The net worth of famous people has always been easily accessible on Google. You type in your favourite celebrity and sometimes their net worth is right there! Most of the time a celebrity’s net worth is inaccurate and comes from an estimation of their career earnings and assets but there is no way for us to know for sure.

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What celebrities have proven is that entertainment can create a net worth. Movies, television shows and high-profile roles in the entertainment business have generated wealth for those people because of their work in the entertainment industry.

Aside from those in the top one per cent of the business, the entertainment industry has many fast-growing fields. The online gaming industry for one, can constantly grow because it is at the forefront of innovation and growth. The total revenue of the online gaming market in 2023 globally was $183 billion and is estimated to rise to $207 billion by 2026 if growth continues.

The online gaming industry has more lucrative sectors. Online gambling’s recent popularity is because remote hobbies have become popular and gamers have the same casino and gaming experience at home.

Sponsorship in the industry in popular card games like poker have boosted the visibility of card games and gambling tournaments. Tournaments are entertaining for spectators because they involve recognisable people and usually have high-stakes buy-ins and payouts. The players generate net worth if they win, and when some of the tournaments are all-or-nothing, only one person takes the prize money.

Some poker tournaments’ entertainment isn’t even in the value of the money but of the player. The ones who play in high-stakes knockout poker tournaments online have a bounty on their head. This means they are worth a certain amount of money and if they get knocked out, the player who did it gets to keep the money that the knocked-out player is worth.

The winner is the one who knocks out the most players and retains the most money.

So sometimes, the entertainment industry generates net worth through its workers but in many ways, it generates net worth through other means.

1.  Using Intellectual property

Intellectual property or (IP) is the law that protects copyright and ownership. It protects the work of music artists and creatives. For companies, it is lucrative because they usually will have intellectual property over their characters, television shows, and franchises.

This is why studios and networks produce merchandise for their popular products because fans will buy them. They can also charge a lot of money if their products are popular. Marvel, who are owned by Disney, can charge a lot for Marvel-related merchandise because they own the rights.

When they own the rights, it means nobody else is technically allowed to use the logo, likeness and brand to generate revenue because they do not have permission to without licensing, which needs to be paid for. Spin-offs and sequels are a way to generate money for studios with intellectual property without costing them as much. Because they own the IP they can produce sequels and spin-offs with the original characters or in the same universe. Fans gravitate towards these products because of nostalgia and popularity, so studios make a lot of money.

2. Streaming

Streaming is one of the biggest ways the entertainment industry boosts its net worth. Streaming sites generate profit through subscriptions, producing original content and licensing content from other brands to put on their sites.

Netflix, for example, has a catalogue of nostalgic shows on older television networks like The CW.

Shows and movies generate income based on viewing figures and data. Data is used by streaming sites to alter their marketing strategies and to see which of their projects are popular with audiences.

3.  Advertisements

Advertisements used to be in catalogues, then on radio, television, and now online. Entertainment companies will use social media and their sights to advertise their shows. Streaming services like Amazon Video have started to do this, and they receive money through the number of impressions the ads get.

Another way of making money in entertainment that is still common practice is through product placement. Music videos used to be a prime place to do this with things like speakers and cosmetics, now it is more common in movies. In the newer Mean Girls film, there was product placement of E.L.F Cosmetics and other applications. Brands will pay the studio and filmmakers to feature their products, adding extra revenue which usually goes back into the project’s budget.

4.  Promotional and Fan Events

Fan culture has steadily risen thanks to social media and events like ComiCon. At ComiCon money is made through ticket sales, the merchandise and sometimes add-ons for tickets like meet-and-greets and entry to panels.

Many actors have started to attend fan conventions for specific shows. One Tree Hill actors attend a fan convention in Wilmington, Carolina, every year.

Even music artists make money from exclusive concert tours and appearances at festivals. At festivals, they’re heavily promoted as headliners and make money through an appearance fee, like they would at a fan convention.

Film studios make money through exclusive or early screenings where they give access to fans and now sometimes influencers. In return, they receive free or paid promotion if the brand has a partnership with the influencer. It Ends With Us, a movie starring Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively had exclusive screenings early before the movie was out in August.

Influencers like Telly Zelly will make money through different means like brand partnerships, through original content like YouTube videos and music, it doesn’t always have to be affiliated with attending an event or performing.