- 73% of creators say unclear licensing could limit future business opportunities, highlighting growing risk around ownership and control
- 75% say human-created content is becoming a premium in the AI era, reinforcing the value of human creativity as AI-generated content becomes more common
- 83% say human-made sound drives stronger emotional connection
- 41% say they want to build a sustainable independent business or grow into a media brand or creator studio
- 89% of creators feel pressure to use AI to keep up with industry expectations
Stockholm, Sweden, May 28, 2026 – As AI becomes embedded in how creators work, licensing, ownership, and transparency are emerging as crucial to long-term growth. According to Epidemic Sound’s The Future of the Creator Economy Report 2026, 73% of creators say unclear licensing could limit future business opportunities, while 53% say copyright or licensing issues have already affected brand deals or opportunities.
The report, based on a survey of 3,000 professional creators in the UK and US, is the first in Epidemic Sound’s new report series The Sound of Creativity exploring how AI is reshaping sound, content creation, and creativity across creators, brands, and artists.
As creators move faster and publish more content, the findings show that long-term success depends on more than output. Licensing clarity and creative control are becoming critical to how creators protect their work and build trust, while human-made sound is helping them stand out.
Creators need control over how their work is used
The report shows a clear gap between the risks creators face and the way they currently prioritise rights. Despite the commercial impact of licensing and copyright issues, only 13% say licensing or IP discipline is a key driver of success, revealing a gap between risk and readiness.
At the same time, AI is creating new questions around disclosure, consent, and brand identity, with 93% of creators saying they associate AI with significant risks in music, sound or content creation.
Creators’ biggest concerns include:
- 44% worry about fully AI-generated content being released without disclosure
- 37% are concerned about their content being used to train AI without permission
- 33% worry about AI replicating their voice or style
Transparency is increasingly tied to trust and performance. 75% say disclosure about when AI is used in music, sound, or content is essential for trust, while 72% say transparency about AI involvement improves content performance.
Human creativity is the premium
As content becomes easier to produce at scale, distinctiveness is harder to achieve. The findings show that creators see human creativity, brand identity, and craft as increasingly important in standing out.
Sound sits at the centre of this. Around 8 in 10 creators say sound plays a critical role across content performance, engagement, revenue, and brand identity. More specifically:
- 83% say human-made sound drives stronger emotional connection
- 79% say music drives engagement and revenue
- 78% say music builds brand identity
- 76% say music can make or break content performance
Creators also see human-created content becoming more valuable in the AI era. 75% say human-created content is becoming a premium, rising to 81% among creators with more than 500,000 followers.
Creators are building businesses, not just creating content
The report also shows a creator economy that is becoming more structured and commercially defined.
Creators are increasingly focused on long-term growth, direct audience relationships, and diversified revenue. 41% say they want to build a sustainable independent business or grow into a media brand or creator studio, while 27% are focused on expanding commercial opportunities through partnerships or product launches.
Creators are also investing in deeper audience relationships:
- 72% are actively developing owned audiences, rising to 79% among creators with more than 500,000 followers
- 37% prioritise deep loyalty and engagement with a smaller audience
- 33% prioritise reaching the widest possible audience
Earnings also rise significantly with scale. Average annual earnings increase from around £10,000 in the UK and $11,000 in the US among creators with fewer than 10,001 followers, to around £95,000 and $106,000 respectively among creators with more than 500,000 followers.
AI is becoming a creative accelerator
Creators are using AI across the creative workflow, from content enhancement (46%) and idea generation (44%) to editing and production (43%), as well as audience insights (33%).
This growth is being shaped by pressure as well as possibility. 89% of creators feel some pressure to use AI to keep up with industry expectations, rising sharply among larger creators. Among those with more than 500,000 followers, 45% feel strong pressure to use AI, compared with 22% of those with fewer than 10,000 followers.
Yet creators are clear about the role they want AI to play. 82% say AI enhances creativity when used responsibly, and the report shows creators are more likely to use AI for workflow support than fully generative output.
The market has drawn a clear line: AI must augment human creativity rather than replace it.
The creator economy, redefined for the AI era
Commenting on the report’s findings, Sara Börsvik, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Epidemic Sound, said: “Our fourth Future of the Creator Economy report shows a creator economy being reshaped by AI, scale, and rising expectations. Creators are producing more content than ever before, with AI increasingly becoming part of that workflow. As output grows, authenticity, creative control, and rights clarity are becoming much more important. At Epidemic Sound, we’re supporting this shift by building for the full creative workflow: combining human-made sound, intelligent tools and rights clarity so creators and brands can scale with confidence”.
Gracie Schram, Global Head of Creator Partnerships and Strategy at Epidemic Sound, added: “We see creators experimenting with AI every day, but the strongest ones are still deeply connected to their own style, voice, and audience. They’re using AI to test ideas, edit faster, and free up more time for the parts of the process that make their content feel recognisable and personal. Music is a huge part of that. The right sound helps creators make content feel authentic and emotionally connected. In a world where anyone can generate content, human creativity isn't losing its value; it's becoming the most valuable thing there is”.
Tyler Chou, Founder and CEO of Tyler Chou Law for Creators, said: “The day a creator decides to sell their business is the day someone audits every license they ever signed. I have watched seven-figure exits collapse in diligence because a creator used a song without a proper license, or signed away their likeness too broadly, or let a contractor walk off with the IP. In an AI world where a creator's face can be cloned in under a minute and their voice in under a sentence, the only durable asset is the IP you can prove you own on paper. Content is King. IP is Queen. The Exit is the whole game. And the exit only happens if the IP underneath it holds up”.
Methodology
The survey was conducted among 3,000 content creators aged 18+ across the U.K. and U.S.. The interviews were conducted online by Sapio Research in March-April 2026 using an email invitation and an online survey.
Sapio Research is a B Corp Certified full-service market research agency. Sapio Research are an MRS Company Partner, and employs members of, and abides by, the MRS Code of Conduct and ESOMAR principles.
