Right now, some 50 million artists, musicians and creators of all stripes publish content as a full- or part-time source of income.¹ With an estimated market size of more than $100 billion,² the creator economy is one of the fastest-growing categories of small business.¹
To support this growth, today, we’re launching the Visa Creator Program, an initiative that aims to help digital-first artists, musicians, fashion designers, and filmmakers accelerate their small business through non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Each cycle of the program will support a selected group of entrepreneurs looking to deepen their understanding of the technology and platforms underpinning NFT commerce.
Growing a business with NFTs
Because NFTs can establish ownership and authenticity of digital goods and media, like images, videos, and music, they can help creators generate revenue and grow their business.
“NFTs have the potential to become a powerful accelerator for the creator economy,” said Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto, Visa. “We’ve been studying the NFT ecosystem and its potential impacts on the future of commerce, retail and social media. Through the Visa Creator Program, we want to help this new breed of small and micro businesses tap into new mediums for digital commerce.”
Community, mentorship and access for emerging artists
The Visa Creator Program is geared towards entrepreneurs working in art, music, fashion and film who are serious about incorporating NFTs into their business model, whether they’ve just minted their first NFT or have several successful drops under their belt.
“In the early days of my NFT career, I relied on a community of NFT experts and advocates to ground me in this new world,” says Micah Johnson, former professional athlete, the artist behind Aku, and one of the first participants to work with the Visa Creator Program. “I’m excited to work with Visa in providing that same type of mentorship to emerging artists setting out on their NFT journey.”
