The Scale of Platforms, the Limits for Creators
Within one decade, the creator economy exploded from practically nothing to about $205 billion in 2024, according to The Business Research Company. What started as people uploading videos for fun turned into a serious economic force that employs millions worldwide.
For a long time, labels, TV networks, and studios were the only ones to decide what content reached people. Today, any kid with a laptop and an internet connection can make something, put it out there, and get paid. Ad revenue enables many creators of all ages to earn full-time incomes from their content, making this one of the most accessible career paths in the modern economy. The old systems are still around, but the way to reach and build an audience is now open to a lot more people.
To give some perspective and scale through numbers, here’s the size of the platforms most creators rely on: YouTube’s ads reach about 2.54B people each month and YouTube ads generated roughly $36B in 2024 (DataReportal; Reuters); Instagram sits at around 2.0B monthly users with an estimated $66.9B in 2024 revenue (DataReportal; Business of Apps); TikTok is at roughly 1.6B monthly users with about $23B in 2024 revenue (Business of Apps).
Big businesses understood the new direction. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, back in 2022 U.S. companies spent $5 billion on influencer marketing and those numbers increase each year. Brands understand that creators build genuine relationships with audiences in ways traditional advertising never could . When a creator recommends a product, it carries the weight of personal endorsement and personal relationship built over time with their audience through constant quality content and engagement rather than corporate messaging.
This personal connection is the reason why creator marketing works so effectively. Audiences trust creators they follow regularly. They watch their content, engage with their posts, and develop parasocial relationships that feel authentic. When creators partner with brands that align with their values, those recommendations translate into real sales because the trust already exists.
However, if we dive again more into the numbers (taken from Creator Economy Report 2023), the economics prove to be rather unfair for most creators. YouTube’s Partner Program pays creators between $1-$3 per 1,000 views. A video with 100,000 views generates maybe $100-$300 for the creator. Meanwhile, YouTube generated $29.2 billion in advertising revenue in 2022 (Alphabet earnings report), keeping roughly 45% of ad revenue while creators get 55%. For a platform built entirely on user-generated content, that split doesn’t exactly feel right all the way.
The numbers get worse for smaller creators with approximately 97.5% of YouTubers not making enough from ad revenue to rise above the U.S. poverty line of $13,590 annually, according to research by Mathias Bärtl published in Convergence journal. The platform economy created the illusion of democratized media while concentrating wealth at the top just like traditional entertainment.
The Platform Trade-Off
Creators understand this digital dependency better than anyone. That’s why we see successful YouTubers constantly pushing their audiences toward email lists, Patreon subscriptions, and merchandise sales. They know platform revenue is not really sustainable. Algorithm changes can tank reach overnight. Policy updates demonetize years of content and account suspensions eliminate entire personal brands without the chance of appeal.
The platform relationship might feel like a collaboration but it actually works more like digital renting. Creators provide all the labor — filming, editing, community management, content planning. Then platforms provide distribution infrastructure and they get to keep the majority of revenue generated. When platforms change their terms, creators have no recourse. There’s no way they can export audiences, control content distribution or set their own pricing.
And this dependency extends beyond revenue. Because there’s also no easy way for creators to move audiences between platforms. Your 100,000 YouTube subscribers don’t automatically become podcast listeners. Your Instagram followers can’t be contacted if Instagram decides your account violates community guidelines. Every platform migration means starting all over andrebuilding that trust and relationship. And you lose momentum.
This is the harsh truth: as a platform creator you own nothing. Your content lives on servers you don’t control, youreach audiences through algorithms that you don’t influence, and, most importantly, yougenerate revenue through systems that can change without any notice.
The streaming revolution seemed like progress compared to traditional television networks. Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other platforms gave creators more opportunities than broadcast TV ever did. Content that would never get greenlit by traditional studios found massive audiences online.
But streaming platforms still operate like traditional media companies when it comes to creator relationships. They own the content andcontrol distribution. They get to make unilateral decisions about what gets funded or cancelled. Shows with passionate but smaller audiences get axed because they don’t meet platform-wide metrics. Creators still need permission from corporate gatekeepers — just digital ones instead of television executives.
What Ownership Looks Like in Web 3
Web3 doesn’t make content creation easier but it does make easier controlling your content and audience. It introduces totally different economics for creators.
Instead of publishing only to a feed, work can be published as things people actually own — tokens linked to a track, a podcast episode, a chapter, a moment. Fans can show their appreciation and support directly, they can collect specific drops, and they can participate in what comes next. This means that rather than relying on advertising revenue splits or platform approval, creators can monetize directly through their audiences. When fans purchase tokenized content in various forms — music, videos, or digital art — they own verifiable pieces of that creator’s work. No platform can delete that relationship because it exists on blockchain infrastructure, not corporate servers.
This ownership model transforms fan relationships entirely. From passive consumers, fans become stakeholders in that creator’s success. Early supporters can collect content that might become more valuable as creators grow their audiences. Collectors can prove their connection to specific works or moments in a creator’s journey. The relationship goes from mere entertainment to investment.
More importantly, tokenized content creates sustainable economics for creators with smaller but dedicated audiences. A musician might earn more from 500 fans collecting their album as NFTs than from 500,000 Spotify streams. Similarly, a podcaster could generate significant revenue from 100 collectors per episode rather than chasing millions of downloads for minimal ad revenue.
Creators building audiences through Web3 tools today can establish sustainable businesses independent of corporate platform policies. They’re proving that direct creator-fan relationships can generate more revenue than platform-mediated ones. And they’re building something that can’t be taken away by algorithm changes or policy updates.
The infrastructure for this transition already exists. And culture matters as much as code. In Web3 communities, follower counts don’t have the same relevance. Yes, communities take work and take time. But the Web2 risks are not going away either because platforms will keep tuning for their business goals. The durable path is to own identity and receipts, and make your closest supporters portable across surfaces. That’s what lets you publish everywhere without being trapped anywhere.
Most major platforms now claim broad rights to your creative work, including the ability to use it for AI training, advertising, and other commercial purposes without additional compensation. When they own your content and can use it however they choose, you’re basically surrendering intellectual property you created.
Your Digital Identity in Web3 as a Creator
powered by STR.Domains
To go from Web 2 to Web3 creator economics we need more than just new monetization models. As creators, we need to own our digital identity completely.
With STR.Domains, SourceLess enables creators to build permanent, self-owned digital identities that work across any platform or service. Instead of fragmenting your presence across multiple platforms and providers, you can unify everything under one domain that you actually own. An STR.domain anchors your identity on-chain and points to decentralized storage and encrypted communication, so your presence and permissions travel with you.
Through an STR.Domain, you can build your brand in a way that gives you control over how fans reach you directly. This means your relationships with your audience can exist independently of any corporate platform. Your identity travels with you as the internet evolves. And you maintain control over how your digital presence develops over time.
For creators making the transition to Web3, STR.Domains provide the connective layer for true digital independence. Those who understand the new direction early will build the most sustainable businesses. They’ll own their audiences, control their monetization, and create value that can’t be deleted by platform changes.
The next chapter of content creation is digital ownership. As a creator, start by owning your name.
Learn more about digital ownership for creators at sourceless.net and claim your permanent digital identity at str.domains.
