What creator economy wants from Budget 2023?
With the Union Budget set to be revealed to the nation in the coming week, much attention and anticipation is buzzing around what it will entail for the digital sector, given the government and nation’s goal of soon becoming a one trillion dollar digital economy, as part and parcel of the more ambitious five trillion dollar economy. While e-commerce, esports and other flourishing sectors are expected to be among the big ticket items in the budget, as previously reported by e4m, another area to keep an eye on is the creator economy, which is pegged to grow to reach a Rs 2200 crore industry over the next two years, according to a recent report by GroupM. Simran Hoon, Chief Executive Officer, QYOU Media India, says that the community is young, talented, and powerful. “Influencers today have the power to aid further digital growth, especially in smaller markets. Relaxations in TDS for micro-influencers can boost growth for this sector. Overall, well-defined guidelines for this community are welcomed,” he observes. Shubham Singhal, CEO of Dot Media, adds that the creator economy is not just a term for the community anymore, but has become an integral segment in the marketing business and plans of most brands, and the government is also recognizing the importance and influence of this industry. “In the upcoming budget allocations, we expect that not only will the creator economy be recognized as a separate industry but will be given a significant and substantial amount of the budget division,” he says, noting that one likely scenario is the creation of influencer/creator cards like several other countries. “These cards would verify these artists as an influencer and give them the liberty to partake in promotional activities.” Indeed, the sector has come under increasing scrutiny as it expands, a most recent development being new guidelines that make it mandatory for social media influencers to disclose promotional content in accordance with the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. As reported by e4m, the Consumer Affairs Ministry, on January 20, released endorsement guidelines that propose a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on the offenders, which can go up to Rs 50 lakh for repeated offenders. According to the new guidelines, virtual influencers, computer-generated avatars, who behave in a similar manner as an influencer will also fall under the ambit of these guidelines. Gaurav Dagaonkar, Co-founder and CEO, Hoopr, observes that the creator economy in India is growing at an enviable CAGR of 25% with millions of artists, musicians, and influencers in successfully monetizing their passions into lucrative career opportunities. “I do think it would be prudent for the budget to pay heed to the fact that an increasing number of individuals within India are self-employed; this of course includes many creators,” he says. “Additionally, a welcome move would be rationalizing Section 194-R which deals with gifts to influencers and content creators. Given that many brands employ barter collaborations with influencers, exchange gifts or products for content that feature them, it will be interesting to see how the new tax regulations will impact both—content creators and brands,” adds Dagaonkar, referring to the above-mentioned guidelines. Deepak Pareek, Founder of Iceberg Creations, and a digital content creator himself says that since the creator economy has been booming over the last two-three years, there has seen a lot of progress - there has been an upsurge in the number of creators, influencer marketing agencies, and brands are ready to spend money on creators to get the desired result. “As a creator, my expectation from the Union budget is to allocate money to the creator economy so that creators can monetize their craft which gives them the confidence to continue doing what they love. This could also be done in the form of opening up schools or launching full-fledged courses on content creation which has now become a profession,” he says. Umang Srivastava, Co-founder of Momo Media, concludes that the creator economy is a Rs 10000 crore contributor to the Indian economy and this number is only set to go up. "The government should recognize this growing segment and come up with policies which further aid this growth," he asserts, adding, "The government should also setup proper regulation to create transparency between a platform and its content creators, especially when it comes to the ever-changing search & discovery algorithms, earnings through monetized content and protection of IP."
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