Nile

As a person who has paid close attention to the music industry for a long time, I’ve come across a lot of people; indie musicians, K-Pop artists, people working in record labels and those in the K-pop industry. I have also met people who have launched their own business. A fairly successful musician and artist who started a music label, a financial expert who started a music business, an IT employee who started a content business, and even a person who dove into the music business after majoring in computer engineering. Mingling and exchanging views with these individuals enlightened me with the fact that there is no one “who used to be and has become”.

We tend to restrict ourselves within our professional identity. Writers as writers, critics as critics. Marketers as marketers, and designers as designers. Artists as artists, and entrepreneurs as entrepreneurs. In fact, it’s only natural to think this way. We have lived in an era in which the job defines the person. This era has lasted for at least a hundred years and the mindset of “who used to be and has become” was possible in this context.

Not anymore though. This mindset of “who used to be and has become” is not convincing anymore. A marketer and artist, an artist and entrepreneur, a writer and critic, an office worker and creator… The number of people with two or more identities has increased dramatically among us. They expand their identity through blogs, newsletters, Instagram, TikTok and other methods. Everyone is now becoming a ‘creator’.

Beyond the talent of the creator

Creator economy is a structure that expands one’s identity, and this structure derives from various media environments. The Internet, which began with the connection of computers and networks, has created a variety of creator tools. The era of Web3, which is already present today, raises expectations towards a beneficial environment for creators. The reason why concepts such as fandom economy, crypto economy, Web3 and DAO have become popular in recent years is within this same notion.

However, the future has always arrived in a way we have never imagined. Advanced technology will essentially form a more favorable environment for creators; but at the same time, it will bring about changes in the concept and definition of what creators are. The world after these creators have emerged is what I aim to focus on. The increase in the number of creators will start off an oversupply of content. In a world where anyone can become a creator, contents will start to ‘overflow’.

What kind of role should creators play in this case? What will the standards be for creators? Painting well, taking original pictures, or making videos? Or will planning and organizing become the standard?

Creators must transmit messages to people through their contents. Messages that inspire dreams and hopes, messages that stimulate comfort and empathy; these are the key values that connect creators with followers(also known as fans). Interaction is the key to build connections and bring together the creators and its followers. Emotional connection, along with the talent and technology, is what builds trust and relationship towards the content and the creator. Thus, communication abilities will become vital for creators.

All this may sound too abstract. However, in such a digital environment, the essential becomes rather important. Even if digital music has replaced albums, the audience still yearned to see the artist live on the concert stage. People want to meet the stars through a smartphone camera, not via broadcasts. As SNS becomes a daily communication tool, offline meetings have become rather precious. People with similar thinking, with the same taste, and with the same motivations gather together to reach a common goal, despite having to pay a large sum of money. Such a personalized media environment and high technology make us reflect on abstract and essential elements that go beyond technology, such as mindset and attitude.

To envision a community that grows hand in hand

Personalization of the media environment is blurring the intermediary role of the content distributor. The vertical structure of content production, distribution, and consumption will be transformed into a more horizontal structure as creators and fans become closer and aligned. The distinction between the center and periphery will continuously disappear, and countless centers will be dispersed. As the concept of mainstream is blurred, the concept of community is bound to become more essential. However, this community is not constituted by a group of potential consumers or investors of content. It is a group of people who share a particular taste, attitude, perspective and culture. As mentioned earlier, creators are the key to bring them together. The role of community comes into play only when the messages that reflect creators’ attitudes and visions melt throughout the content.

One can interpret the content as a bowl that contains the creator’s message. The heart and the attitude of the creator permeates in this bowl. People responding to these messages gather to form a community, and creators have the responsibility to coherently operate these communities. Future creators should be community leaders, and community leaders should be those who are good listeners. In other words, leadership becomes as crucial as creators’ technical capabilities.

As mankind history has proved, new technologies have always expanded the scope of our thinking. As time went by, we got better tools. Nonetheless, it is our responsibility to make use of these tools. Keywords such as Web3, crypto economy, creator economy, and DAO are essential as I strongly believe that it will lead us to realize our ideals, and furthermore contribute to us becoming better people. Technology has become an indispensable tool that helps us make decisions. Web3 points to this community ecosystem, and smart contracts are a form of trust. DAO is a community that allows democratic and rational decisions to be carried out based on these technologies.

Here, the relationship between creators and fans becomes more horizontal. Even creator sponsors can become creators at any time. Economic performance is also distributed through community participation. This way, the creator economy based on Web3 makes us envision a stronger community by dissipating what has been conventionally considered as the link between production and consumption of content. To create this synergy, we strive to study technology, learn structures, and above all, build strong relationships.

The Industrial Revolution period, which began with the invention of steam engines in 1760, lasted until the 1820s. In other words, it took at least 60 years for the new era to take root. The age of Web3 has just begun. In the future, we will encounter more diverse experiences, and through those experiences, we will face a new era. As a creator, I look forward to finally growing through the very whole process. Web3 will eventually become a cultural community.