click-clacking and business

Creator CRM company Pico rebrands to Hype, raises $10 million

Creator CRM company Pico is now rebranding as Hype and launching Hype Kits, which are pre-designed web templates for different kinds of creators looking to build a landing page. The company is also ra

Thousands of Gen Z creators are using Fanfix to monetize content and interact with fans

More and more Gen Z users are hopping on the content creation train in an effort to earn a living beyond a regular 9-5 gig. According to a 2022 study by Adobe, around 45% of Gen Z creators surveyed sa

‘So infuriating’: TikTokers are fuming over potential ban

In the aftermath of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s brutal five-hour Congressional hearing on Thursday, TikToker and disinformation researcher Abbie Richards summed up what so many creators were think

Epic launches Unreal Editor for Fortnite, will give 40% of all revenue to creators

Epic Games announced a new system for paying creators on Fortnite, the ultra-popular, free-to-download battle royale game. Announced on Wednesday at the Game Developers Conference, Epic will now share

Finance YouTubers sued over promotion of FTX

A new class action lawsuit alleges that several well-known finance YouTubers, including Graham Stephan, Andrei Jikh, Jaspreet Singh and others, should be held responsible for promoting now-disgraced c

Mavn launches its app to connect influencers with brands and provide paid experiences

Mavn, a new female-founded startup that connects content creators with brands and other businesses, launched its app today, giving users access to a variety of experiences, from PR packages and paid p

Meta will stop offering Reels bonuses to creators on Facebook and Instagram

Meta is pausing its program to pay bonuses to creators for making Reels and hitting specific benchmarks. The program, originally introduced in 2021, incentivized content makers to generate more short

TikTok’s new ‘Series’ feature lets creators put content behind a paywall

TikTok is launching a new feature called “Series” that allows eligible creators to post content behind a paywall, the company announced on Tuesday. The new monetization feature adds anothe

Link-in-bio platform Koji launches new tool to let creators sell e-books

Koji, the link-in-bio platform that gives creators a digital storefront on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, launched a new e-book tool that lets users sell e-books and audiobooks, the

Zarta, a creator platform focused on pay-per-view video content, raises $5.7M led by a16z

Zarta, a new ad-free creator platform that focuses on pay-per-view video content, announced today that it has closed a $5.7 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). The platform allows cr

Sequoia-backed Bento wants be more than a link-in-bio tool for creators

There are as many link-in-bio tools available for creators as the number of links they typically display on their pages. But there is one more addition to it. Sequoia-backed startup Bento is launching

Dungeons & Dragons content creators are fighting to protect their livelihoods

Once a game on the periphery for the nerdiest of nerds, Dungeons & Dragons has exploded into the mainstream. Much of this success is owed to the podcasters, Twitch streamers and writers who have e

What to expect from the creator economy in 2023

Social media platforms and creator-focused startups haven’t looked too hot this year, as companies like Snapchat, Patreon, Cameo and Meta all waged layoffs along with the rest of the tech indus

How we covered the creator economy in 2022

This summer, I went straight from VidCon — the largest creator conference — to a labor journalism seminar with the Sidney Hillman Foundation. One day, I was chatting with famous TikTokers
Load More