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Creators rule the world! Creators have the rough end! Creators are underestimated. Creators are overhyped.
And creators have lots of news this month, so I waded through some of it. Between the increasing recent ‘studiofication’ of Youtube content, new media businesses that are completely unlike and yet so much like the old media upstarts, and the jostling for creators to translate to something outside their own home territories, it seems like the ‘creator economy’ has never been stronger, yet continues to be in flux.
Elsewhere, I give in and vent about Fanta’s new ‘IP’ initiative, chuckle at some apocalyptic humour from Channel 4, and share my gladness from the real world screening of a classic film.
As always, grateful to have The Colour Bar in your feed, or your inbox, or both. If you have not already, please subscribe for these weekly dispatches here or if Linkedin is your thing- here.
Cheers,
Shakey
Creator chaos: A roundup.
Curated/Cuts: Apocalypse, now
Fanta’s Horror: Really, coca cola?
2026: odyssey: touching grass, or a theatre carpet.
➕ · Kpop vs Demon Hunters · Teen ChatGPT · Spotify’s AI personas ·
1. Creator Chaos
I had written on some developments in the creator world last week, but it didn’t make it through to that dispatch; there were more angles still coming through. For all the love, hype and evangelism around the creator world aka the ‘creator economy’ over the last many years- almost entirely justified, I might add- there has not ever been one way to work in it, with or for creators. There is a lot of nuance in how creator content can work well for the creator, the platform, a brand, and yes- the viewer.
One recurring reality- across geographies- that is both persistently true and consistently underestimated, is how exclusive the creator economy has become. By that I mostly refer to how small a percentage of creators actually make meaningful revenue. The ‘democratisation of content creation’ has been, IMO, the most over-billed aspect of it all. After the initial burst and despite numerous outlier cases of nothing-to-everything case studies, the power residing with platforms remains paramount (or, as we like to say more vaguely, ‘the algorithm’, as if it is some independent autonomous thing). If anything, this has become more pronounced as creators have become media entities or studios in their own right.
That’s some thinking and context before some of the more interesting plays in the scene in the recent weeks.
YouTube revised the threshold for creators to enter their Partner Program , effectively meaning a higher bar for regular creators before they can hope to start making money. (A channel now needs to hit 8,000 hours watchtime over a year, or 20 million Shorts views in 90 days).
YouTube also changed the definition of their view metric. Now anytime a video is ‘seen’ for 1sec, it’s counted as a view. Essentially, an impression is a view.
While there is something to be said about the consistency (that’s how Tiktok & IG Reels are measured), I have never been convinced on the value of these metrics. Even putting aside lofty ideas like meaningful engagement and retention (the things these platforms themselves would actually want), what’s the point of a view when it doesn’t imply anything like a view.
Peter Kafka has a quick sharp take claiming this is entirely cosmetic and will just help YouTube look bigger.Creators are now being told by YouTube to not simultaneously ‘post’ their videos on Netflix. They are trying to work out a window of exclusivity, but also suggesting creators who do share the content stand to lose out on revenue. Lucas Shaw had the inside story and many have taken it up since. It feels a bit like, after years of enabling a free-to-upload, UGC model, YouTube is now kinda competing for its own creators.
More than half of all creators now earn less than $15,000 a year from their content, according to Influencer Marketing Hub’s own earnings report. Brands worked out that they could pay 40 nano-creators the price of one mid-tier professional and call it ‘authenticity’ at scale, so nano and micro accounts vacuum up almost half of US creator spend, per eMarketer.
Elsewhere, my LinkedIn algo seemed to work, in a way. Two such posts popped up exactly together, both talking about different challenges in the creator economy.
Mark Ritson announced that “the ass has fallen out of the creator economy”, while Rhea Arora’s piece in The Nod traces the travails of Indian creators- from exploding influencer numbers to shrinking money pools and exploitative clients. “Money is scant and slow for anyone looking to make it as an influencer.“
These are not new themes. It has been a few years now that we see both data and stories about the millions of creators hoping for lucrative careers, but only a tiny group, the top few, end up raking it in
There’s a Sisyphean vibe to India’s creator economy, and now that there are more creators than brands know what to do with, creators themselves circle the waters like sharks.
Also , Twitch shared that all streamers are now auto- enrolled into their content being used for training Amazon’s LLMs. Their CEO said, both accurately and tellingly, “if it was opt-in, nobody would opt-in”. That was either assuredly self-aware, or unwittingly honest.
All together now, if you don’t pay for the product, you are….
*For more on the YouTube moves, head over to Jim’s newsletter for a longer take; as always, everything creator resides there.
