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Isn't Patreon just charity? I don't think that's a sustainable way to pay for content.
by Touche 12y ago
Isn't Patreon just charity? I don't think that's a sustainable way to pay for content.
- gergles 12y agoNo, it's patronage, and it appeared to work for a few hundred years.
- normloman 12y agoNot sustainable? Tell that to PBS!
- Touche 12y agoSustainable is the wrong word. Is it scalable? Meaning can a large number of creators live off of this model?
- jerf 12y agoSee my other reply that's like a great-great-uncle-once-removed of this comment or something, and I'd highlight I'm using real numbers from my real patronage, not theoretical things that could happen someday.
- normloman 12y agoTime will tell, but I can't see any reason to doubt whether this could scale. As long as an artist can inspire intense loyalty from a small group of fans, they could forseeably supplement their income with donations. This won't work for all artists, and won't replace existing funding models. But there are a lot of creators who fit this bill. I, for one, and excited to see crowd-patronage grow. It's a model that rewards artists with cult appeal (versus the consumer model, which values mass appeal). The arts will be a little less bland.
- JoshTriplett 12y agoNo, it isn't charity; it's payment for content. Calling it "charity" implies that the content being provided has no value to the person paying for it.