Consumers as creators The artist / audience line is blurring

Hanna Kahlert

April 2022

The growing independent artists sector, the rise of user-generated content (UGC), and the proliferation of basic creator tools on social platforms are all interlinked parts of the same cultural trend: creativity as a product. Enabled by intuitive creative tools, platforms to share on, and direct, easy ways to engage with creators, the barrier between artist and audience has been dramatically lowered. This is the basis of the creator economy.

Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Ableton, Adobe, Apple, BandLab, Bridgerton, Clubhouse, Discord, Facebook, GarageBand, Glee, Harry Potter, iMovie, Instagram, Logic Pro, Musical.ly, Netflix, OBS Studio, Premier Pro, Pro Tools, Reddit, Reels, Roblox, Shorts, Splice, TikTok, Twitch, Vine, Voisey, YouTube

Methodological note:

MIDiA Research lean back as passive consumption watching live TV)
Lean-forward consumption defined as on-demand consumption, with further engagement (e.g., watching Netflix, to music on Spotify)
Lean in defined as interactive consumption (YouTube comments, Facebook shares, etc.)
Finally, lean is defined as creative behaviour to consumption (creating replica and user-generated content (UGC) for distribution social apps)

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