I do not immediately think about satirist Randy Rainbow as a Content Creator, but with a body of parody music videos that have hundreds of millions of views combined, he is obviously a successful Content Creator.
As an aside, I am totally jealous of his ability as a lyricist, but that’s another story.
In a recent CNN interview Randy Rainbow talked through the process he takes for each new parody music video. It turns out he shoots and edits himself, on Final Cut Pro X. (FCP X is for those who create for themselves, etc.) He makes his income from producing videos, so is he a “professional?”
There are not many performers with millions of followers/views that have complete control over their career. Certainly not in traditional media, but for those who want to create content finding their own niche and audience isn’t as impossible as it was to get to the top in “Hollywood” and be a star that way.
Sam Mestman weighed in on what’s needed to be a modern content creator in a recent article at FCP.co.
The Top Ten earners on YouTube earn between $15-22 million a year as Content Creating Entrepreneurs. Musical artist Troye Sivan started building his audience on YouTube when he was 13 living in Perth, Western Australia (not the center of the entertainment world). He just had his best year ever with a World Tour and new album.
When you bring the audience you end up with a lot more negotiating power when it comes to distribution, merchandising and marketing deals.
Not just content creators but entrepreneurs as well. But are they “professional” editors? Definitely not. Professional Content Producers, definitely.