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The Paris Creator Week Creator Economy Report 2026 reveals rapid M&A growth is shifting the industry from fragmented individual deals to partnerships with larger, professionally managed entities, forcing brands to rethink their creator strategies.
The global creator economy is on track to reach $217.3 billion in 2026, up 26.2 per cent year on year, according to the Creator Economy Report 2026 unveiled at Paris Creator Week on 4 November. But the headline growth figure masks the structural shift beneath it: the report identifies 69 transactions in 2024, 81 in 2025 and 70 in the first half of 2026.
The industry is consolidating fast, and for brands that means the fragmented creator landscape they've navigated for the past five years is being replaced by larger, professionally managed businesses capable of delivering repeatable performance at scale.
Media acquisitions accounted for 27.1 per cent of H1 transaction volume, the largest share of any category, and the first time media has led the market. Software followed at 24.3 per cent, agencies at 21.4 per cent, talent management at 14.3 per cent, according to Quartermast Advisors data cited in the report.
That media now leads the acquisition market is significant. The creator economy is gradually shifting from an economy primarily based on audience reach and individual influence towards an industry in which value also lies in structured businesses, recurring revenues, assets, intellectual property, technology and access to financing, the BNP Paribas analysis states.
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