Creator Royalties #046: 3 Predictions for the Creator Economy in 2024

January 02, 2024

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🤗 This week's edition of Creator Royalties ushers in the new year with our top 3 predictions for the creator economy in 2024, and how to best take advantage of them.

Scroll down for our usual rundown of weekly artist grants and opportunities, as well as art drops.

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3 Predictions for the Creator Economy in 2024

Happy New Year from all of us at Creator Royalties! As we step in to 2024, here are 3 of our biggest predictions for the creator economy in the new year, and how you can best set yourself up for success.

Before we begin however, we also wanted to share some words of motivation from our Founder and CEO, aka Mother Hugger, Randi Zuckerberg. Our word for the year is Passion, and we want all of you to lean into yours so you can realize your fullest potential.

Without further ado, let’s dive into what’s new for creators, platforms, and audiences in 2024!

#1: On-chain and multi-chain is the new on-line.

After 2023 was viewed as a year of crypto winter following the fallout from fraud-ridden crypto exchange FTX, momentum for the entire crypto space is starting to shift more positively.

Indeed, despite last year’s market slowdown, many powerhouse brands like Starbucks, Nike, and Reddit have continued to demonstrate interest in digital assets. In fact, nearly 25 million people own a Reddit Collectible Avatar, which unbeknownst to many of them is actually an on-chain digital asset, i.e. a non-fungible token (NFT). We believe that more users are going to develop an on-chain presence, whether immediately obvious to them or not.

At the same time, the last couple of months have seen positive price action across a number of cryptocurrencies, not just the more established Bitcoin and Ethereum. Solana saw a staggering 250% increase in Google searches, while increased wallet activity has demonstrated higher adoption amongst both artists and art collectors alike. We recommend exploring Exchange.art for some incredible artworks being minted and collected on Solana.

As we anticipate the final ETF rulings with Bitcoin unfolding in the first quarter of 2024, we expect the spotlight to persist on not just Solana, but other high speed and cost-effective blockchains. This includes the likes of Tezos, Avalanche, and even Layer 2 (L2) chains like Coinbase’s Base.

💡 Our Tip: We advise all creators to stay curious about blockchain technology, and to start developing an on-chain presence of your own. We also encourage everyone to not be adverse to being multi-chain, and to experiment with different blockchains and platforms as a way to find new audiences to monetize.

#2: Your audience is more important than ever.

The creator economy has shown no signs of slowing down, and Goldman Sachs has recently projected it to grow from $250 billion today to $480 billion by 2027. This shift is not just about the numbers however; it also signifies a fundamental change in how brands are allocating their advertising budgets.

We see brands continuing to divert traditional ad dollars to creators, as they recognize the influential role creators play in shaping consumer preferences. As a creator, this opens up new avenues for collaboration and revenue streams, emphasizing the importance of cultivating an authentic connection with your audience.

A recent retail study by LTK reveals that a remarkable 57% of individuals turn to creators when making purchase decisions. This statistic becomes even more compelling when broken down by demographics, with a staggering 73% of Gen Z and 68% of millennials relying on creators for guidance in their personal consumption journeys.

💡 Our Tip: Your audience places a huge amount of trust in your hands, and you have the power to shape their perceptions of you, your personal brand, as well as brands that you use and love. While overwhelming at times, don’t shy away from social media, and putting yourself out there as a way to connect & interact with your audience.

Need guidance on how to level up your marketing game? Make sure to download our Ultimate Artist Marketing Handbook.

#3: AI as your new best friend and collaborator.

As we all know, Generative AI had a huge emergence onto the creative scene in 2023 with mass adoption of ChatGPT and text-to-image generators like Midjourney, DALL-E, and Stable Diffusion.

As we step into 2024, we see no sign of AI slowing down as a creative collaborator. We also expect AI to continue to be integrated into a myriad of tools used by businesses, including those tailored for creators — think Adobe, Canva, and even newsletter platforms like the one we are using, Beehiiv!

While we see nothing wrong with collaborating with AI (and in fact encourage it), we also advise folks to be take pride in and be upfront about the use of it in your process.

💡 Our Tip: With AI becoming an indispensable part of the creator toolkit, we encourage all creators to embrace it as a collaborator in ways to boost your creative effectiveness and efficiency. However, we also believe it is important to be authentic and transparent about your process, and to be mindful of growing wariness towards generative AI.

Closing thoughts

As long as you are sharing content (be it your art, writing, photographs, etc.), you are a creator! In fact, we believe anyone with an idea and access to the Internet can be a part of the creator economy. And while no one is guaranteed success, anyone with passion (again, our 2024 word of the year!) and creativity can participate.

Do you see yourself as a creator? Why or why not? With that, stay tuned for new and improved HUG Profiles coming your way in 2024, which we promise will help you unleash and embrace your creativity in new and exciting ways. Get a head start by applying for your very own Profile today.

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Artist Grants & Opportunities

📣 Open Calls have arrived on HUG! Visit thehug.xyz to discover your next Open Call opportunity, from grants to gallery showcases, and more.

Want to host your very own Open Call? Submit your interest here.

HUG-exclusive

📚 HUG 100 Artists to Watch Get your work in front of curators from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Christie’s, the Society of Illustrators, etc.! This prestigious list will also be published as a hardcover book. Learn more and submit here.

  • 💵 $500 Artist Grants from Rarible NFT marketplace Rarible is looking for artists to mint work as open editions on their new royalty-honoring blockchain RARI. Learn more and submit here.

  • 🪐 Calling space-themed work for a new blockchain and earn $300-600 Join the Eclipse community, a new L2 blockchain on Ethereum. Selected artists will be commissioned $300-600 for space-themedwork that will be made available as an open edition. Learn more and submit here.

  • 👯‍♀️ Seeking awedacious women artists! AWEDACITY Conference 2024 is seeking 30 women artists to display at their upcoming virtual art exhibition, "BEING AWEDACIOUS". Learn more and submit here.

  • 🏛️ Take your art into a museum in the metaverse! Muzee Dezentral is curating an exhibition titled “IN DAILOGUE”, which centers on “traditional” artists who are genuinely in dialogue with AI tools as an integral part of their creative practice. Learn more and submit here.

  • 💰 HUG is offering $500 USD grants to two artists each month in exchange for unminted artwork to raffle off to our community. Learn more and meet all our HUG Visionaries here.

This Week’s Art Drops

🤗 Have an upcoming art drop you’d like to share? Or an upcoming exhibition or opportunity for your fellow artists? Make use of our Artist Updates feature on HUG, or email [email protected], so we can share it with our 10K+ readers.

Did you know that these are just 8 of hundreds of art drops on HUG? Get a full list of this week’s art drops from HUG here.