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Tag: Creator Economy

  • We aim to help the creator economy touch new heights in India and around the globe, shares GSharp Media’s Meghna Mittal

    We aim to help the creator economy touch new heights in India and around the globe, shares GSharp Media’s Meghna Mittal

    Mumbai: Meghna Mittal is GSharp Media’s co-founder and chief marketing officer; the company has two brands under its umbrella: Songfest India and Hoopr. Songfest focuses on giving musicians the creative freedom to explore new sonic avenues; Hoopr is India’s first music licensing marketplace that intends to offer cutting-edge solutions to both musicians and content creators alike.

    Ever since its inception, GSharp Media has been focused on building creator-centric products. Mittal has led these initiatives and focuses extensively on crafting innovative marketing strategies while also playing a key role in scaling up products. Her strengths lie in staying close to the consumer, understanding the market requirements, and creating the right product that solves the customer’s pain point. She was pivotal in steering several viral marketing campaigns for Songfest, which accumulated more than 100 million views for its YouTube channel.

    Her latest venture is Hoopr.ai, a music licensing marketplace that offers cutting-edge viral solutions to brands and video creators in collaboration with some of the most popular artists. The idea behind it is to offer a multitude of songs, background scores, and sound effects to creators regardless of the kind of content they create and showcase some innovative music from India’s best musicians and composers. Mittal and her team aim to help the creator economy reach new heights in India and around the globe with the platform.

    Prior to joining GSharp Media, Mittal led the marketing initiatives for Hubilo and YesssWorks for more than seven years. A music lover herself and a people person, her interests include designing and building consumer-centric products, creating exciting content, and crafting unique music solutions for brands. She also has a huge, self-cultivated network of influencers across the country and believes that every creator deserves to have the best tools at their disposal for creating invigorating content.

    On the personal front, she is extremely passionate about cooking and loves feeding her guests different delicacies. Indiantelevision.com caught up with Mittal to find out the growth strategy of the company.

    Excerpts:

    On Hoopr.ai

    Most founders create products that solve a certain pain point they themselves have experienced and for which there is a large market but no clear solution. A few months into the pandemic, Gaurav Dagaonkar (GSharp Media founder) and I were running the content production studio Songfest and realised that costs and means of video production had come down heavily due to the lockdown. Most clients of Songfest and Songfest itself heavily use stock video & music to complete productions and save costs. It was at this stage that we realised how limited the availability of Indian stock music was.

    It was this particular project for which we needed a Hindi hip-hop, street rap kind of track, and we couldn’t find even one across all platforms in the world. The international music licensing platforms didn’t carry Indian music, and we didn’t have any of our own. I mean, we’re talking about a country with a combined value of $15 billion if you put together the film, television, advertising, and music industries, and strangely, not one music licensing marketplace existed before Hoopr. We ultimately had to get the track created, which cost us a lot more time and money than the budget permitted.

    So we started thinking about the millions of Indian vloggers, podcasters, live streamers, and digital content creators, including startups, who create daily video content for their Indian audiences and would be requiring relevant Indian music. On the one hand, using music without a licence results in a copyright or content ID claim, which takes away a creator’s monetisation rights for that video, while on the other, there is hardly any Indian music available to licence. That got us to start thinking seriously about building Hoopr.

    But the final catalyst in this decision turned out to be a unique one. Anushka Sen is an Indian influencer with over 35 million followers on Instagram and two million on YouTube. She received a copyright claim for using a song belonging to Songfest and asked for a micro licence that could be purchased. I remember this one day when we came across a report that projected India having more than 100 million content creators by 2025, and Sen also wanted to buy a micro licence from us. We started building Hoopr from that day on.

    On Hoopr.ai’ revenue model

    We offer subscriptions to individual creators and businesses. Apart from that, we also offer custom plans for enterprises.

    On the growth

    We’re proud of the fact that we have received traction from customers all over India. It’s a testament to the power of the creator economy that we’ve seen traction from not only individual creators but also interest from brands and businesses across India.

