The old creator economy question was: How much is the brand paying?
The newer question might be more powerful: What do I own when the campaign is over?
Axios reported this week that AI educator and creator Cat Goetze, known online as CatGPT, has taken an ownership stake in creator-management company Smooth Media and joined the business as a strategic adviser. Smooth represents more than 70 creators, and the move gives Goetze something very different from another campaign check: a piece of the company.
Attention is becoming negotiating power
Creators have spent years building audiences that brands, platforms and agencies can monetize. Equity changes the equation. Instead of getting paid only for access to attention, the creator can participate in the enterprise value created around that attention.
That does not mean every partnership should become an ownership deal. It does mean creators with real leverage are beginning to think more like founders, investors and media operators.
The live-event piece matters too
Goetze’s broader plans include a launch event around a new venture, while Smooth Media is pushing further into strategic partnerships and live experiences. That combination is worth watching because creator businesses increasingly want more than posts. They want events, products, IP, communities and recurring revenue.
In other words, the creator is no longer just the distribution channel.
The creator is becoming the business.
The ownership signal
For independent media and culture brands, this is the bigger signal. Audience should eventually lead somewhere: events, sponsorships, memberships, original IP, commerce, consulting, licensing or ownership. Follower count is useful. Enterprise value is better.
The creator economy grew up selling attention. Its next chapter may be about keeping more of what that attention builds.
Source: Axios
