Story audio is generated using AI
The creator economy is broken.The promise of the internet was that creators would finally be freed from gatekeepers. Anyone with talent, persistence and an audience could build a career on their own terms. Yet many creators have discovered that visibility and income are not necessarily the same thing. Across music, video, publishing and social media, vast audiences often generate little financial security.The music industry is probably the most visible and tragic example. Spotify put the world’s listeners within reach of almost every artist, but it also revealed how difficult it is to convert reach into economic security. The service pays rights holders tiny fractions of a cent per stream, meaning artists often need millions of plays before seeing measurable income. While global stars can generate substantial earnings, countless independent musicians find themselves celebrated by the algorithm but unsupported by the economics.Web and brand developer Sibusiso Zwane founded Sponzar as a South African platform that would help creators build businesses around their audiences. He argues that the industry’s biggest challenge is not attracting followers, but owning the relationship with them.A creator’s audience is their business. If creators don’t own access to their supporters, they’re effectively renting their livelihoods from platforms— Sibusiso Zwane, Sponzar founder“Most creators generate value but don’t own the relationship with the audience creating that value,” he told Business Times. “They rely on platforms, intermediaries and algorithms that control distribution and monetisation. The result is that creators often have millions of views but very little predictable income.”Zwane’s answer is Sponzar, which he describes as a creator economy operating system. More than a content platform or a marketplace, Sponzar is intended to provide the infrastructure creators need to run businesses — audience management, payments, commerce, events, brand collaborations and customer data — in a single environment. The premise is that creators should be able to build enterprises around their audiences instead of depending on whichever platform currently dominates distribution.“Virality measures attention, not economic value,” said Zwane. “Platforms have become exceptionally good at distributing content but far less effective at helping creators convert audiences into owned communities, customers or long-term revenue.“A creator’s audience is their business. If creators don’t own access to their supporters, they’re effectively renting their livelihoods from platforms.”It also helps explain why some creators with relatively modest followings earn more than others with audiences 10 times larger. The difference often lies in ownership.Creators stop chasing followers and start building assets “when they realise followers are borrowed attention, while assets are owned relationships”, said Zwane.“E-mail lists, customer databases, memberships, communities, intellectual property and transaction history continue creating value long after a post stops trending.”The involvement of Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse as an adviser to Sponzar adds a dimension that technology alone cannot provide. The man behind Burn Out and Jive Soweto is one of the defining figures in South African music, bringing decades of experience of how changing technologies have altered the relationship between creators and audiences.“Technology can solve technical problems, but legends like Sipho understand the human realities creators face over decades,” said Zane. “He brings lived experience from the industry and constantly reminds us that sustainable careers matter more than temporary visibility.”When a creator starts generating predictable income from an owned audience and can forecast future earnings, they’re no longer just creating content, they’re building an enterprise— ZwaneThe African context puts a sharper focus on the question: where is the money? Across much of the continent, people piece together a living from multiple income streams, blurring the distinction between creator and entrepreneur.“Africa teaches you to build for reality, not assumptions. People often navigate multiple income streams, informal economies, limited infrastructure and strong community networks. Technology succeeds here when it solves practical economic problems, not when it simply chases engagement.”The real question is a universal one for entrepreneurs: can creators build sustainable businesses?For Zwane, the answer lies in predictability or “the moment revenue becomes repeatable rather than occasional”.“When a creator starts generating predictable income from an owned audience and can forecast future earnings, they’re no longer just creating content, they’re building an enterprise.”That is a remarkably old-fashioned definition of business success. Yet those fundamentals are often missing from discussions about the creator economy.The emphasis on ownership runs through the design of the platform. Sponzar allows creators to build customer databases, segment audiences, track transactions and communicate directly with supporters.Five years from now, Zwane expects creators to demand far more than exposure.“Creators will be able to prove their economic value, access funding, own their audience relationships, run events, sell products, secure brand partnerships and build sustainable businesses from a single ecosystem designed around their success.”Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx, editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za, and author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI: The African Edge
