We propose a model that classies platforms in the so-called "creator economy", such as
Youtube, Patreon, TikTok, and Twitch, into three broad business models: pure discovery
mode (provides recommendations to help viewers to discover creators); pure membership
mode (enables individual creators to monetize their viewers directly); and hybrid mode that
combines both. Creators respond to platforms' decisions by individually choosing to supply
content designed along a niche-broad spectrum, which involves a trade-o between viewership
size and per-viewer revenue. Such endogenous responses create a link between two sources of
platform revenue (advertising and transaction commission). Compared to the pure modes,
the hybrid mode can lead to negative spillovers across the two sources of platform revenue
so that it is not necessarily more protable. In the case of competing platforms, incentives
to avoid the negative spillovers from competition in transaction commissions to advertising
revenue results in platforms choosing dierent equilibrium business models.