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On most content platforms today, the ethos of the American Dream is alive and well — a recent study of kids ages eight to 12 found that nearly 30% aspire to become YouTubers. With countless examples of normal people achieving massive success on the platform, this should come as no surprise. But while some have been propelled to massive stardom, examples of a wide swath of the population achieving financial security from these platforms are few and far between.
A 1981 paper by Sherwin Rosen, an economist at the University of Chicago, offers a prescient explanation of how the “superstar phenomenon” would become more pronounced as a result of technology. Rosen argued that in markets with heterogeneous providers, like most creator economies, success accrues disproportionately to those on top: “lesser talent often is a poor substitute for greater talent … hearing a succession of mediocre singers does not add up to a single outstanding performance.” This phenomenon is further exacerbated by technology which lowers distribution costs: the best performers in a given field are freed from physical constraints like the size of concert halls — and can address an unlimited market and reap a greater share of revenue.
https://hbr.org/2020/12/the-creator-economy-needs-a-middle-class
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