The platform economy, combined with the creator economy, is primed to help artists, musicians and podcasters, among others, turn their talents into money.
As Lily Q. Jolly, product lead for Stripe Express, told PYMNTS in an interview, making it easy to pay creators — in the way they want to be paid, and through subscriptions — will add significantly to the “GDP of the Internet.”
To that end, Spotify said this week that it is broadening its podcast subscription offerings, underpinned by Stripe’s payment infrastructure, to include paid monthly content. Podcast Subscriptions, now tied to Stripe Connect, supports currencies and payments across 34 countries, from Austria to the U.S.
Read Also: Stripe Teams With Spotify to Drive Subscription Monetization for Creators
Jolly stated that the creator economy, though relatively nascent, has seen creators across dozens of platforms (in partnership with Stripe) earn about $10 billion in revenue, and enabling more individuals to earn “livable wages” (in the U.S., that’s at least $69,000 annually).
As Jolly noted, the creator space is a slice of the economy that barely existed a few years ago. Until recently, the creators themselves spread their offerings across a slew of platforms, navigating different payment systems and currencies.
“They are trying every which way to make a living out of this,” she said.
The pact with Spotify follows linkups where Stripe has powered tipping on TikTok and Twitter on its Super Follows paid subscriptions.
Read Also: TikTok to Allow Users to Tip Favorite Creators
In terms of the mechanics, cross-border payments can be sent and received in different currencies, while other Stripe offerings such as invoicing and Stripe Billing help bill for the subscriptions.
Monetizing the Content
With the pact, she said, “Spotify has leaned in really hard when it comes to enabling their creators to monetize what they do.”
Streamlining payments and pivoting toward subscriptions can make it easier for creators to experiment while making money online. Recurring revenues from subscriptions can be a lifeline. The Subscription Podcast with Spotify enables creators to make money in a predictable way. As she noted, “we all enjoy being able to have a sense of how much money we are going to make.”
“The goal is to be as broad as we can,” she said, with presence in countries with less-developed banking and payments infrastructure.
With the subscription model, she said, creators can offer and monetize content that their followers love, routinely, versus having to nudge their audience every single time a new podcast comes out.
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