Introduction

Since the dawn of humanity, content creators have been with us. From cave painting and early storytelling: even before civilization began, we have expressed our creative nature and ideals. From the Ancient Greek tragedies, through Leonardo and Michelangelo, content creators of all types (including educators, charities, etc.) have aimed at the same core purpose: that is, to engage people through a meaningful experience.

In an increasingly digitalized world, many of these expressions are produced or distributed through digital channels. This has given birth to the term “digital content creation”. Youtubers, educators, influencers, etc. are now known, at least in the digital sphere, with the all-encompassing term “content creators”.

The industry of content creation is now composed of very different types of content: Youtube videos, video games, education videos, charity campaigns, etc. Likewise, there is great specialization and differentiation among those who generate this content: video creators, bloggers, influencers, etc.

The skill for content creators is talent. It has always been, it will always be. You don’t have to be born rich, or have gone to a costly academy, to become a successful video creator, painter or blogger. In theory, anyone can shoot a webcam video or publish a blog and, with talent and dedication, be able to make people passionate and catch the interest of thousands, if not millions of individuals worldwide.

Nonetheless, even if talent have been always the main driver of content creation, another constant has been present since ancient times: to be a content creator you need, at least at some point, financial support. Indeed, content creators need to cover their costs of living while they are immersed in their creations; but in many cases, their works are not immediately capable of being sold, and therefore they do not have a source of income.