Patreon Crowdfunding: Patron to the Artist of Your Choice

Patreon is part of the website platforms that are labeled as “crowdfunding” sites. Crowdfunding sites vary greatly however in the way they fund projects and creators. Patreon is unique in the way it funds these artists and creators.

For more information visit the 9malls Pareon page:

https://www.patreon.com/9malls

Before we get into the details of how Patreon works, let’s briefly look at the history of how crowdfunding got started on the internet.

According to Wikipedia:

“Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people, typically via the internet.  Crowdfunding is a form of alternative finance, which has emerged outside of the traditional financial system.”

Crowdfunding and the Internet

Becoming a modern day patron on the internet can be traced back to the beginning of this century. The word “crowdfunding” was first used in August of 2006, although the practice pre-dated that.

The concept of crowdfunding was in operation long before the internet. A precursor to crowdfunding has its roots as far back as the 17th century. In 1885, for instance, a newspaper campaign saw 160,000 donors contribute toward the building of the base for the Statue of Liberty.
While some crowdfunding contributions are very large scale, many are not. The Statue of Liberty donors comprised of a lot of people giving small donations. That is the concept that Patreon uses today.

Once crowdfunding hit the internet, it began growing at a staggering rate. Catherine Clifford, a senior writer for entrepreneur.com reported in May of 2014 that The Crowdfunding Centre in the UK brought out data showing that over $60,000 US dollars were raised on an hourly basis through internet crowdfunding campaigns. Additionally, 442 crowdfunding projects were being launched throughout the world on a daily basis.

What Makes Patreon Crowdfunding Unique?

When looking at the uniqueness of Patreon, one needs to compare it with other crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter. Most crowdfunding platforms are set up to fund a big project that requires a lot of funding – one project at a time. Patreon, however, established recurring funding for artists and creators. Through multiple small contributions from its subscribed patrons (the average patron donates around $7 a month), an artist or creator can receive monthly support, not support per project. One has to think back to how artists of exceptional talent were often supported by a wealthy patron during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, with the internet, and Patreon, an artist can receive support as an artist, month after month. As Patreon states on its website, Patreon is empowering a new generation of content creators.

At present, Patreon, which is only in its second year, has signed up over 125,000 patrons and over 10,000 artists. By late 2014, patrons were contributing over $1,000,000 per month that was supporting the website’s content creators. For their support, the patrons would often receive an appropriate “thank you” from the artist they supported. While nearly half of the creators produce YouTube videos, webcomics, podcasts and the like, the site has a wide range of artists who receive support.

Patreon currently lists in their pool of artists those contributing in the following categories:

Video & Film
Music
Writing
Podcasts
Comics
Drawing & Painting
Animation
Games
Photography
Comedy
Science
Education
Crafts & DIY
Dance & Theater

Each artist who signs up on the Patreon website sets up their own page. Patrons can then pledge to either give a certain amount of money every time that artist produces a new piece of art, or the patron can pledge a fixed monthly amount of support. What contributes to Patreon’s great success is that an artist can receive the necessary consistent support in order to devote themselves to the creating of their craft. With Patreon, there is not the project by project concern that many artists have on other platforms. Patrons can also pledge as little or as much as they choose on the Patreon platform. With Patreon everyone benefits.