Live streaming has boomed over the last few years and the global market is now worth $1.49 billion. It’s rising rapidly and is expected to be worth more than double that by 2027. Savvy content creators have realized the overwhelming potential of the technology and are now using it to make money online. In the early days of live streaming, most careers were in the gaming industry on platforms like Twitch. Now, though, there are countless professions that can leverage the power of the platform.
Here see how live streaming brought new moneymaking opportunities for creators:
1. The live-streaming industry all began with gaming
Facebook may have boosted live streaming and caused it to enter the mainstream in 2017, but the platform had already been in use for much longer than that. It first emerged in the gaming industry, with Twitch and online casinos being the earliest pioneers. Developers in the iGaming industry have always strived to recreate the physical casino experience online, and live casino has achieved that. Now, there are countless games for players to choose from in this category, with innovative offerings including Funky Time, Mega Fire Blaze Lucky Ball, and Crazy Time. These games came about thanks to the overwhelming popularity of live-streamed versions of classics like blackjack and roulette throughout the 2010s.
The other main place that helped boost live streaming in the early days was Twitch. The game streaming site began way back in 2011 and was an instant hit. Indeed, it was so popular among streamers and viewers that it was valued at just shy of $1 billion when Amazon acquired it in 2014. There were more than 100 million viewers on the platform by 2015, and this was the first place where it became obvious that there was money to be made from a career in live streaming.
Some streamers emerged on Twitch during the 2010s and are now well-known celebrities. Ninja was one of the first people to make serious money from the platform, and by 2019 he had 14 million followers. Twitch realized the overwhelming potential for having celebrity streamers on the platform and started to sign exclusivity deals with some of the biggest names that same year to prevent them from moving to rival services. A few of the early names to gain these lucrative contracts were Lirik and TimTheTatman.
The fact that people started to make viable careers out of live-streaming their game activity made more influential people understand the potential of the platform. Facebook saw how the technology was transforming the gaming industry and realized it needed to jump on it. The social media platform helped the technology enter the mainstream and reach people all over the world.
2. New streaming niches are emerging
After Facebook Live took the planet by storm in 2017, other social media platforms started to expand their live offerings. YouTube is now one of the other main places to find live-streamed content, and this has led to new careers that make use of the platform. There are loads of streaming niches that have emerged on YouTube, and they offer a variety of ways for people to make money if they have the right skillsets.
Live shopping is one of the most notable new niches that has grown in recent years, with e-commerce sites like Amazon leading the way. Viewers can now purchase products directly from a live stream, and the interactive nature of the platform allows people to ask questions about the content on offer. It allows businesses to forge a strong connection with customers and build trust with them. Amazon now even uses influencers to sell products, helping put the right things in front of the correct target audience.
One profession that has enjoyed a somewhat surprising rise in live streaming has been law. Some lawyers are turning to sites like YouTube to host live question-and-answer sessions about legal issues. These normally come from potential clients, who may then decide to sign up for official legal advice. There’s even live courtroom coverage these days, giving people a look behind the scenes of the legal system. This can give lawyers a chance to show off their skills and their worth to potential clients.
3. The rise of tiktok live will have a huge impact
TikTok has been one of the world’s most influential social media platforms for the last few years, and it’s projected that the service will have more than 15 million users in the UK alone by 2025. One of the biggest developments in the service in recent years has been the introduction of live streaming, and this promises to push the technology even more firmly into the mainstream. The Chinese social media giant has dedicated a lot of resources to developing its live-streaming offering, and now some of the leading creators on the app say that this is their best avenue for making money.
There are ways of making use of TikTok LIVE that enable people from traditional professions to come to the fore. For example, authors and musicians are realizing that the app can provide an excellent way to reach audiences and foster fan bases. Along with these, there are a few slightly more obscure career paths being developed by people on TikTok LIVE. A prime example of this is Jakey Boehm, who has earned more than $34,000 in a month on his channel. Fans pay to disturb him when he’s resting, with various options including loud music and turning bright lights on and off repeatedly.
There’s no doubt that live streaming is already booming in 2023, but it feels like the industry is going to get even bigger and better in the years ahead. TikTok LIVE has proven that there are new ways to make money from live streaming that nobody has considered before. It will most certainly influence people to keep innovating.
