Almost a fifth of Gen Z’s are intent on making social media content creation their full-time job

Over 1.3 million (18%) 18–26-year-olds in the UK are making, or aspiring to make their main income from creating content for social media platforms as they shun the world of teaching and medicine. The results come following the news that young people have been disproportionately affected by industry closures as a result of the pandemic. 

As the younger generation returns to work following the lifting of covid-19 restrictions many are turning their backs on traditional roles and instead joining the  global influencer market worth over $13.8 billion. 

The YouGov survey commissioned by music technology company Loudly, found that of the Gen Z respondents, a fifth (19%) said they wanted to be a content creator over becoming a teacher (13%) or a doctor/veterinarian (11%). 

The results show that it’s not just a pipedream - already, an impressive 300,000 18–26-year-olds use content creation as their sole income with a further million working towards it. 

However, compared to Germany the UK’s younger population still prefer traditional roles. 28% of German 18–26-year-olds responded that they were already making their income from content creation or planned to vs. 18% in the UK. 

As the world accelerated its digital transformation over the past 20 months it seems Gen Z are now more keen than ever to capitalise on this and make their living from online content. While almost a third (30%) of respondents said the reason that they make digital content is to generate more clicks/followers to earn money, more than double that (67%) said they make digital content because they enjoy it. 21% stated that they want to get better at creating digital content and 15% hoped to inspire others to change the world together. 

"What we are witnessing is a digital renaissance – by becoming influential content creators, Gen Z see an opportunity to lead more independent lives while having a positive impact on the world.” says Rory Kenny, CEO and Co-founder of Loudly. “This new class of digitally-native entrepreneurs can reach millions of people through social media. As they develop their skills and build their audiences, they look to adopt software tools which enable them to become more efficient and better at content creation. At Loudly, our goal is to support and empower anyone in achieving their dream of becoming full-time creators. Therefore, our AI-powered music service enables them to create custom music tailored to their exact needs”, he adds.

But because the content creation industry is in its infancy, having the right technical equipment to elevate creators to a standard to generate money is a problem with 34% saying it was an issue. 

With creators wanting to make their work feel more professional, many feel like they need support with 60% using services and tools to help create higher-quality content and 46% using those services to create digital content quicker. 

36% of those asked felt that music was important to include in their content but 18% felt that there is a lack of options to integrate music into their digital content with 16% saying they would like to use a music service that allowed them to be creative too. 

14% of those asked cited an automated or intelligent solution to generate music as something that they would like to use. 11% had purchased licensed music for their content with 15% producing their own music for their work.