Patreon Helps Create Better Internet Content
Patreon
We want things for free. The reason that print media is dying is that we as a society do not want to pay for news. Why get a subscription to a local paper when we can read it online for free? It’s a sad reality that has changed our media landscape completely in the past ten years. Trends such as click bait articles, aimed to get views so they can collect advertising dollars, have become the norm. Society in general always goes for the easiest option, whether it’s getting our news online, buying something new instead of fixing the old, eating fast food instead of cooking for ourselves, or finding free content in the mess of the web. This societal attitude engenders a lot of innovation and content from internet creators, and has made stars out of many unknowns. Sadly, while platforms like Netflix and Hulu pay their people vast amounts of money, and regulate their sets, YouTube is still a broken system that values quick and easy content to quality content.
Pomplamoose, a band made up of Natalie Dawn and Jack Conte, averages four million hits per month on their music videos, which feature original songs as well as covers. They became reasonably internet famous a couple of years ago for posting how much touring actually costs and showing their fans their expenses. Soon afterwards Conte helped create Patreon, an internet platform that allows fans of content creators’ work to give them money to do so. The site could be paralleled to busking, but it is so much more. The platform makes it easy for alternative entertainers to make a living, like the patronage system of Old England. Conte explained to Time in 2014, “There’s great ways for people to build an audience online right now,” he says. “There’s really no great way for people to make a living.” BusinessInsider reports that creators make $2,000 for every million views, before YouTube takes 45%. This is impressive for someone with a small hit video, but not for an actual content creator.
Many YouTube stars utilize the platform to make a living, including Nostalgia Chick, OanCitizen, Your Movie Sucks, and h3h3 productions. Ethan and Hila Klein (of their eponymous channel, as well as h3h3) have often spoken publicly about their finances, as their channels showcase different aspects of their lives. Currently they are battling a copyright claim on one of their videos, though they are supposedly protected under the fair use claim of copyright. YouTube’s copyright system gives all power to the holder, and doesn’t have a firm regulation on claims, sometimes de-monetizing videos or shutting down channels without any warning. The Kleins have been quite open abo ut their struggles, which has lent to the starting of a fund to battle copyright claims that fall under fair use called FUPA (Fair Use Protection Account). They always thank their devoted fans, many of whom have been turning to Patreon as a way of supporting them in their time of need. Many other creators have been vocal about their love of Patreon, including Your Movie Sucks, who always mentions his contributors at the end of his videos.
Using Patreon doesn’t diminish the creator’s workload, as they have to then create giveaways, projects, or shout outs for their contributors. Music critic Todd in the Shadows even gave away episodes of his series, “One Hit Wonderland” which he only just finished fulfilling after several years. Nostalgia Chick often lets the community choose episodes of Loose Cannon, which showcases different historical iterations of seminal characters, such as Hades, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Starscream. The service also lets you choose whether you want to contribute to certain creators per video, or do one-time donations to certain projects. Of course, the service doesn’t just work for YouTubers but all alternative creators, including purveyors of podcasts, comics, music, or comedy.
I’m sure you’re asking, “Well, what about people like PewDiePie who is a self-professed millionaire?” Sure, certain personalities make a lot of money, but that’s not all through advertising. PewDiePie, aka Felix Kjellberg, had deals with Makers and YouTube, which netted him quite a bit of money. Of course, as we all know, the YouTube star has seen a huge loss in monetization thanks to a controversy concerning several of his videos, which contained anti-Semitic jokes (which weren’t funny and punched down). Since then he has lost both deals. Thanks to this controversy many advertisers have pulled money from YouTube altogether, and ads have become scarce for many creators who rely on that money to make a living. Views are also a dangerous way to dole out advertising money, because this practice often lends to offensive and ridiculous content. Prankster channels have become a common trend on the platform, though they do not execute actual pranks and their videos are sexist, xenophobic, and often go too far. Look at Sam Pepper, who fake kidnapped two Vine stars and pretended to murder one of them in front of the other. PrankInvasion on YouTube just goes around pretending to pick up girls on the street, who are in actuality paid actresses. Another terrible trend is children’s toy channels, which feature costumed people acting out weird scenes without sound, supposedly to reel in views from unsuspecting kids. YouTube is a broken system that lacks regulation or oversight in many ways, and needs to be completely overhauled for these and many more reasons.
The internet has been the new creative frontier for twenty years. It’s understandable that we as a generation do not want to yield to advertisers. Many of them create terrible products that contribute to the downfall of humanity as we know it. Whether we are giving advertisers money by watching a video of puppies chasing each other, or a video essay on the complicated nuances of Cloud Atlas, it feels like a disdainful practice. Many people I know are reticent about giving money to Patreon, because they think they should be giving their extra money to a charity that supports the arts. Using Patreon is just as much about supporting the arts as contributing to local theater or music programs, and it doesn’t cost all that much. Many creators start their monthly rates at just $2. While not everyone has favorite content creators on YouTube, I would still advise people to search Patreon for projects that sound interesting to them, and fund them into reality. Shakespeare couldn’t have written his works without a patron, and neither can creators who make videos about strong female characters in media.
Here are links to several of my favorite internet creators' Patreons:
https://www.patreon.com/loosecanon
https://www.patreon.com/KKallgren
