If you've got a good-sized following for your band or artist project, you might want to start thinking about ways to provide more value to the top 10% of your fans. How you do this is an important question to answer these days, especially with the current landscape of hardly any live performance opportunities.
Although this article is about increasing revenue, you need to examine the situation from the standpoint of a fan rather than yourself. In what ways could you add value or provide a priceless experience for a fan that would be a no-brainer for them to spend their hard-earned money on?
Here are some ways that you can start to bring in more income using Patreon, while also enhancing and deepening your fans experience.
ABOUT PATREON
For those who don't know, Patreon is a platform where fans (patrons) can subscribe to exclusive content from creators. You can offer different priced tiers that correspond with different levels of exclusivity.
Here are a few of the main benefits of Patreon:
Provides more content to fans who want it
Fans invest more money over time rather than a one-time purchase
Doesn't put a huge hole in your fans pocket, no buyers remorse (tiers are generally priced much lower than a one-time purchase item like merch)
Provides you as the artist with steady income on a month-to-month basis that you can grow over time, and budget back in to your music if you choose.
KEYS TO USING PATREON EFFECTIVELY
Here are some keys that will ensure you're maximizing the benefits of using Patreon:
Have a $1-2/month tier. Although it seems like a small number, it's extremely important to have a low barrier to entry. You'll find that converting a low-tier patron to a high-tier one is much easier than on-boarding a fan straight to a high tier.
Don't assume what your fans want, just ask! Before you set up a Patreon page, it's a good idea to gather some info from your fans on what content they'd like to see, and if there even is a enough interest within your fanbase for you to put time into Patreon in the first place. You can do this on social media using polls and/or posts, as well as asking for feedback using your mailing list.
Start small. No need to come up with 5 tiers to start out and overwhelm yourself. If you have enough interest you can always continue to add higher tiers!
SO WHAT SHOULD YOU DO FOR TIERS?
Like I said above, you should definitely listen to your fans to see what your tiers should look like. If you're looking to give them options in a poll, here are some ideas to browse:
(NOTE: These $ estimates are only loose guidelines. What you can charge for tiers like this is 100% dependent on what your fanbase is willing to pay and the quality of your content)
LOWEST TIER ($1-2)
(Can be one or any combination of these)
-Follow fan on Twitter and/or Instagram
-Access to Patreon-only feed (like posting on other social media, except exlusive)
-Back-catalog song downloads
-Early access to releases
SECOND TIER ($5-20)
(Can be one or any combination of these)
-All benefits of lowest tier included
-Digital extras (can be unreleased material, demos, early mixes of songs, behind the scenes footage, etc)
-Vlog videos (talking-head videos discussing stories behind songs, the process, etc.)
-Fan recognition - including fans' names in a special thank-you list at the end of a music video and/or other content or in the description.
THIRD TIER ($10-50)
(Can be one or any combination of these)
-All benefits of lower tiers included
-Exclusive live streams to play music or answer fan questions
-Merch (Bonus if you sign it for them)
-Monthly exclusive live videos (acoustic versions, raw single-camera performances, etc)
Bonus Idea: Encourage patrons to get their friends on tiers by offering something when you meet a follower goal. For example, "When I hit 50 patrons, I'll do a live-stream for all patrons where I take requests" or something like that. Feel free to get creative with it!
CONCLUSION
There are tons of reasons why the subscription model is taking over modern entertainment consumption. Adapting this model to your band or artist project is beneficial to you AND your fans. It's a win-win!
That being said, it's still up to you to make sure you're providing enough value to you fans to make it worth their money. Consequently it will determine if the endeavor will be worth the effort you put into it. Make sure your audience is winning just as much as you are.
Also, it's okay to not be ready to launch a Patreon page yet. There's no guideline numbers that you can go by, since most numbers are not indicative of how committed your fans are. There's a big difference between having a large following and a committed one. The general advise I give is to interact with your fans at a genuine level instead of just promoting yourself 100% of the time.
If you're looking for tips and strategies on how to grow a larger and more committed following, feel free to check out the E-Book I recently released here. There's tons of good stuff on how to speed up your organic growth as well as deepening your influence instead of widening it.
Jonathan Korzelius is a mix engineer and producer based in Nashville, TN.
@echo.mixing on Facebook and Instagram
HELPFUL LINKS:
https://songshop.ca/ - A platform where songwriters can advertise their catalog and artists can find songs to cut.
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