The European creator economy is growing at 25% a year and could reach €135 billion by 2032. Creators are becoming micro-businesses whose main asset is their community. Banks are therefore rethinking how to finance such a business.
The creator economy in Europe should, according to current estimates, reach a value of €135 billion by 2032. Yet back in 2025 it was worth around €28 billion. The growth rate hovers around 25% a year.
In France, the market value rose in 2025 to roughly $8.1 billion. The sector already accounts for 0.16% of French GDP and indirectly generates 1.7 million jobs. What was once a side income has thus become a full economic model.
The creator as a micro-business
Today’s creator is not just a content producer. They run a brand, negotiate partnerships, diversify income and often lead a small team. Monetisation runs across platforms, from advertising revenue through premium content to brand collaborations. European regulation, meanwhile, is beginning to set boundaries. For banks, however, a crucial question remains: are creators “standard” entrepreneurs?
BNP Paribas seeks a new approach
According to BNP Paribas creators do not fit traditional templates. Each project has a different income dynamic and a different stage of development. The bank has therefore created a specialised team in France for the creator segment and for the cultural and creative industries. Alongside classic indicators, it also tracks “intangible assets”. For creators, these are above all the community and its engagement, the regularity of content consumption and listening time.
“Content creators are true entrepreneurs. What distinguishes them, however, is that they embody their business with all the advantages (engagements from their community) and risks that come with it (volatility, psychosocial risks, etc.). Understanding their needs is therefore essential. So, beyond the conventional banking criteria (financial structure), our approach focuses on the quality of their assets (the creator's community). Our bankers focus not only on subscriber count but also on content recurrence, community engagement, and listening time, which are key to converting this asset into a sustainable business,” says Claire-Hélène Massot, deputy head of the media division at BNP Paribas.
Similar to tech startups
The situation recalls the early days of technology startups. They too were hard for banks to read. Models built on rapid growth, digital assets and community require a different approach to risk.
The task of financial institutions today is not to hold creators back, but to set up a framework in which their growth can be financed without losing control over risk. The key is the transition from a single successful project to systematic business.
A vertical economy instead of a mass market
The creator economy also works vertically. Creators build on specific niches and strongly engaged communities. The direct relationship with the audience is precisely the asset that traditional companies often lack.
From a financing perspective, this is no longer a marginal phenomenon. The creator economy falls within the broader framework of the cultural and creative industries, which include film, video games and animation. These segments already have a history in the financial sector and specific financing tools. Creators are becoming a standard part of the economy, just with a different asset structure from the one banks are used to.
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