Creator Nation: How Creators Are Becoming the Next Generation of Media Companies

By Driss, Founder & CEO, All Access Media

The launch of Creator Nation, backed by a capital commitment from Live Nation Entertainment, points to a shift I’ve believed in for some time: creators are becoming the next generation of media companies.

Scott Fisher, a longtime creator-economy executive and talent manager who is now President and Co-Founder of Creator Nation, described the company as a business designed to support the companies surrounding creators across brand partnerships, talent management, content, commerce, live experiences and digital marketing.

Before launching Creator Nation with his wife and co-founder, Alexis Fisher, Scott founded Select Management Group, which grew into a major creator-management business before being acquired by Propagate Content.

That background makes the Creator Nation model especially interesting.

The biggest opportunity in the creator economy may no longer be simply finding and investing in individual creators.

It may be building the infrastructure around them.

Creators Understand Their Audiences Differently

Creators have proven they can build audiences at enormous scale. But audience size alone isn’t what makes this movement so significant.

The best creators understand their audiences in a way traditional media companies often struggle to replicate.

They don’t just know who is watching. They understand why people are watching, what they care about, what they respond to and, increasingly, what they are willing to buy, attend or become part of.

That direct relationship creates opportunities far beyond advertising or sponsored content.

It can become the foundation for commerce, live events, memberships, intellectual property, brand partnerships and entirely new businesses.

Building the Infrastructure Around Creators

Traditional media companies spent decades building sophisticated systems around talent and content.

They developed production capabilities, sales organizations, distribution networks, marketing teams, advertising businesses and live-event operations.

Today’s creators increasingly need many of those same resources.

What makes the next phase particularly interesting is the opportunity to give creators those capabilities without sacrificing the direct audience relationship that made them successful in the first place.

That is why the Creator Nation model stands out.

Supporting the businesses around creators can allow those companies to scale alongside the talent they represent, rather than forcing creators into a traditional media structure.

From Creator to Media Company

When a creator combines an engaged audience with content, commerce, live experiences, partnerships and scalable distribution, they are no longer simply a creator.

They are building a media company.

And as more infrastructure develops around that model, the creator economy begins to look less like a separate corner of the entertainment business.

It starts looking like the future structure of the media industry itself.

Creator Nation’s launch is another indication that the industry is moving in that direction.

Congratulations to Scott Fisher and Alexis Fisher on the launch. I’m excited to see how they build the company and how this broader ecosystem continues to evolve.

The creator economy is growing up.

The next opportunity is building the businesses that allow it to scale.