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The creator economy magazineAnalyses of the European creator economy from primary sources. Pick a topic and read.
LinkedIn rebuilt its feed around video and bets on verified identity
LinkedIn’s chief marketing officer Jessica Jensen explained the video strategy aimed at Gen Z. The real asset, however, is 100 million verified identities. From 2 August 2026, EU rules require labelling of AI content, which makes credible human signatures rare.
AvA founder turned down AI platforms and is building his own tool
Warner Bailey, founder of the AvA community, turned down partnerships with major AI platforms that wanted access to his audience. He plans to unveil his own tool in the autumn. The EU AI Act has also addressed whose data trains AI models since August 2025.
LinkedIn shows where your reach comes from. A guide to growing in 2026
LinkedIn now separates reach from your followers and connections from reach beyond them. The second figure is the first direct measure of growth, and most of what we know about the network this year points the same way. Reach is made by people, not company pages.
Argentina wants companies run only by AI. No human needs to be in them
Javier Milei has sent Argentina's Congress a bill for companies run by software, where a human shareholder is optional. It would replace corporate law from 1972. Yuval Noah Harari warns of a state without human responsibility, and Europe rejected the same status in 2017.
Figma puts code and AI plugins on its canvas, but rents the AI behind them
At Config 2026, Figma put executable code, animations and prompt-built plugins onto its design canvas. The handover between design and development is thinning. The AI behind it is rented from three American AI companies, and gross margin fell from 92% to 86%.
Gap has a network of 1,300 creators. Cannes changes the brief for brands
The third report from Cannes. As the festival moves into its second half, the focus shifts from creators to brands. Big names present creators as a direct route to sales, and platforms add AI advertising tools. The relationship with the audience is now counted as revenue.
Creators win their first Lions at Cannes. Google and Forbes build them infrastructure
The second report from Cannes. On the third day creators won the first Social & Creator Lions. Alongside the stages, support infrastructure grew: Google gave agencies data on creators, Forbes launched its own network and Patreon helped brands unlearn old habits.
Creators earned a billion for the first time. Bartlett ranks highest from Europe
The 50 highest-earning creators on the Forbes Top Creators 2026 list earned $1.02 billion between them, the first time the group has passed a billion dollars and up 20% on last year. MrBeast tops the list for a fifth year. Steven Bartlett ranks third, the highest of any European.
Over half of Google searches end without a click. Creators must own their audience
Seth Godin says Google has spent a decade squeezing independent websites. We checked the numbers. Over half of searches now end without a click, and small sites lost 60% of their visits in two years. Creators must own a direct relationship with their audience.
Cannes belongs to creators right now. We follow the festival day by day
At Cannes Lions, the advertising world is revolving around creators. For the first time they have their own Lions category and their own beach, Oprah takes the LionHeart award, and entries fell by a quarter after tighter rules. We follow the festival and add a report each day.
TF1 now broadcasts directly on Netflix. Streaming and television merge
From 19 June, TF1 and its live channels run directly inside Netflix in France. It is the first link between a major terrestrial broadcaster and a streaming platform. It creates a new advertising environment and a test case for other markets.
Beast Industries hires Pietra's team to build a brand and creator platform
Beast Industries, the holding company around MrBeast, has hired a team from Pietra, a creator commerce startup, to build a platform linking brands and creators. The question is whether its value holds without a single face.