2. Curated/Cuts: Amusing Apocalypse
UK’s Channel 4 has a new reality show. Apocalypse launches soon and 4Creative released three droll spots that show us, probably, how badly prepared humans of our time are for the end of the world. Especially if they are polite, proper British/English/UK-ian folk.
I’d say it’sa pretty good effort to tease (yet another) reality show, gloomily called Apocalypse, in a fun way.
Director: Florence Poppy Deary · DOP Jarin Blaschke ·
PRODUCTION: Biscuit Filmworks · Emily Atterton · Hanna Bayatti
ECD: David Wigglesworth · Miketta Lane · Sofie Saietz Bergstrand · Simone Weilborg ·
VFX Electric Theatre Collective · Sound 750mph ·
3. Fanta’s Horror
I don’t usually get too cynical here, and generally stay away from slagging stuff off too much, there’s enough of that going round. So I am sorry if this comes across as such, but Fanta’s recent launch of a ‘Haunted Universe’ left me cold, baffled and even a trifle despondent.
What is it?
Fanta Haunted Universe is an “original entertainment world built for a new generation of Halloween fans”, and in literally the same breath it is also “the beginning of a brand-new entertainment universe, built for a new generation of horror fans.”
But it is also a self-described “Original Cinematic Universe” , and “Entertainment Franchise”.
What’s getting to me?
For one, when the brand and its teams/cheerleaders themselves use such hyperbole, and top it off with phrases like, “where storytelling meets creative technology, and brands stop borrowing culture and start building it” and “from collaborating within culture to creating it,” it seems contrived. A kid living a fever dream (not in a good way).
Let the idea and creative do that talking, no? Then, claiming that “By developing original characters, stories, and immersive experiences, we’re building a platform that can grow alongside the brand and its fans for years to come,” it feels like the internal brief has become external comms.
The other thing- the visual storytelling and ‘character reveals’ are pretty uninspiring, and most of the spot feels derivative. I won’t deny- the very obvious gen-AI feel to it all doesn’t help me, but even accepting it, I struggle with the fact that they believed this output did justice to a grand ambition of creating a cinematic universe. Feels more like Coca Cola just (continuing to) ride the AI bandwagon, and jumping onto the ‘brands create culture’ train too.
There's "more to come" and I will keep half en eye out for it, not with bated breath but in some sliver of hope that I read this all wrong to start with.
(I will say, I found the cans/in-store artwork pretty striking, which I saw before all this).
Rant over.
So to finish today, it felt right to share something that, shall we say, lifted me more…
4. 2001: a 2026 odyssey
There is much talk and many efforts about creating real tangible experiences in our age of digital gratification. Indeed, ‘experiences’ has become a bit of a tired cliche. So I was happy to be part of one which stood out. Because it was good (or maybe I just don’t get out much!)
I’ve wondered aloud for many years now why in an age of digital distribution we don’t see more iconic films brought back for new and old audiences. Well, here we have it.
Stanley Kubrick’s 58 year old masterpiece came back to Singapore for a precious three screenings. I watched the last one on Sunday night and it was a joy to be at a real-world thing in this ‘content consumption’ landscape of ours (which I am as much a part of as the next puppy).
Did I hear you say, ‘so what- it’s just a movie, in a theatre’?
Well, “I’m afraid I can’t agree with you, Dave.”
Because for one, it’s not just any theatre– this is one with a rich past, a heritage it holds onto dearly. Capitol is our city’s oldest theatre after all.(And oh, not just any ol’ movie either!)
The small touches from Capitol to make it feel a bit unique, a bit old school, a bit thoughtful. And that little exhibition of precious, decades-old posters for the film, courtesy of Singapore poster collector Shane Koh. He also was on stage adding context- important for a film from 1968. Made a difference for both those discovering and revisiting a cult film like this.
Like me, you might presume a certain kind of audience here, given the film and the limited ticket availability. It was a delight then, to find myself amidst a very wide span of ages and profiles. Testimony to the stature of the film, undoubtedly- but also a great reminder of how we can be brought together in the most unlikely and happy of ways.
* Capitol Singapore started this ‘Classics At Capitol’ program earlier this year, curated by Ben Slater, and though it’s the first I’ve been able to attend, I have viewed it with charm from afar. Such a great venue I once came close to partnering with.
Sergio Leone is up next!
➕Quick Hits
Spotify has announced an ‘AI Persona’ label it will give to accounts of AI generated ‘music creators’. And those tracks will not be included in playlists. This is very promising.
OpenAI announced ChatGPT For Teens. With safety and guardrails and a study module. I expect to talk about this at some point.
A 25 year old an American Christian metal band is suing Netflix– it’s ‘Demon Hunter’ vs Kpop Demon Hunters. They have shared how one fan spent $500 on tickets to their show only to rock up with their child expecting a Kpop Demon Hunters gig.