SXSW showcased the growth—and growing pains—of the creator economy

The news: The creator economy was thriving at the tech and arts festival South by Southwest earlier this week.

• Lines to enter many of the YouTube-sponsored creator track sessions formed well before the talks began. Rooms were packed, including at EMARKETER’s session with The Information, and many people couldn’t make it in.
• Creators were a staple at brand and platform activations. That includes legacy seafood brand Gorton’s, which invited local Austin influencers to its Shrimp Shack and held a cooking demo with creator Shay Spence, as well as Spotify, which hosted panels with top-name podcasters like Sarah Foster.
• Creator platform Kajabi also rented space on nearby Rainey Street. Patreon COO Paige Fitzgerald interviewed creator Joshua Fields Millburn on stage. TikTok creator Jake Shane stopped in Austin as part of his live tour for his podcast.

What it means: Creators are now an integral part of media and marketing strategies, as well as the broader entertainment landscape.

Why it matters: US creators will generate $17.76 billion from their activities on social media alone, per our new forecast.

Most (59.2%) of those revenues will come from influencer marketing. We expect spending on social media sponsored content to surpass $10 billion this year, one year earlier than we previously predicted.

Yes, but: Many conversations both on and off the stages centered around underlying challenges within the creator economy and influencer marketing.

• Creators expressed frustration with opaque and fluctuating payment policies from the platforms, and a lack of transparency for brand sponsorship rates. Creators were also exhausted by playing to platform algorithms: Over three-quarters (78%) of US creators say the algorithm impacts what content they create, per August 2024 data from Patreon.
• Industry experts like Jamie Gutfreund addressed challenges from the brand side with integrating influencer marketing into broader marketing strategies. “Brands are organized vertically and in silos. People experience a brand horizontally and expect one integrated experience,” she said.
• Both brands and creators stressed the need to diversify their strategies as TikTok’s future remains in limbo. For its part, TikTok hosted an invite-only event for advertisers at the conference.

Between the lines: The volatility creators experience with brand and platform payments have allowed creator platforms that offer direct-to-consumer monetization like Kajabi, Patreon, and Substack to flourish. The turmoil at TikTok and in the political landscape have accelerated their growth, and prompted other platforms to offer major cash incentives or bonuses to TikTok creators.

Our take: The creator economy and influencer marketing are maturing, and that’s causing some growing pains. Both brands and creators want sustainable partnerships and predictable revenues or outcomes, but the systems aren’t yet set up to properly support that. Meanwhile, creators and brands must grapple with external forces, like regulation and economic challenges, that could threaten their businesses.