Patreon: Social media with pay function – An overview
Patreon is a platform that allows artists, creators and other creators to be financially supported by their fans and supporters. Creators can create their own pages on Patreon and give fans the opportunity to support them regularly with a subscription. Fans can then receive exclusive content, early access to new projects, Q&A sessions or other rewards depending on their subscription level. Patreon is a way for artists and creators to become less reliant on traditional funding methods such as advertising or sponsorship and be supported directly by their fanbase. The platform has become very popular and has a variety of creators from different fields, including podcasts, video games, comics, music, literature and more.
How Patreon works
Patreon works by artists and creators creating a page on the platform and setting subscription levels and rewards for their supporters. Subscription levels can have different prices and benefits, such as access to exclusive content or the opportunity to participate in Q&A sessions with the creator.
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Fans and supporters can then subscribe on the creator’s site, which gives them access to the corresponding rewards. Subscriptions can be billed monthly or per work created.
Creators then receive regular financial support from their supporters, which they can use to fund and improve their creative projects. Patreon retains a percentage of the revenue to cover the costs of the platform and operations.
Patreon also has tools and features that help creators manage their pages and interact with their fans, such as the ability to send messages and updates or create a community forum.
Patreon: Foundation and company
Patreon is a US company based in San Francisco, California. It was founded in May 2013 by entrepreneur Jack Conte and software developer Sam Yam.
Jack Conte, who is also a musician, was struggling to fund his music career through the sale of CDs and downloads, and was looking for alternative ways to be supported by his fans. This gave birth to the idea for Patreon, a platform that allows creators to be supported directly by their fans.
Since its inception, Patreon has become one of the most important platforms for the creative industry, with thousands of creators and millions of supporters around the world. The company has also gone through several investment rounds and received a total of over $160 million in investment.
Key facts about the company
Key figures on Patreon:
- Year founded: 2013
- Headquarters: San Francisco, California, USA
- Number of creators on the platform: over 200,000
- Number of supporters: over 7 million
- Total amount paid out to creators: over US$3 billion
- Number of countries where Patreon operates: over 200
- Investments received by Patreon: over 165 million US dollars