The Internet has empowered creators—writers, musicians, filmmakers, and other content creators—to showcase their creativity. The “disintermediation” of traditional publishing houses and record label companies due to the digital distribution model is old news. But how much have independent creators tangibly benefited from the digital economy? A recent case study by the Re:Create Coalition of nine platforms that are popular among creators—Amazon Publishing, eBay, Etsy, Instagram, Shapeways, Tumblr, Twitch, WordPress, and YouTube—suggests that 16.9 million creators in the U.S. earned an estimated $6.8 billion on these platforms in 2017.