    On the challenges for monetisation of content including music

    Let’s look at the content—music and video—separately. YouTube is currently the most important source of content monetization, at least for Indian creators.However, in order for this monetization to begin on YouTube, one must have more than 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time. Post that too, it requires millions of views to make a reasonable amount of income. Typically, if YouTube pays 2-3 paisa per view in India, a typical YouTuber ends up earning somewhere close to 15 to 30 thousand for a million views.

    But the million views are hard to get, so the challenge for the Indian content creator is to be regular, attract a large audience, and create content in a sustained manner. Also, a small fraction of video creators end up making substantial money from platforms such as YouTube. A lot of the other short-form platforms do not allow monetization similar to YouTube, although it is likely that this may change in the future. Aside from this, content creators face a number of other challenges that limit their ability to monetize. Sometimes there could be licensing issues, creators may end up using music tracks that might get muted, or there could be a copyright claim or a takedown.

    For musicians, it can be relatively easier as one can create music tracks and distribute them to multiple streaming platforms, and typically there is a pay-out associated with each stream. However, the challenge in this case is to get discovered, heard, and seen when the competition is cutthroat and there are thousands of tracks uploaded every single day.

    On how covid impacted this area

    The covid pandemic fuelled the digital revolution and accelerated the growth of content creators, social media community engagers, and even curators. During this time, both Dagaonkar and I realised that our agency and brand clients were actively looking to licence Indian music but were not able to find relevant content. We experienced this difficulty while creating promos and marketing videos for Songfest. But the turning point came when one of India’s leading content creators, Anushka Sen, got a content ID claim on YouTube and called me to buy a licence. A subsequent deep dive into the numbers of the creator economy revealed that millions of creators in India require music for their content and are willing to buy licences to avoid copyright claims.

    Having launched the platform now, the industry envisages Hoopr as a potential go-to platform to find the right music for video content.

    On the products like Songfest that GSharp Media operates

    GSharp Media is a music tech and content company, and the idea has been to create and operate brands and products in the music domain that are interconnected and have synergies with one another. With Songfest and Hoopr, we have these synergies. Songfest is a brand that creates customised brand solutions. We create branded content, such as music videos, television commercials, and so on. Songfest also operates a YouTube channel with over half a million subscribers. The biggest asset of the company is the network of 3000+ music creators that we have.

    On the latest campaign

    We have launched a new campaign called “#HarGharCreator” with an ad to celebrate and empower creators across India. Hoopr.ai is solving a billion-dollar problem faced by content creators and businesses every day: that of discovering and licensing the right music for their videos. India’s 80 million+ creator community comprises vloggers, podcasters, gamers, filmmakers, live-streamers, and influencers who create audio-visual content on a variety of topics. With over 25,000 tracks and sound effects, Hoopr.ai is not only enabling these creators to get specific music for their needs but also helping them avoid copyright strikes and legal issues.

    Furthermore, what’s also changing is the mindset with regard to content creation, with more people embracing it as a career choice. And that is exactly what the ad captures. In the ad, a young college student can be seen telling his strict father that he doesn’t want to be an engineer but rather a content creator. The reaction of the father makes the ad a must-watch for all content creators and their families.

    A creator is now emerging in nearly every home across India, and we want to help them find phenomenal Indian music for their videos. Apart from individual creators, the music on Hoopr is also being used by brands, enterprises, and OTT platforms, as it is cleared for use and free from any copyright strikes or takedowns.

    On trends being seen when it comes to music tech

    There are a lot of developments happening in music technology. Right from production to distribution and consumption, to areas like licensing, building communities, and fan funding of collectibles, music tech has seen a lot of developments and interesting start-ups over the last couple of years. When it comes to music production, we are seeing tools that allow people to collaborate. There are multiple music distribution services that have evolved over the last four to five years that allow artists to distribute music across different streaming platforms. We are also in an era where the majority of music is consumed through streaming platforms. As a result, apps such as Spotify are continuously evolving their algorithms and recommendation engines to contribute to a better user experience. We have also seen the emergence of licensing platforms that have opened up new doors of income for musicians.

    Two areas that are still in their nascent stage but will only continue to grow are AI-generated music and the ability of artists to create and distribute NFTs. These could unlock new doors as far as the music industry is concerned and could bring with them new opportunities for artists, new sources of funding, etc., all on the back of technological development.

