It’s not just the entertainment industry that’s taking note. World leaders are also tapping into the wide reach of creators. Last fall at the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in San Francisco, government officials like the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Secretary of Commerce sat down with creators, including Toby Hendy, Liah Yoo, and Humphrey Yang, to connect with their audiences. I had the opportunity to watch some of these conversations in person – it’s great to see leaders understand the value of creators.
Creators are truly entrepreneurs, and we’re helping them diversify the ways they make money on YouTube. We’re investing in ways creators earn money while helping viewers shop for products. And viewers are directly supporting their favorite creators through fan funding features like channel memberships. The number of creators using memberships increased more than 50% last year, and creators are seeing the impact of fan funding. Like Narae is Consulting, who leaned into memberships to draw more viewers to her career development content. And Emily D. Baker, whose membership earnings grew more than 50% last year. The majority of Emily’s YouTube revenue now comes from memberships.
We’re also working behind the scenes to support creators through programs like the Creator Collective, which brings creators together to share experiences, build community, and collaborate. We launched a pilot of this program last year in eight countries and we’ve heard helpful feedback from creators.
This year, we’ll help policymakers and partners across the industry see the economic and entertainment value that creators bring to the table. Being a creator is a full time job with an international audience, but most governments don’t account for creators in their labor data. We believe creators should be recognized for their work and creators at the top of their game should be acknowledged in key industry forums.
Source Letter from the YouTube CEO: 4 Big bets for 2024
