True fans and engagement
According to Patreon’s research, 74% of creators want more fan interaction, and 87% of them value the importance of having a fan community around their work. Of course, Patreon has a vested interest in promoting the idea of true fans and their value to creators, since it makes its money by acting as an intermediary between them. But it is striking how even the biggest and most successful media companies are joining the true fan fan club.
This article got me thinking about the concept of true fans on platforms like Patreon, who pay monthly for access and connection with artists, and larger platforms like YouTube which exist to maximize engagement at all costs.
There are several fantastic artists follow on Patreon. Recently I’ve subscribed to Matt Dinniman and Bald Move.
In the case of Matt I subscribe to read his fantastic upcoming sequel to Dungeon Crawler Carl before its release. For $5/month I’m supporting this artist directly, and am able to read his work before its release to the world. I also get to read his personal notes on the process, and vote on small decisions that will make their way into the books.
In the case of Bald Move I’ve been an on-again-off-again subscriber for years. When I find a great (mostly prestige) show on television I’ll subscribe to hear Jim and A.Ron’s thoughts on the show. Currently I’m watching The Last of Us Part II, then listening to their takes on their podcast. They have a free podcast, along with the Patreon members only podcast. The difference with paid is in the volume of content. Subscribers get more. I haven’t checked, but it’s likely 25-50% more episode time for payers.
That’s worth it to for me. I’ll gladly fork over a few dollars to listen to up to five hours/week of these fantastic hosts waxing on about my favorite shows.
The true fans idea has entered the mainstream now. That is good news for artists seeking to connect with their fans, and to generate extra income from that deeper relationship, but there’s an underlying problem, despite this embrace of the idea by big names.
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Services like Patreon provide a way for true fans to support the artists they love, but they don’t help creators find those true fans in the first place. For that, big platforms like YouTube and TikTok are needed, but they make it hard for people to move across to true fan sites in order to support artists directly.
The challenge with this model, as outlined in the article, is finding fans. If you’re good at what you do churn is going to be low. You’ll keep the fans you have. But bringing new fans to your platform is hard. It’s also not in YouTube and TikTok’s best interest to have you move from their apps onto more dedicated services.
My guess is the likes of YouTube will double down on offering “true fan” content, but at a greater cost to the artist’s bottom line.