Market Overview

Traditionally, to earn money as a creator, one had to belong to a publishing house or other company to create artworks or works as part of the company’s economic activities. Therefore, among the huge number of individuals who create their works, only a few creators are professionals. Other than professionals, they are regarded as amateurs and their artworks as mere hobbies.

Nowadays, however, creators can present their works through social media and other online platforms and can earn a living by attracting fans. This economic activity is called the “creator economy” and is having a significant impact on the market.

Among various creator content, this research addresses the following five markets: 1) the creator fanzine (self-published comics/manga) market, 2) the creator illustration market, 3) the indie game market, 4) the indie music market, and 5) the creator fan club market. For the fiscal year 2023, these five markets have shown favorable performance and remarkable growth rates from the previous fiscal year. The prosperity of the markets is attracting creators from various fields.   

Noteworthy Topics

The Creator Illustration Market

The creator illustration market in this research is the market for original illustration works created by individuals who earn income from fans as illustrators or artists, and for illustration-related services.

The size of the creator illustration market is estimated at 24,666 million yen in FY2023, based on the total platform circulation. This includes 16,666 million yen for commission platforms and 8 billion yen for fan club platforms.

As illustration tools have shifted from paper and pen to the tablet and image editing software, digital illustration work has a high affinity for social media, making it easier for individual illustrators to post their work and receive feedback on social media.
As a result, some individual illustrators have become influencers with visible followers, which has increased the demand for the work of such an influencer-illustrator. In connection with this, the paid intermediary service business (commission platformers) between the illustrators and the clients, and the business of establishing fan clubs and providing subscription services (fan club platformers) have emerged and are making profits. In recent years, the number of clients from overseas has increased, due to the spread of 2D culture, i.e., the two-dimensional characters and stories stemming from Japanese anime, manga, and games.  

With further growth projected, the creator illustration market is expected to reach 28.0 billion yen in FY2024, up 13.5% from the previous fiscal year.

Future Outlook

Influenced by the proliferation of social media and other platforms, emerging subcultural trends, and fan activities devoted to favorites, the creator economy market has expanded rapidly in recent years. On the other hand, there are only a few creators who have entered the market and created their works there. The number of such creators is likely to increase, which is expected to further enhance the platforms, the channels for creators.

Research Outline