Hi Li, it’s interesting you see the line blurring in between audience and creator. When you talk to artists, they tell you that they need their fans but that to preserve their creative process, they need to keep them at distance. Fans and creators are like separate magnets that repel each other, I have the impression that the closer fans want to get to the artist, the more the artist tries to maintain a creative distance. By definition fans are not creators and when they are, they stop being fans to start becoming artists themselves.
I think real fans have another role to play in web3, one that helps creators break free from traditional middlemen and central platforms. They can help them fund their creative journey and become part of their own economy (as opposed to subscriptions). Creators can now activate their community and start sharing their future success with them.
I definitely think the line is blurring. I’m currently writing a utopian novel, so are some of my newsletter subscribers. Together we are dreaming up better futures and using that shared knowledgebase to write them. Who knows, in the end we might end up with an entire collective of utopian books that all came from the same community, with print copies going out to our shared subscriber base!
Love the shorter pieces, missed this in Twitter so thanks for putting it here. I love this fan-as-creator development. Question..
What do you think about Netflix suing the Bridgerton Musical folks? I talked about this in my newsletter two weeks ago (text below). Could this put a freeze on fan-created derivations?
Bridgerton Suit Could Change Fandom: From Star Trek fan games to real-life Quidditch and cosplay, reinventing and inserting yourself into your favorite worlds is part of the fabric of fandom. Even Mr. Beast’s Squid Games and Willy Wonka remakes fall into this category of remixing favorite IP. But Netflix could change all that with its recent suit focused on the Bridgerton musical. It’s an incredibly misguided attempt to punish super fans, and shows just how desperate and misguided the streamer has become. Creator Economy leader Gil Kruger has a solution though – big media needs to legitimize “Official Fan Works” and embrace fandom, not destroy it. I hope it happens, but I doubt it will.
First you were talking about the passion economy, then the Creator Economy, then the ownership economy, now Web3. I guess what I'm wondering is how does competition among all of these things in the end make for a better meritocracy of monetization for Creators? So much fluff, just waiting for some substance.
Yes, and that’s why the future is cc0!
Love this!! Especially the right use of treasury! Would love to see more examples of this done right.
Li - your informative articles are an easy read, flowing from start to finish.
I would love to hear some advice for web3 early stage founders, accelerators vs angels, etc. - John
Exciting topic, the shorter format doesn't affect the quality!
Hi Li, it’s interesting you see the line blurring in between audience and creator. When you talk to artists, they tell you that they need their fans but that to preserve their creative process, they need to keep them at distance. Fans and creators are like separate magnets that repel each other, I have the impression that the closer fans want to get to the artist, the more the artist tries to maintain a creative distance. By definition fans are not creators and when they are, they stop being fans to start becoming artists themselves.
I think real fans have another role to play in web3, one that helps creators break free from traditional middlemen and central platforms. They can help them fund their creative journey and become part of their own economy (as opposed to subscriptions). Creators can now activate their community and start sharing their future success with them.
That's what we help creators do with Uncut and I've done it with my podcast with some success. Read more here https://uncutfm.substack.com/p/creator-what-types-of-nfts-should
Curious about your thoughts.
Love this and super optimistic about this. Hoping to see more web3 products that help users monetise their attention, data, networks and passions!
Hi Li! Great topic!
I really love to hear more about some examples in music industry :)
All the best from Poland!
I definitely think the line is blurring. I’m currently writing a utopian novel, so are some of my newsletter subscribers. Together we are dreaming up better futures and using that shared knowledgebase to write them. Who knows, in the end we might end up with an entire collective of utopian books that all came from the same community, with print copies going out to our shared subscriber base!
Love the shorter pieces, missed this in Twitter so thanks for putting it here. I love this fan-as-creator development. Question..
What do you think about Netflix suing the Bridgerton Musical folks? I talked about this in my newsletter two weeks ago (text below). Could this put a freeze on fan-created derivations?
Bridgerton Suit Could Change Fandom: From Star Trek fan games to real-life Quidditch and cosplay, reinventing and inserting yourself into your favorite worlds is part of the fabric of fandom. Even Mr. Beast’s Squid Games and Willy Wonka remakes fall into this category of remixing favorite IP. But Netflix could change all that with its recent suit focused on the Bridgerton musical. It’s an incredibly misguided attempt to punish super fans, and shows just how desperate and misguided the streamer has become. Creator Economy leader Gil Kruger has a solution though – big media needs to legitimize “Official Fan Works” and embrace fandom, not destroy it. I hope it happens, but I doubt it will.
Fan creation will be niche. If everyone has an input it can all end up as mashup and mess.
First you were talking about the passion economy, then the Creator Economy, then the ownership economy, now Web3. I guess what I'm wondering is how does competition among all of these things in the end make for a better meritocracy of monetization for Creators? So much fluff, just waiting for some substance.
I mean even VC is about making money right?