    On the future of the podcast format in India

    Any kind of individualised content creation is here to stay, whether the creator makes a living out of it or does it out of passion and knowledge sharing. Any kind of content creation is going to grow from here, mainly because there are so many new tools that are coming up that help creators create content. In the case of podcasts, it’s a bit easier, as one can create podcasts in the comfort of their homes. They are able to record using microphones, which have become cheaper using workstations. Distributing podcasts has become easier too. The biggest driver is the fact that people want to share their knowledge, experience, and learnings, in addition to the huge appetite of the digital audience to consume this content.

    India still has the potential to grow multifold in the domain of podcasts and some related fields too. Companies like Pocket FM do well in India, along with regional companies like Kuku FM, which are also producing a large number of audio books. Very soon, it will translate into individuals creating systematic podcasts. The future of podcasts in India is promising, and one of the biggest drivers will be regional content or regional podcasts, as 70 per cent of India’s population consumes regional content

  • GUEST ARTICLE: The creator economy and how it has evolved over the last few years

    GUEST ARTICLE: The creator economy and how it has evolved over the last few years

    Mumbai: For many decades, we have relied on traditional media outlets like television, radio, and print for our information and entertainment, consuming content created and curated by a few major media houses based on the preferences and requirements of the masses. The advent of the internet and web 2.0 brought a significant shift in how we consumed information by decentralising content communication, creation, and distribution. Thanks to the opportunity offered by social media, we found ordinary people like ourselves writing, filming, and creating niche as well as mass content that resonated with people worldwide.

    And as a result of this, people moved away from traditional media sources. They started surfing the internet to consume content and connect with people who shared similar interests and experiences. Over time, people learned to market their skills, hobbies, and interests online. This resulted in the rise of a new economy built by millions of independent content creators, curators, and community builders, marking the beginning of the “creator economy.”

    Today, the creator economy is estimated to be worth more than $100 billion, and it includes everyone who is a part of the web economy, such as social media, blogs, videos, software tools, and tech platforms like Hypothesis designed to help them grow and monetise.

    More than 50 million people worldwide identify as “creators,” with two million or more earning a living from their passion through platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Twitch, TikTok, and others. According to a survey, YouTube content creators contributed a whopping Rs 6,800 crore to the Indian economy in 2020.

    The evolution of the creator economy

    ●      The birth of social media platforms

    Towards the end of the 2000s, we witnessed the birth of many social and content channels like YouTube, Instagram, Spotify, Medium, Linkedin, and more. The rise of the creator economy has relied heavily on the development of these platforms. We wouldn’t have creators if you didn’t have platforms on which they could create. It was due to social media sharing that content distribution became normalised. Today, creators are no longer at the mercy of large production companies, as these platforms have equipped them well to solve their distribution problems.

    ●      The emergence of influencer marketing

    Brands began to see the value in investing in creators to promote their products and services to their large on-platform audiences as they began to build a dedicated audience engaging with their content due to their skills and personalities. This proved a very successful marketing strategy, aka “influencer marketing,” as it allowed brands to tap into a new market and advertise to a niche audience more likely to be interested in the brand’s product during their moment of consumption.

    Brand sponsors began paying creators on platforms such as Instagram and Tiktok in exchange for their reach to an audience gained through the platforms.

    ●      Covid impact 

    As social media platforms proliferated, people found themselves increasingly attracted to screens, both as creators and consumers. What many believed would be a passing phase, like the dot-com era, soon became a compulsion.

    With the onset of the pandemic, millennials and gen-z turned towards social and subscription based platforms either out of boredom or to supplement their income due to the economic slump. Because of the nationwide lockdown, everyone was forced to use online health, education, shopping, and entertainment resources.

    This has led to the growing dominance of content creators in mainstream media who are willing to pay for tools that help them grow their content reach and maximise their revenue.

    ●      Creators are brands within themselves

    With the constant influx of influencers, competition for branded collaborations is becoming increasingly fierce, prompting influencers to seek alternative revenue streams.

    Instead of chasing revenue through generic clickbait content, influencers are becoming the new brands. Today, creators have gained enough loyalty from their audiences to be able to sell any product better than the traditional brands. Creators are launching their brands without investing millions of dollars in a team and resources, instead relying on a combination of audience and reach, good branding, and a distinct point of view with their product.

