zlacker

> There is no "formula" for success in the creator economy - the winners are largely random.

That observation has echoes of the music industry - another extremely top-heavy creator business. There are formulaic ways to make "good enough" and "catchy enough" songs, but the window for "X enough" keeps shifting. Cranking out grunge won't be sustainable in the age of K-pop.

But the massive runaway hits have been predominantly outliers for their age. They have veered far enough from the mainstream to be interesting in new ways, different enough, and surprising enough to break through.

But to predict in advance what kinds of outliers will win the lottery? Largely random, indeed.

>>bostik+(OP)
Yeah but Rick Rubin is always involved and Max Martin has written a hell of a lot of megahits. Makes you think.

>>bostik+(OP)
That's arguably all entertainment. Fiction writing, art, music, movies, sports, vloggers, influencers, OnlyFans creators, etc. There's a couple brands so established that literally anything they do prints money, then there's a winner-takes-all dynamics that keeps making few randos briefly successful every season, and then there's everyone else who never makes enough to break even.

>>renewi+K1
Jack Antonoff as well. There certainly exist a handful of people who consistently produce hits for decades.

>>renewi+K1
>Rick Rubin

Dear God, I've looked into his discography[1] and nearly every album I think of as great from the last 30 years is there. Seasons in the Abyss, The Life of Pablo, 99 Problems, SOAD self-titled + Toxicity, The Geto Boys self-titled, Licensed to Ill... Is this man a hit printer or something? Really shows that Metallica went to him with Death Magnetic after the joke called St. Anger lol

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Rubin_production_discogra...

>>71bw+O5
His skill is helping creators do their best work. It’s a rare one.

>>71bw+O5
There's a great interview he's got with Anderson Cooper. A fantastic line from it is "I have no technical ability whatsoever". What a guy. Seemed quite likeable.