Publishers have always been a filter between creators and the public.
I'd add that there's also a distinction to be made between bigger "content creators" and smaller ones.
IST bridges the gap between creators and users of IT.
That's why the relationship between content creators and makers of tools that make it easy to consume content is so tumultuous.
Contemporary art in all fields should be a lively, continuing discourse between creators and audiences.
We'd get a nice direct pipe between content creators and viewers.
With participatory media, the boundaries between audiences and creators become blurred and often invisible.
The family tree would be revealing because of the various intriguing connections between performers, producers and creators.
Musical theater works are true collaborations between multiple creators.
In the United States of America, labor law rules relations between "creators" and the production companies.