50 Shades of Grey is just the beginning - How online media creators break into mainstream media

In the ‚old‘ days, the division between consumers and producers of media was clearly discernible – on one side were those working in the media industry, like journalists, artists and editors, producing content for media such as newspapers, radio and television.

On the other side were the consumers, who bought and consumed media content, but had little to no influence on the content. Their possibility to contribute was limited and generally under control of the producers – the odd ‚letter to the editor‘ or call in to a radioshow were submitted, but in the end, the final decision what to print or to broadcast was up to media creators.With the rise of the internet, this traditional division has been challegend, some might even say it has been destroyed altogether.

The internet has been crucial in changing the dynamic between consumers and producers. The audience no longer only consumes, but rather they themselves become producers and make new connections between different media plattforms and industries. 

It is a sign of convergence culture - the idea that media flows over different plattforms and that the division between consumers and creators is slowly erased, with the consumers also becoming producers and making new connections.The logic by which media industries operate constantly changes.

Nowadays, users have their own corners of the internet, where they not only discuss their favorite show, book or game, but also become creators of new content. On Tumblr, users share and post fan-created art and literature. We have seen the rise of Youtube-stars who reach an audience of millions, who in turn not only watch, but also comment, react and discuss the content. 

However, one of the things that still sets apart ‚traditional‘ media creators from those mainly operating independently on the internet is monetary compensation. Online artists often invest a lot of time and money to be able to create content, but they hardly get any compensation for their investments beyond the joy of creating something and the appreciation of those consuming their work. Thus, while they may be well known and popular in their specific fandom or on the plattform they use, they hardly have any sway to influence ‚traditional‘ media, have a bigger impact on the public or get financial means to improve or use new ways to create media. This, however, is slowly changing.

One prominent example is 50 Shades of Grey – originally written as an erotic BDSM-fanfiction of the Twilight-Books, it has been published as a book series and a movie and has become wildly successfull with audiences worldwide. It is a prime example of a fanwork becoming – in this case after some changes – popular and actually enabling the creator to earn money with it. 

Another example is the online comic 'One Punch Man'. It started out as a webcomic with simple art, but was so successful amongst audiences that it was adapted into a manga series and even animated on television. Below is a comparison between the published version on the left and the original version on the right. The graphic was found here.

 

Both, One Punch Man and 50 Shades of Grey, are an example how media that was a result of convergence culture was adapted into 'traditional' media. So far, there's been only a small number of online content that's been going this way. However, online producers have found ways to commercialize their work without being dependent on publishing houses.

There’s a growing number of plattforms that allow creators to publish their content in a non traditional way. Deviantart, popular with photographers and artists alike, enables users to buy and sell prints of their work and make a humble profit off of it. Youtube teams up with some of it's most popular stars and either pays them a salary or enables them to earn money from commercials. On amazon, you can publish your writing as an ebook and make money from book sales, without being dependent on any publishing house (or talent, for that matter, however one might define it). 

Another plattfom that is still rather young but has seen steadily increasing popularity since it’s introduction in 2013 is Patreon. Based on the old idea that those creating art have a patron who pays them for their work, it is a website that offers creators of online content the possibility to publish their creations and get paid by their so-called Patreons. 

Patreons starting page

Especially in the fandom community, Patreon has become rather popular – most often art created to a certain franchise or fandom cannot simply be sold due to copyright reasons, but Patreon is seen as a way to avoid copyright infrightment issues and also make a small profit of the hours and hours of work put into creating art. One such example is surfacage, creator of a popular Pokemon Go! Comic, that became famous and widely spread on tumblr and is now considering opening a patreon, to be able to continue producing content regularly.

Part of surfacage's Pokemon Go Comic

The ability to earn money with the production of content that is consumed by crowds of people, even if it is not part of the mainstream media, empowers artists and media creators as well as fans to have a bigger influence on media. It enables them to create independent of publishing houses and traditional media companies and strengthens their position when working together with them.
As mentioned above, convergence culture changes the logic by which media industries operate - gatekeeping by traditional media companies no longer works as intended, qualification for media creation is no longer guarded by publishing houses and art galeries. Being able to earn money or even make a living off of media creation allows artists on the internet to increase their influence and, some day, become mainstream and change the way art and media is seen. In the future, we will moste likely see more of these plattforms for artists. It remains to be seen which ones remain and are able to put their weight behind their name to influence mainstream media.