How the creator economy is rewriting the path to stardom

How the creator economy is rewriting the path to stardom

Digital media stars are building their careers with followers at the core. But the audience that makes them can break them too

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Last Updated: Sep 04, 2026, 16:28 IST8 min
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When Bhuvan Bam started making videos from his bedroom for his YouTube channel, becoming a film or OTT actor was not the plan. He was simply making people laugh. More than a decade later, the audience that first knew him for BB Ki Vines has followed him into his first OTT show, Taaza Khabar, watched him take on characters beyond YouTube, and now seen him turn into entrepreneur with House of Sarkar, his perfume brand.

Bam’s career reflects a larger shift in how entertainment celebrities are made today: The audience comes first, and everything else follows. “The shift is about the belief people have in you and your work. As the credibility sharpens, the stakes become bigger. As the opportunities increase, you are heard better,” he says. Compare this to a decade ago when the traditional route was to become an actor, land important roles, build an audience and turn that fame into endorsements. Today, that direction has reversed.

Vijay Subramaniam, founder and group CEO of Collective Artists Network, says, “The definition of celebrity has fundamentally changed. Earlier, entertainment platforms created celebrities and audiences followed them. Today, audiences create celebrities first and the industry follows.” He believes the creator economy has become one of the strongest talent pipelines into mainstream entertainment <a href="https://justfineinfotech.com/i-cant-get-a-job-because-i-can-work-only-from-home-what-can-i-do/” title=”I can’t get a job because I can work only from home. What can I do?”>because the creators arrive with an engaged community, a key asset.

But it is also where the real debate begins. Because, while an audience can get a creator through the door, it cannot necessarily keep them there. And the record, so far, has been a mixed bag. Some creators have made successful transitions into acting, while others have struggled

First Published: Sep 04, 2026, 16:40

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