Who is on Patreon? comments, tips, suggestions?

[Garubi]

Hallo,

we, as band, are writing and releasing original songs since 1998, with the usual stop-and-go due to life, families, etc...

During our "history" we experienced publishing our music with indie labels and on our own, and now we are releasing all our music via Bandcamp and we are really appreciating the freedom (and speed) of self-publishing and the stronger relations that we can establish with the people who buy our music.

 

We are now willing to offer to our "fan base" a subscription on Patreon that allow them to sustain our activity as a band and give them exclusive content (we have a ton of unreleased recordings, demotape, live shootage).

 

I'm wondering if someone on the forum has an established Patreon presence and if he can share comments on this, suggestions, etc...

 

Thank you

Stefano

[David R]

I'm on Patreon â though I wouldn't call myself established. Here's what I did to get set up and what I have seen working on that platform:

 

- The more back catalogue you have, or the more disciplined you are about creating new work, the better. Content â and consistency â is the way to get people to subscribe to you and stay subscribed, since they can cancel at any time.

- Patreon won't really win you a new fan base, it is more for your already invested fans to garner more access and support you directly.

- Since you can determine your own tiers, I would look at other artists in your genre and your level of notoriety for pricing tips. I'm really impressed by Mark de Clive-Lowe's Patreon, as well as Tim Lefebvre/Rachel Eckroth and José James/Taali/Rainbow Blonde.

 

I hope that is helpful to you! For what it's worth, if you're already on Bandcamp, you could also do the Bandcamp subscription model if the majority of what you're offering is music â I'm offering PDFs and video so the Bandcamp model doesn't necessarily worok as well for me.

[Song80s]

I have my own patient approach . I prefer to build a listener base. And not fuss over a few dollars in the short term.

I offer my material on SoundCloud. I prefer the audio quality on the site.

Once I have a strong base, then I have something to offer.

 

I will never run out of creative output plus I can 'curate' prior material.

 

I get a few sales on Apple Music and other sites - when it happens its a nice surprise.

[allan_evett]

Matt Rollings is on Patreon. As well as using it to showcase his recordings/production/performances, he's also established a teaching presence there. I've been part of a group 'class' of his for the past couple months, plus am doing an occasional one-on-one lesson. The group is informative, fun and challenging. While there is technical input, there is an ongoing conversation that is in the realm of psychology. So I get to work with one of my favorite pianists/keyboardists, and frequently it feels like group therapy/coaching for musicians.

 

I've been teaching privately via Zoom/Skype/FaceTime, since mid-March; and have been thinking about how I might expand that. And with some coaching from Matt I'm starting to get an idea of the shape that might take. I have signed up on Patreon, but it hasn't gone too far beyond that yet. Have also heard about a service called Skillset, and planned to explore it as well; might be better for the type of teaching I do, but am not sure.

 

Patreon may be one of a few good places for me to post tracks, live performance vids, etc... Several fellow players have been steadily putting material online since the live scene went into hibernation, but I'm behind the curve on that. Doing teaching and a church gig all virtually seems to take more focus, creativity and time; and the adjustment to that is an energy suck at the moment. But from exploring Patreon, it looks to be a good option for artists to present themselves online - which has become our main mode of interaction, and may remain that way for quite a while.

[Garubi]

Thank you guys!