    Today, many brands consider working with creators an essential part of their brand and marketing strategy. But it remains a largely unorganised space, with discovering the right talent to work with and measuring success depending on how each brand structures its efforts. The creator economy needs a unified platform to connect brands with customers through the right influencers and manage the entire campaign pipeline. At the same time, it requires a platform for creators to engage with their audience and build meaningful relationships with brands.

    That’s where “influencer marketing software services” step in, allowing agencies and brands to discover the right creator, conduct outreach, set up campaigns, and track performance on one platform. On the supply side of the ecosystem, it empowers creators and influencers to reach their audiences by understanding their content performance and audience affinity and collaborating with brands and agencies.

    The author of this article is Hypothesis senior VP product and analytics Himani Agrawal.

  • GUEST COLUMN: What can be the anticipated future of the creator economy

    GUEST COLUMN: What can be the anticipated future of the creator economy

    Mumbai: It’s no wonder that the digital media industry has shifted tremendously over the previous decade. This shift in focus has given rise to a new type of media personality: the content creator. Content creators are capturing the attention that was previously reserved for traditional media and as a result, they’re transforming content, consumer behaviors, and – maybe most importantly – consumer purchasing. These developments are spawning a completely new industry: the creative economy.

    From restricted IG and YouTube creators to now boasting over a million creators in the country as a result of the development of short-form video platforms and the simplicity of making content – ‘Content Creator’ is now a proper career that a gen-Z youth can now justify to their parents.

    As of now, creators have relied mainly on marketing campaigns and ad money generated by YouTube views. While this is fantastic, very few people can truly get it right and achieving wider adoption is extremely difficult because brands work with a small number of agencies, who in turn work with a small amount of creators. Technology can help companies and creators communicate more effectively but there is currently no dominant player in this space. Instagram and YouTube, on the other hand, have made pledges to develop toward the Creator economy and it will be fascinating to follow where they land.

    All of this is unfolding so rapidly that it’s vital to stop and think about where it’s all heading. What is the creative economy’s future?

    Affiliate – Affiliate revenue is something that fintech developers have been able to fully realise and reap tremendous rewards from. The next phase is to scale across the board. You don’t have to be linked with a brand to sell it; marketplaces such as Amazon reward referrals and affiliate sales.

    Paid subscriptions – This is really exciting for producers who have a strong connection with their viewers and may provide exclusive material or other advantages to their fans. If a creator can attract even two per cent of their viewers into monthly paid customers, there is a lot of money to be made.

    Creator products – Creators benefit from a focused reach, which, when utilised wisely, may result in the creation of incredibly profitable D2C enterprises. A creator is the one who best knows their audience; they understand the gaps and goals in their life and can help cross these by developing various things. Creators are also adept at creating excitement, something conventional businesses must pay considerably in to guarantee their brand narrative is delivered appropriately – it does become a zero-cost game for the creator. To get this right, producers must create high-quality products, engage in authentic communication, and go all out with their digital content to maximise sales.

    NFTs – With all of the hoopla around NFTs, and even once it corrects and comes down a bit. This will be a really vital tool for creators to involve with communities and possibly allow fans to own stock in them. NFTs will play a significant part in creating incredibly tight-knit communities for creators, as well as opening up a variety of new avenues for commercialisation for creators.

    Branded content – This statistic has climbed steadily over the last five years and shows no indications of decreasing, businesses will soon are becoming more ROI and conversions focused on these efforts. With more and more tech tools to measure real sales for such campaigns on the horizon, this will eventually become similar to ad purchasing with pre-determined KPIs, unlocking value for artists.

    It is reasonable to assume that Indian content producers will lead the very next century in global space. We are only getting started, and the times ahead are incredibly exciting for both artists and viewers. All in all, it is believable that the creator economy has a lot of potential and that more monetisation avenues will open up for creators in the future. So, to all the creators, businesses, customers and brand owners who are working and building in this space be in it for the long haul. Ultimately, investing in relationships and communities can never go wrong.

    (About Author: Vaibhav Pathak is the co-founder of The Girlfriend Box)