Building media empires in the creator economy: Takeaways from SXSW London
The creator economy is ready for the taking. Dig into the key takeaways from our panel at SXSW London, covering direct-to-fan models, the power of fan feedback, and more.
The entertainment industry is almost unrecognizable from a decade ago. How media is made and shared, who creates it, how people find and engage with content — to call it a paradigm shift is an understatement.
Today, most fans find their favorite artists on social media rather than traditional radio. Platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram are the new TV.
The boundaries between formats are dissolving: a game can kick-start a movie, a song can ignite a cultural phenomenon, and a YouTube channel can become a global media empire. It’s all fueled by direct connections between creators and their audiences in the digital age.
At the heart of this transformation are creators. After all, they’re the ones rewriting the rules.
Victor Bengtsson is the managing director of Sidemen Entertainment. What was once a collective of seven British YouTubers has now become a worldwide hit, boasting its own Netflix series and more than 50 billion views across platforms.
Rachel Sandy, a composer and content creator with over 1.2 million TikTok followers, fuses classical artistry with viral creativity. We challenge you to find anyone else who does both atmospheric scores and painfully accurate parodies.
Katori Walker, a Pasadena-born hip-hop artist, has racked up more than 1.6 billion streams on YouTube alone. He’s been sharpening his voice for over 20 years, but he’s just getting started.
Bengtsson, Sandy, and Walker are at the coalface of tomorrow’s creator economy, building fandoms that stand the test of time. Their stories, shared with Epidemic Sound’s chief business development officer, Tom Höglund, offer a look behind the curtain.
Keep reading to learn how today’s creators and artists can seize their moment in this limitless new era of media.
1. What does the creator economy look like today?
The last decade has brought with it a complete overhaul in the production, distribution, and consumption of media.
As Höglund put it: “It doesn’t only affect how people consume media or how ads are bought — it also changes everything about how media is made. Not just moving images, movies, and short clips, but also the musicians and other artists that thrive in that space.”
Getting started in the new creator economy means embracing fresh forms of content and distribution. Sandy, who launched her career through short-form video content on TikTok and Instagram, emphasized the power of social media as an accessible entry point.
“I would argue that we consume [short-form content] more in quantity than films or TV shows, because it’s just always there,” she explained.
She’s leveraged this knowledge to build a catalog of genres, concepts, tricks to pull. Her videos usually circle around music production and parody tracks, and as she’s created more, she’s fine-tuned them.
@rachelsandy If you too, fancy a JIVE, you can jive to this VERY SONG… ‘tis on all platforms babes x #the1975 #1975 #pop #alternative #indie #musician #producer #musicproducer #fyp #foryou #muna #womeninmusic ♬ original sound - Rachel Sandy
TikTok and Instagram were Sandy’s entrance into the music industry, helping her grow an audience without compromising her vision.
On a similar note, Walker recognized early on that the rules were changing. The rapper approached his career with a ‘radio is dead’ mindset, hedging his bets on digital content.
“It was a complete buy-in and acceptance of: this is what’s coming next,” he said. When Instagram introduced one-minute videos, Walker saw an opportunity, creating one-minute songs tailored to the platform’s then-new limitations.
Walker’s novel strategy proved that deliberate, platform-savvy approaches can disrupt dusty old industry norms. “This is the new wave,” he announced.
Bengtsson’s story with Sidemen Entertainment echoes this curious desire to embrace the unknown. Starting with a simple question — “How much do I need to do in order to make someone laugh?” — he and the Sidemen started by questioning traditional media’s slow, gatekept processes.
“The first seven years [were] about seeing if we were funny enough to make content,” said Bengtsson. Ultimately, their success came from a staunch refusal of the old ways. Pushing back.
“The people that sit at the top of that status quo, they benefit from the status quo,” he continued. “We do not. So we are now basically saying, ‘What happens if we do it this way?’”
Bengtsson, Sandy, and Walker’s success spotlights a shared goal: challenge tradition to connect with new audiences. Whether you’re an artist releasing a new song, or a creator hoping to one day launch a Netflix series, the key is to meet your audience where they are. Rewrite the rules as you go, if you need to.
2. Harness the power of direct-to-fan relationships
One of the most transformative shifts in the new creator economy is how artists and creators connect directly with their audiences. Brokers like traditional labels and publishing houses have less sway.
According to Epidemic Sound’s own research, 95% of full-time and part-time content creators use direct-to-fan models to engage with their audiences.
Höglund hammered this point home by pointing to Billie Eilish’s latest album release. “I looked at her Instagram, [and] it was, like, 40 million followers. Who needs a marketing campaign anymore?”
It’s true — the dynamics have shifted. Artists can now speak directly to their fans, instantly share new work, and cultivate communities without relying on gatekeepers.
Sandy’s reasoning chimed with Höglund’s excitement about direct-to-fan engagement. “These labels don’t have the same vice that they used to,” she said, highlighting how control has shifted back to creators. “Your idea, your voice, is entirely yours.”
Every comment, each interaction, becomes an opportunity to strengthen ties between artist and audience. Sandy also pointed to a broader cultural change — “We are essentially living in a post-genre music world” — where the artist’s unique voice is the most valuable currency. There are no industry expectations anymore.
For independent artists, especially, this freedom fosters fan bases who’re personally invested in a creator’s journey. Because success means so much more than reach. It’s about relationships. One comment, one share, one viral hit can transform passive consumers into passionate communities.
3. Turn criticism into creative fuel
Direct engagement with fans brings tremendous opportunity, but it’s not without its hiccups. With millions of eyes on their work, creators inevitably face criticism alongside praise.
