The creator economy is booming, so why are we spending less time creating?

YouTube’s grip on TV viewership in the West is tightening, reflecting the growing power of the creator economy. Nielsen data from July 2024 shows that YouTube now has the highest TV audience share on US smart TVs,10% versus Netflix’s 8.4%. 

Despite streaming platforms like Netflix pouring money into first- and third-party content alike, YouTube is winning without those huge expenses (live sports rights aside). Its content backbone is creators producing videos on smaller budgets. This extends to even the biggest YouTube productions. 

Speaking on the All-In Podcast at the beginning of 2024, MrBeast revealed he spends roughly $2.5 million per video. Meanwhile, episodes for Disney Plus’ struggling Marvel shows cost over 10 times that on average. YouTube content is quicker to produce and is often more culturally relevant, more easily capturing viewers’ attention in a saturated attention economy. 

One way for YouTube to maintain its growth momentum is by adding a significant number of new and existing creators. To that end, YouTube has already found smart TV success before generative AI leads to an influx of content. 

While the jury is still out on generative AI, it will improve YouTube productions and lead to more content

Big-budget TV might be about to lose its biggest USP. After all, generative AI is poised to empower creators with tools that increase their production quality and reach. Generative AI has the potential make those Hollywood-like big-budget productions a reality for even mid-sized YouTube channels, especially when it comes to animation. 

In this brave new world, streaming TV services will find it increasingly hard to define themselves as the sole purveyors of premium video content. Still, this potential will only be realised if content creation remains popular among consumers – and the latest MIDiA data is showing signs that it could be losing its lustre. 

The average weekly hours consumers spend creating of producing content fell for the first time since 2021 during Q2 2024. Despite the prospect of a short-term blip, there is still no denying that fall comes as creators complain of harsher headwinds. 

The creator economy has remained in growth mode since the pandemic, when lockdowns and stay-at-home working meant not only more available time for consumers to flex their creative muscles but more audience available time to consume their output. Of course, the world is in a very different place now: the cost-of-living crisis and a return to office work put entertainment consumption under pressure. While consumers now have less available time to create and consume, the competition for consumers’ attention has only intensified. 

Yet, this is just one of a myriad of factors that could be causing consumers to spend less time creating.

A more even playing field might make it harder for talented new creators to stand out

The production quality of creator content has increased significantly since the pandemic, making it tougher for beginner creators to build an audience. Content saturation around popular topics is also problematic on social platforms. 

This prompts some creators to make the unpalatable choice: 

1.        Either grow faster by creating content that is lucrative but not based on passion

2.        Or create content based on personal passion but face struggles

With growth becoming more challenging, fewer creators will strive to reach the threshold for monetisation on social platforms. These inhibitors make for a bitter cocktail that will make some creators spend less time creating or quit altogether. Who knows? It might just scare off the next MrBeast.  

In MIDiA’s recently published report Creators versus creation: Tackling headwinds and bifurcation, we have unpacked what creators and social platforms need to do to ease these pressures. 

This includes separate strategic recommendations for platforms largely focused on fostering creators (such as YouTube) and platforms more concerned with fostering creation (such as TikTok). 

By tackling these problems now, the key players within the creator economy will safeguard the growth potential of the sector before such problems become deep-rooted. Key to this is putting tools and engagement measures in place that ensure creators continue to feel like they are progressing, even when the headwinds are proving particularly tough. 

After all, content creation is not immune from having to compete with entertainment consumption for consumer attention. If the fun factor of creating content fades in the face of too many obstacles, then consumers will show little allegiance and spend their time elsewhere.