- Patronage is a funding model commonly employed by artists, creative types and [independent researchers].
- See [Nadia Ebghal] for an example.
- Crowdsourced?
- Patronage has become more popular recently due to websites like Patron.
- TODO: What about the economics of information led to its popularity?
- Patronage may provide a great deal more freedom and independence than institutional / organizational alternatives.
I had the pleasure of speaking to someone recently who has been using Patreon for a long time to fund their creative output. The following is based on that conversation as well as some of my own research.
- Website where creators can offer tiered subscriptions and rewards to patrons who fund their work.
- The funding model is one to many - rather than having one or a few large patrons, creators tend to have many small patrons.
- Independence + freedom to work on what you find meaningful.
- Few obligations besides producing things for people who love what you do.
- Having a small niche Patreon with a few highly interested people is actually viable.
- You will have an easier time if you are not part of a saturated market.
TODO
- Turning something from a hobby into a job can make you hate it.
- Patreon can add pressure to be constantly pumping out fresh content.
- You may struggle in a saturated market with many people creating similar content.
- It may be a good idea to create a group patreon and use division of labour to split up the work.
- But a centralized Patreon may create disputes between the people in the group.
- If you are producing content in a saturated market, you must differentiate yourself from other creators somehow.