For a creator who is wholly dependent on ad revenue, The Algorithm is everything. It doesn't matter if anyone actually likes your content, just that they regist

For a creator who is wholly dependent on ad revenue, The Algorithm is everything. It doesn't matter if anyone actually likes your content, just that they register ad impressions. You're naturally led towards clickbaity tactics and ephemeral content. The Algorithm has started to strongly favour topicality and frequent uploads, so creators who produce a small quantity of very high-quality videos are effectively being penalised. You need to follow every whim of YouTube's discoverability system and you're in deep trouble if CPMs suddenly decline. If most of your income is from Patreon and merch, your incentives are completely different - your most profitable action is to convert a casual viewer into a loyal fan. You're incentivised to create meaningful content with deeper values than mere entertainment, because that's what induces people to buy a T-shirt or support you on Patreon. You have a stable and sustainable level of income, regardless of what The Algorithm decides to do this week. I think that patronage and merchandising is overwhelmingly better for creators, consumers and the wider culture. You're beholden to nobody except your most loyal fans. You can make a living from doing something with very niche appeal, as long as there are a small number of people who are really passionate about it. You don't have to pay any attention to "virality" or "shareability", because view counts are practically meaningless to you. If you're doing something controversial or challenging, you don't have to worry about YouTube demonetising your content or sponsors pulling out.