Walker offered a sobering perspective on how to handle negativity. “A comment is an action,” he explained. “Someone stopped their scroll, hit the comment button, typed something, and then hit send. I had that much of your attention.”
He embraces the idea of focusing on the positive, living by the ‘80% rule.’ “If the ROI on anything was 80%, you’d say that’s a good investment,” he said. He has a point — that’s a 4/5 score on Rolling Stone, after all.
Sandy doubled down on this point, recognizing the sting of early negative feedback but stressing growth and self-belief.
“The first time you get a negative comment, your initial reaction is, ‘Oh my gosh, everyone hates me,’” she shared. “But it’s going to be Dave from down the pub who’s never played a keyboard in his life [who’s being critical], not the artists I respect.”
Negative feedback hasn’t changed Sandy’s creative vision. Rather, it’s helped her build a “tolerance” for putting herself out there online. She now encourages creators to take that criticism with a grain of salt and hold firm to their artistic voice.
From a business standpoint, Bengtsson highlights how fan feedback — both positive and negative — can be invaluable. Reflecting on the release of the Sidemen’s reality show, Inside, he recalls the anxiety of live-streaming the premiere and measuring viewer sentiment in real time.
“We were shaking in our boots,” he admitted. But as the episode unfolded, fan engagement became a “weapon” that informed their creative decisions and helped them instantly gauge success.
“We take risks with it,” he added. “That’s what direct-to-fan engagement really does for us.”
When harnessed, direct fan feedback can be used to evolve, connect, and thrive. It might not seem like it at the time, but even straight-up negativity can be the catalyst for something great.
4. Pick your platform and perfect your sound
For a while now, creators have known that discovery happens on new platforms: TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels. But to succeed, they need to understand how to navigate each platform’s role in the wider ecosystem.
Sandy compares platforms like TikTok to London’s Piccadilly Circus: loud, chaotic, high-traffic spaces designed to catch eyes, not hold attention.
@rachelsandy Healing the world one wig at a time 😌 #sia #elliegoulding #pop #musician #producer #fyp #foryou #fypシ ♬ original sound - Rachel Sandy
“Their main job is to just drive engagement,” she explained. “They should be giant billboards for you to say, ‘This is who I am, this is what I do.’
“Immediately, someone sees your video — a complete stranger — [and] you want them to know a bit about your personality and what you’re trying to do,” Sandy continued. “They click on your profile, and it’s a clear brand, a clear image.
“Through doing that, you build up credibility, and that’s when brands want to work with you. You get the traction needed to elevate it to the next level.”
While TikTok might be the spark, platforms like YouTube are where the fire blazes. For Walker, that strategy started with sound.
“I noticed that certain songs within my catalog were moving a certain type of way,” he said. “So within my niche sound, I’m like, ‘How do I perfect this to a balance of a formula where every time I do something, it’s gonna go?’ Because I know social media and content [are] very important, but a good song is gonna prevail every time. Every single time.”
That philosophy paid off when one of Walker’s tracks, Himothy, featured heavily in the Sidemen’s Inside series. This resulted in an eye-watering 1,600% week-on-week increase in streams for the track.
“All it takes is someone like the Sidemen using a song, and everybody’s like, ‘Oh, this is really good,’” he said. “I knew it just took people time to catch on. So if I keep doing that, eventually it’s not just gonna be people from the Sidemen using the music. It’s gonna be somebody else and then somebody else and then somebody else, and everybody’s gonna be like, ‘Wait, why am I just now hearing about this?’ Because it’s everywhere.”
That’s why, for Walker, building his sound goes hand-in-hand with building his online footprint. Each platform should be treated with intent and respect, but a legacy isn’t forged by simply showing up.
How and where you’re posting will only get you so far. Why you’re posting is the secret puzzle-piece.
5. Protect your creative energy
In the rush to keep pace with algorithms, audience demand, and the pressure to be everywhere, one of the biggest threats to a creator’s success is something no one sees: burnout. Content fatigue. Sheer exhaustion. Whatever you want to call it, Sandy’s seen it first-hand in the music industry.
“I hear it a lot from musicians,” she said. “They’re like, ‘I just want to make music. I don’t want to have to do all this other stuff.’”
Sandy finds a balance somewhere in the middle, though. “With my content, I entered the industry wanting to write film scores,” she explained. “But I found a completely different voice through TikTok, because I genuinely enjoyed it. You don’t have to reinvent the world, but you can make it more interesting. Make it more you.”
The headline? Don’t chase every trend. Don’t necessarily chase what excites others. Chase what excites you. 96% of content creators admit to facing challenges along the way — you’d may as well enjoy it.
6. What’s next for the creator economy?
This moment right now is a checkpoint. A pit stop. But what comes next for the creator economy?
“This checkpoint is going to put people like Katori Walker at the end of the Avengers films,” Bengtsson declared. “It’s gonna be Rachel Sandy composing music for the big productions that come after this. We’re not compromising on our creativity — we’re re-establishing what creativity is.”
In tomorrow’s creator economy, those who were once told to wait their turn are busy building empires of their own. They’re selling out stadiums, inking Netflix deals, and reaching audiences on a global scale.
This generation of creators refuses to be boxed in. They’re changing how content is made, and arguably more importantly, who gets to make it.
“The people who come after us will be the ones to actually establish this,” Bengtsson concluded. “There’s no one getting the torch handed to them, except the people who are the best at what they’re doing.”
The future of the creator economy is Rachel Sandy’s soundtracks filling massive theaters. It’s Katori Walker on the big screen. It’s the rise of creators who’re building the next generation of entertainment one day at a time. But they can’t get there without the fans.
Want to hear the full conversation? Watch the panel discussion from SXSW London below.
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