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This whole Paetron thing...
11 years ago
General
I'm probably going to get flak for saying this, but It's something that I've been thinking about. This isn't directed towards anyone. It's just a general observation.
TL:DR version: I understand and respect the decision. However, there may be a long-term, underlying issue.
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So... I keep seeing people partially migrating to Paetron, and it kind of bothers me.
On the one hand, I understand the decision and rationale. People have to make money in some capacity to survive. If you can turn your hobby into a job, while keeping it a hobby, then it's wonderful. In this case, getting paid by donations and supporting fans, and supplying them with artwork and exclusive / uncensored content as a thanks.
On the other hand, I see this creating another problem, and it's not the 'self-paywall' idea that's generally cited. I see an issue of fragmentation.
Consider that there's a pool of people, all of whom want to monetarily support and see their favorite artists unbridled work. Said artist goes to a Paetron setup, and receives support. That's good. However, as more of them move to the same setup, the pool of monetary support begins to spread thinner. This leads people having to pick and choose who to support, and who let go. As one critic put it in a different medium; I love Branston pickle, but it was spread to thin, and there weren't any particularly chunky bits. Effectively, there's so many to choose from that a decision is either impossible, or so broad that it may as well be nil (AKA: How do you distribute a small amount to a large group). This isn't factoring in those who would like to support their favorite artists, but have no means (either monetarily or logistically) to do so.
The more I see artists move that way, the more I worry this is ultimately going to dissolve, leaving the artists back in the same boat they used to be in.
Getting paid for your craft by donations, and reward the people that donate with unedited stuff, with no chance of anyone else seeing it. I don't fully agree with that decision, but I will respect it, and wish them the best of luck in their endeavors.
~NN
TL:DR version: I understand and respect the decision. However, there may be a long-term, underlying issue.
----
So... I keep seeing people partially migrating to Paetron, and it kind of bothers me.
On the one hand, I understand the decision and rationale. People have to make money in some capacity to survive. If you can turn your hobby into a job, while keeping it a hobby, then it's wonderful. In this case, getting paid by donations and supporting fans, and supplying them with artwork and exclusive / uncensored content as a thanks.
On the other hand, I see this creating another problem, and it's not the 'self-paywall' idea that's generally cited. I see an issue of fragmentation.
Consider that there's a pool of people, all of whom want to monetarily support and see their favorite artists unbridled work. Said artist goes to a Paetron setup, and receives support. That's good. However, as more of them move to the same setup, the pool of monetary support begins to spread thinner. This leads people having to pick and choose who to support, and who let go. As one critic put it in a different medium; I love Branston pickle, but it was spread to thin, and there weren't any particularly chunky bits. Effectively, there's so many to choose from that a decision is either impossible, or so broad that it may as well be nil (AKA: How do you distribute a small amount to a large group). This isn't factoring in those who would like to support their favorite artists, but have no means (either monetarily or logistically) to do so.
The more I see artists move that way, the more I worry this is ultimately going to dissolve, leaving the artists back in the same boat they used to be in.
Getting paid for your craft by donations, and reward the people that donate with unedited stuff, with no chance of anyone else seeing it. I don't fully agree with that decision, but I will respect it, and wish them the best of luck in their endeavors.
~NN
I don't begrudge people making money, but I feel like the commission market is becoming constrained.
First, artists who focus on using it as an automated tip jar rather than being big on paetron rewards will likely have a milestone point where there is a de facto message of 'I'm getting enough, go fund someone else."
Second, popular artists can do a bit of 'sharing the wealth' by using some amount of their Paetron income sponsoring lesser known artists. They might even expressly put that in one of their milestones: "If I am receiving over $X00 a month, half of that excess will be spent on artists I think deserve more exposure."