Patreon: The Power of Crowdsourcing for Artists

It is quite frustrating for artists to spend $10,000 over a span of a few months to create their video project only to turn out only $100 once adorned online. Jack Conte was one of these “victims” who has maxed out his credit card while creating his music video for uploading to YouTube. While it cost it so much for him to finally come up with a video online, Conte was inspired to create a crowdsourcing site for musicians called Patreon.

Conte’s idea was to ask the fans to donate $1 for every video he makes. In just 13 months, Patreon was able to funnel $2 million from fans who loved art. Conte said these patrons were not limited to music lovers who watched the videos. Some of them visit the site to learn a lesson in science or read a comic strip.

Patreon started with just three artists. Today, 180 new creators are added every day to its 25,000 content creators already on board. One of these creators is the YouTube artist Kina Grannis. Her Patreon has already recruited 289 patrons. They subscribe to her videos at prices that range between $1 and $25 each.