2025 Creator Economy Predictions

Welcome back! After a brief hiatus, I’m back with VidCon’s bi-weekly Industry newsletter, where I filter through hundreds of news articles, headlines, and industry thought leaders to bring you the best of what the creator economy has to offer.?

This week, I will dive into what I think will shape the creator economy in 2025. Plus, special guest Ollie Forsyth , Founder of tech newsletter New Economies answers our 3 ‘Rapid Fire Questions’.?

Let’s get into it ??

My Six 2025 Creator Economy Predictions

While many industry predictions emerged in December, I chose to wait until January to share my thoughts (rather late, than never).? Some touch on broad trends I think we’ll see and others address specific challenges I think will create wider opportunities for the creator economy this year. Though all of these may not fully materialize in 2025, I believe we'll see significant infrastructure development this year and into 2026 that will change how we create and build completely.?

1. AI Will Continue to Grow and Become a Vital Part of the Creator Ecosystem.?

AI integration will extend beyond being just another trend, fundamentally changing how creators work. We'll see AI tools embedded throughout the creative process, enabling creators, agencies, and studios to produce content more efficiently. Rather than eliminating jobs, this shift will create new opportunities for AI specialists in design, implementation, and development, forming the backbone of all creative businesses. I’m particularly interested in how AI ‘Influencers’ will scale and how these avatars/agents will start to become more real and influential.?

1. Sports Will Embrace Creator Culture

Traditional sports organizations will revolutionize their approach to social media and creator partnerships. Previously very protective of IP and player social media presence, sports franchises will actively help athletes build personal brands to reach global audiences. We will start to see teams producing content on their own social platforms, partnering with their athletes to grow new IP and formats. F1, football (soccer for the US readers), American football, golf, rugby, and combat sports will lead this transformation, with increased creator collaborations, licensing deals, original content IP creation, and spin-off digital-first events.

Niche sports will also become big business with an influx of opportunities and growth in sports communities such as frisbee, padel, pickleball, and chess.?

1. TikTok's US Business Won’t Sell To Private US Investors

Despite pressure from President Trump and interest from potential buyers like Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, and MrBeast, I don’t see TikTok being sold. Instead, expect a compromise: partial US public ownership and infrastructure relocation to the US, and more US board presence, while Bytedance maintains majority ownership of the business, with more transparency around business operations. With 17,000 US employees and significant advertising spend, TikTok's complete removal in the US would impact creators, small businesses, agencies, and 170 million users. This would have broader economic consequences for the US that I think President Trump will look to avoid.?

1. Live Shopping Will Go Mainstream on Digital Platforms

Traditional retailers will start to integrate live shopping into their digital strategy, while smaller businesses will adopt digital-first or digital-only models. Platforms like Whynot, TikTok Live, buywith, and Amazon Live will attract more creators, building profitable businesses. Watch for innovative partnerships between brands, retailers, and creators, potentially creating a new category of presenter-focused talent, who specifically only create live shopping content and formats.

1. Creator Businesses Will Professionalize?

Following the success of ventures like MrBeast's Feastables and KSI & Logan Paul's Prime Energy Drink, both of which could become billion dollar businesses, creators will prioritize professional infrastructure before scaling, rather than the other way round. This means we will see creators hiring key c-suite executives (CEO, COO, CFO) and establishing robust HR and legal frameworks first, rather than running these companies themselves. While this may slow initial growth, it will ensure sustainable, compliant expansion. I believe this shift will lead to the first billion-dollar sale.

1. Social Media Regulation Will Intensify Globally?

Growing concerns about social media's impact, especially on younger users, will prompt stronger government interventions. We will start to see countries following a similar path as Australia and China's extreme measures to content control, requiring platforms to moderate content more strictly or face substantial fines. Expect new restrictions on age-appropriate content, usage time limits for under-18s, and how advertisers market to teen users.

This week, we asked Ollie Forsyth our three rapid-fire questions. Ollie is the founder of New Economies––one of the fastest-growing technology newsletters breaking the latest trends. Before founding New Economies in late 2024, Ollie spent nearly four years at global venture firm Antler as one of the company’s first employees and previously worked at Molten Ventures, a later-stage European investment fund.??

What current trends in the creator economy are you most excited about?

Since we published the first startup creator economy report in 2021, the creator economy trend has changed each year from creator chat platforms to Web3 to community. For the coming year (2025), the trend remains unchanged from the previous year––AI.?

The trends I am most excited about are:

• The ability for newsletters and journalists to be global from day one. Two years ago, we predicted there would be technologies that enabled creators to be global from day one with voice. I predict we’ll see similar technologies for text.?
• AI Agents for Creators: We know how time consuming our daily operations are as creators. In the coming year or two, we’ll see agents emerge that enable creators to focus on what they are good at––producing content.?
• Creators becoming business owners: In our latest and annual creator economy report, we highlighted the massive opportunity creators have to become founders. I hope to see many more creators launching their own businesses (software or consumer products) in the coming year.?

What are the biggest hurdles the creator economy is facing?

Venture funding for startups. We saw so much capital going into these startups too quickly during covid. Having met most of these startups and going through the insane peak, a lot of these startups had not found product market fit however it was the hottest trend in town so investors didn’t want to miss out. Going forward and now the creator economy is maturing, the new types of creator related startups that receive venture funding will be AI focused most likely.?

Name one company you think is doing interesting things within the creator economy.

Everbloom are doing a great job enabling creators to blossom with financing support.?

Submissions Now Open for VidCon’s First-Ever Case Study Program

For the first time, VidCon’s Industry Track will feature a dedicated Case Study Program, showcasing real-world success stories from creators, brands, and agencies at the forefront of the creator economy.?

VidCon is seeking compelling case studies that highlight:

• AI’s role in content creation and business operations
• Monetization and revenue innovation for creators
• New strategies for distribution and audience growth
• Innovation brand and creator partnerships that deliver measurable success
• How I Built This: Unpacking Creator Company Growth

Selected case studies will be featured on stage at VidCon’s 2025 Industry Track, moderated by top industry experts, and presented to a highly engaged audience of decision-makers across the creator economy.

If you have a case study that illustrates innovation, collaboration, and measurable impact, we encourage you to submit HERE before February 17, 2025.

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?? Have any feedback or want to connect? Drop me a DM on LinkedIn.?

See you all in a couple weeks ??

Jacques Keyser

Director of Programming & Industry Spokesperson - VidCon