What is the creator economy? It consists of people who have turned their passion or hobby into an online business. This can be from platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, etc., that allow content creators to make an income doing what they love. The rise of content creators in Korea has also led to creator economy startups in Korea. Many of these startups focus on helping content creators produce better content, build communities, and offer alternative platforms for monetization. To monetize, creators can have several business models, including subscription, advertising, tipping, or e-commerce. Below are some of Korea’s top creator economy startups focused on empowering content creators.

Creator Economy Startups in Korea

MyMusicTaste

One of Korea’s few creator economy startups focused on musicians is MyMusicTaste. It is an exciting startup in that they are a fan-initiated live event-making service. This means that they bring fans, artists, and promoters from all over the world together in one place to create a valuable and meaningful concert experience. The power is mainly in the fans’ hands. Fans can request their favorite artist’s concerts in their city. Then based on the demand they can generate on the MyMusicTaste platform, artists and promoters can organize an in-demand concert for that city.

Artists and promoters can access data to determine whether to put on a concert.

Putting on a concert can be risky for artists, organizers, and promoters. Ticket sales are the key. Therefore MyMusicTaste allows fans to pre-request tickets, so the artists will have a baseline for ticket sales before they make their decision. Most of their users are outside of Korea (90%). This is due to the popularity of K-Pop around the world. Therefore, users can bring K-Pop groups to their city through the platform.

“Most artists are looking to generate large profits and interact with their fans from all corners of the world through international tours. It is based on this need that we get a sense of the market and plan the tour,” said Lee Jaeseok, CEO of MyMusicTaste.

BIGC

BIGC is a platform for artists, musicians, writers, entertainers, and specialists to communicate with fans and subscribers and earn money. It consists of the BIGC Studio, a SaaS service for artists. They also have an app called BIGC, which allows fans and subscribers to access live shows and content from their favorite artists. Artists can create a subscription page on BIGC Studio where they can hold live broadcasts.

Video Monster

Video Monster is a Korean startup that enables content creators to make professional-level videos through their apps. They will also develop apps for customized API embedding for e-commerce and live commerce. Their services are already available in Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, and Korea. They aim to equip every content creator with the tools to make high-quality videos in just a few minutes. The free video editing app allows users to edit by simply dragging and dropping.

Once a content creator loads the video onto the app. The app takes care of the rest. They have around 4,000 video templates on the cloud. Therefore, content creators will get professional videos quickly. The app has over 200,000 users to date.

Jocoos

Jocoos is a video technology startup that creates SaaS solutions for content creators. They are the creators of FLIPFLOP, a transcoder that allows videos to be played on any mobile device. It also allows for real-time streaming and supports online interactive webinars. In addition, Joccos created a community-driven online shopping app for cosmetics called MyBeauTip. On the platform, creators and influencers can share information about the products they have used by posting video reviews or live streams where viewers can buy the product while watching.

Studio XID – ProtoPie

Korean SaaS startup Studio XID is the operator of a code-free interaction prototyping tool for digital products. Now designers can design sensor-aided prototypes and digital products without code. In addition, designers can import designs from tools like Adobe and Sketch onto ProtoPie. Furthermore, designers can share ideas and prototypes using ProtoPie Player or ProtoPie Cloud and get quicker feedback. Therefore Studio XID bridges the gap between developers and designers. Some clients using their tool include designers from global companies like Google, Microsoft, Alibaba, and Nintendo. They have users from over 100 different countries.

ProtoPie is available with a one-year subscription model. Those that would like to test out ProtoPie can try their free trial version. Furthermore, they received over $3.5 million in funding from Korean VC firms such as Korea Investment Partners and Samsung Venture Investment. Their focus for 2022 will be on product development and overseas expansion.

“ProtoPie enables designers to build prototypes for the entire spectrum of digital products, in the easiest way possible without code. This way, we would like to bridge the gap between designers and developers as well as software and hardware,” said CEO of Studio XID, Tony Kim.

PISON CONTENTS – Musicspray

One of the most innovative Korean startups in the music industry is PISON CONTENTS, the creators of the platform called Musicspray to help indie musicians bring their music to the people. They offer a distribution service and support for up-and-coming musicians. The platform distributes music to over 120 countries. They currently have over 5,000 musicians who use the service. In addition, PISON CONTENTS has SoundDex, a system that creates music data optimized for global standards. Furthermore, it will allow foreign musicians to enter the Korean market. Their focus for 2021 will be on introducing a service that can track suspended royalties on foreign global music streaming services and collect them, which will also protect the musician’s copyrights.

“In Korea there’s a perception that if you’re a musician, you belong to a management company. Despite the globalization trends and popularity of hallyu, Korean artists still struggle when trying to reach out to the world. In Korea, it is not easy to compete with big companies but I hope that everyone can be a musician,” said CEO of Pison Contents, Ryu Ho-suk.

Awake Corp.

Awake Corp. is a startup that operates platforms that support online content creators. Their two primary services include Meercat IO and Creator Time. Meercat IO is a utility service for content creators. It analyzes the content and provides feedback to the creators. It can determine the level of influence using big data analytics. Awake Corp raised $1 million in seed funding from Seoul Techno Holdings, angel investors, and the public Korean incubator program TIPS.