Reply To: Another Patreon down

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True. But then, as the circle turns, most consumers want all their stuff curated into a single place, making it easier for them to find stuff they like. Sure, you don’t need a record label to release music – but if you’re not putting it out on iTunes, Spotify (and, to a lesser degree, Amazon music) it’s going to reach only a tiny fraction of the potential audience. And how do you compete once you’re on a curated platform? By getting a record label to promote your music and get it on the radio/online playlists.

I saw a few creators move away from Patreon onto their own “platform” (i.e. set up their own website and encouraged supporters to sign up to that) but thought it peculiar given the fees for Patreon are roughly 10%-ish (based on user level) which is hardly a massive deal-breaker (by comparison, a few years ago I helped a friend run an electronics Kickstarter and he ended up with less than 65% of the total funds raised after all fees etc.) And I’ve supported a couple who swerved Patreon altogether (Loot Studios immediately come to mind).

One thing that a lot of miniature-based Patreon creators are starting to have in common is releasing on the myminifactory platform (there are a few who still insist on releasing through the ever-problematic Sync or Google Drive which means supporters need to remember to download everything before the month rolls over, but many now simply add their releases to your personal myminifactory library at the end of each month).

I just found it interesting that myminifactory is basically duplicating the Patreon functionality (recurring monthly billing) and a few early adopters are jumping onboard. Of course, anyone can create and release miniatures without either of these platforms (just as you *can* release your own music by uploading it to your own web server) but most of the audience are still looking for a simple, single place to go, to be told “here’s the cool new stuff for you this month” rather than go trawling the ‘net looking for stuff (in the same way many music listeners simply allow Spotify/iTunes/Amazon choose the next song from a curated list for them).