The creator economy has a payments problem
Digiday ·
Frank DeVito, president and Chief Operating Officer, XR Pay
Brands and agencies are spending more money than ever on featuring famous faces in advertising, with creators commanding bigger roles and paydays. But the creator economy’s next challenge isn’t finding new talent or making more content. It’s simplifying the business of paying creators.
Celebrity pay in advertising is at an all-time high, with payments in the United States projected to reach $2.06 billion in 2026 , up nearly 70% over the last five or six years, according to XR Extreme Reach data. Famous faces are appearing in more campaigns across more categories than ever, and the rules of celebrity endorsements are being rewritten. Stars are increasingly signing deals with multiple brands simultaneously, a practice once considered off-limits. The definition of celebrity is changing too. Social media stars and digital creators are moving into territory once reserved for Hollywood talent, becoming trusted faces for major brands and bringing a new kind of influence and star power to social posts and traditional TV advertising. While creator advertising has become big business, the systems used to pay the people behind it haven’t kept up. The industry has scaled along with the dollars; the payment infrastructure hasn’t.
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