The rise of Decentralized Equity Crowdfunding for the Creator Economy

Can you imagine a world without Netflix? Maybe you can, but it looks a little boring. But what if I told you that you can own a media platform like Netflix and make money off it? Unbelievable, right? Not so much.

With the active decentralization of media platforms, the power structure built by tech giants is dismantling slowly. The future seeks to evenly distribute wealth across the world; it’s no longer exclusively available to a select few. And this is possible only with the decentralization of equity crowdfunding.?

The creator industry will soon bid farewell to the traditional creator economy

Many reports show that the creator economy is a whopping $100+ billion-dollar industry and the rate of growth is highly promising in the coming years. There are many reasons for it, such as the presence of a high number of crowdfunding platforms, and the use of blockchain-related technologies in the creator economy among others. The decentralized creator economy will boost this space as the traditional creator economy has some in-built shortcomings that the new one challenges.?

There are many verticals in the traditional creator economy like Netflix, YouTube, offline distributors for movies, etc. But these major players will soon be taking a backseat!

Recently, Netflix's stock price took a nosedive and there was a significant decrease in its subscriber count. Some of the main causing problems are Netflix's crackdown on the issue of password sharing, funding problems for new projects, etc. I mean, isn’t Netflix making big bucks because people can share passwords?

But we have an excellent solution that benefits all stakeholders. Blockchain!

These Netflix problems can be solved via the use of blockchain-based technologies. Blockchain-based technologies can solve the problem of password sharing by the use of crypto wallets. Also, a decentralized creator economy platform will solve the issue of funding new creative projects like web series.?

There do exist many traditional crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, etc which can be used to raise funds for the production of web series or a movie. Movie director Austin McConnell is raising funds for his upcoming animated movie called “Atlas.” He is using the famous crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. Check out the image below for reference!

Crowdfunding for an Animated movie - Atlas | Credits: Kickstarter)

There are some bottlenecks in the traditional crowdfunding platforms, especially for the creator economy. This led to the rise of Decentralized creator economy platforms. Slowly but massively, the verticals of the decentralized creator economy are becoming mainstream and mature.

Some of the verticals include Hardware, Network, Interface, Distribution, Authentication, and On-ramps. Major players in the decentralized creator economies include SingularDTV, Futurov, and Theta Network.

So what’s in it for me?

With the help of blockchain and going D2F (Direct to Fans) you can directly fund your favorite artist/ creative director for their project in exchange for equity. The decentralized creator economy uses technologies like Blockchain, Smart contracts platforms, and DAOs.

There are many benefits of a decentralized creator economy such as:

Quality projects: Let’s face it - in the end, it's the general public that consumes content. A decentralized creator economy gives the option to customers about the project, which they would like to see in the future.?

Financially attractive: Today, most projects are financed by big players. Let’s take the example of “Fast and Furious 9.” This film was made with a budget of around $200 million. Similar big projects can be financed once decentralized creator economy platforms mature. Currently, crowdfunding platforms support projects worth around a million dollars.?

Support for new talent: A new talented director lacks the financial resources to produce a web series or a movie. These new talented directors can make use of decentralized creator economy platforms to fund their projects in exchange for equity.

The trust quotient

Blockchain will play a significant role in the decentralized creator economy. With the help of blockchain, the issues related to transparency, trust, and traceability, are solved. For instance, when you decide to fund a project via the equity model, you have the option to know all the details about the project like the number of other players are funding the project, project funding details, entire information about the project (crew size, duration of the project), project profitability, etc.

All the required and necessary information is recorded on-chain in the blockchain. This will further increase the trust quotient in the entire process.

Verticals under Decentralized Creator Economy | Credits: Decentralised.co

There are many ways to crowdfund creator economy projects. Most of the crowdfunding platforms have their own crowdfunding models. But in the case of the creator economy, the equity-based crowdfunding model is gaining momentum. And in the coming times, we can witness the rise of many decentralized equity crowdfunding platforms for the creator economy.

Besides, who doesn’t like complete transparency and ownership, plus creative freedom to choose what you produce and consume!