Content creators often find themselves building businesses on digital platforms they do not control. Search engines and social media sites can change algorithms, distribution policies, or monetization rules without notice, leaving creators with limited recourse. This lack of control is a growing concern, as many creators rely on these platforms for their livelihood. Digitalage, a subsidiary of Hop-on, Inc., is developing infrastructure designed to give creators greater transparency and control over how their work is protected, distributed, and monetized.
Peter Michaels, founder and chairman of Digitalage, highlights the core issue: “Reach is a permission that can be revoked. Ownership is something that survives the permission being revoked.” This statement underscores the vulnerability creators face when their access to audiences depends on platform policies that can change at any time. For instance, when a search engine alters its ranking criteria, a publisher may lose visibility without any meaningful way to appeal. Similarly, when a social platform revises its monetization rules, a creator may suddenly lose a primary source of income. Even moving to another platform or filing a takedown notice does not give creators control over audience access, distribution, or monetization. The audience may not follow, copies of content may continue to circulate, and payment terms can change.
Digitalage’s solution involves building media infrastructure that records who created a media asset, when it was created, and what rights and controls apply. This information is intended to carry through live broadcasting, replay distribution, searchable archives, and creator monetization in one unified workflow. For live content, the goal is to preserve identity, provenance, and rights information from creation through replay, ensuring that creators maintain a clear chain of ownership.
Beyond technical infrastructure, Digitalage argues that creator control also requires transparent moderation. The company’s published framework emphasizes clear rules, visible decisions, human review, meaningful appeals, and enforcement focused on harmful conduct rather than the identity or viewpoint of the speaker. When content is restricted, creators should be able to ask: Who made the decision? Who can see the affected content? What specific rule was applied? Was the action based on harmful conduct, or merely the identity or viewpoint of the person speaking? Digitalage’s Community Rules state that automated systems may act during live broadcasts when repeated detections indicate a potential violation, but creators can request post-action human review. Uploads and replays flagged for consequential enforcement receive human review, and eligible material enforcement decisions may be appealed.
These controls are designed to give creators greater visibility into how their content is protected, distributed, and monetized, and how consequential enforcement decisions can be reviewed. Digitalage has completed application testing and is currently operating in an invite-only launch, refining the experience, expanding programmed content, and onboarding initial creator cohorts. Its current product scope includes live broadcasting, replays, and video-on-demand. The company is building programming across news, sports, events, and faith.
Under terms announced on June 3 for its Genesis Creator Pilot, participating creators are eligible to receive 85% of gross subscription revenue, while Digitalage retains a 15% Platform Infrastructure Fee. Participants are also eligible to receive 50% of net advertising revenue generated by their content, subject to program terms. This revenue-sharing model is designed to offer creators a more favorable financial arrangement compared to many existing platforms.
Digitalage’s strategy is to work with creators who already have established communities and give those audiences reasons to stay and return. The value does not have to end when the live stream does. The system is designed to preserve a live event as a replay that remains searchable and indexable and may support additional monetization after the broadcast, subject to creator settings and program terms. This approach aims to extend the lifecycle of content and provide ongoing revenue opportunities.
“The distinction behind Digitalage’s thesis is that access is not ownership,” the company states. By building an infrastructure layer intended to give creators more durable control over their content, distribution, and monetization, Digitalage seeks to empower creators while keeping the experience simple. This initiative could have significant implications for the creator economy, where the balance of power has often favored platforms. As more creators seek greater independence and control, infrastructure like Digitalage’s may become increasingly important. For the broader industry, this could signal a shift toward more creator-centric models that prioritize transparency, ownership, and fair revenue sharing.
