Patreon

2015-10-27T16:40:08Z

12.130.117.22: /* History */Edited for accuracy

{{Infobox dot-com company
| name = Patreon
| logo = Patreon logo.png
| company_type = [[Privately held company|Private]]
| traded_as =
| foundation = 2013
| dissolved =
| location = San Francisco, United States
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| area_served =
| founder = {{unbulleted list|[[Jack Conte]]|Sam Yam}}
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| company_slogan =
| url = [http://www.patreon.com www.patreon.com]
| programming_language =
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| alexa =
| website_type = [[Crowdfunding]]
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'''Patreon''', based in [[San Francisco]], is a [[crowdfunding]] platform created by musician [[Jack Conte]] and developer Sam Yam.<ref>[http://www.patreon.com Patreon.org: Intro] . accessed 14.7.1014</ref> It allows artists to obtain funding from [[patron]]s on a recurring basis or per artwork.<ref>[http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201407111630/d The California Report.org: "Creating Patrons of the Arts Through Crowdfunding"] July 11–13, 2014.</ref> It is popular with [[YouTube]] content creators, musicians, and [[webcomic]] artists and has been featured in ''[[Forbes]]'', ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', and ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazines.

==History==
Patreon was founded in May 2013 by artist [[Jack Conte]], who was looking for a way to make a living from his popular [[YouTube]] videos. Conte's brother in law, [[Mike Jacobs]] founder of Tap.in2 came up with the idea in November 2012 and pitched it to Conte as a method for finally earning a living with his YouTube career. <ref name="pbs">{{cite news | url=http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2013/09/donation-patron-services-help-fans-support-their-favorite-authors/ | title=Donation, Patron Services Help Fans Support Their Favorite Authors | publisher=PBS | date=9 September 2013 | accessdate=1 March 2014 | author=Levitz, Dena}}</ref> Together with Sam Yam he developed a platform that allows patrons to donate a set amount of money every time an artist creates a work of art. The company raised $2.1 million in August 2013 from a group of [[venture capital]]ists and [[angel investor]]s.<ref name="wired">{{cite news | url=http://www.wired.com/business/2013/10/big-idea-patreon/ | title=The Next Big Thing You Missed: ‘Eternal Kickstarter’ Reinvents Indie Art | publisher=Wired | date=22 October 2013 | accessdate=1 March 2014 | author=Tate, Ryan}}</ref><ref name="time">{{cite news | url=http://business.time.com/2013/12/04/business/slide/top-10-exciting-startups/ | title=Top 10 Exciting Startups | publisher=Time | date=4 December 2013 | accessdate=1 March 2014 | author=Luckerson, Victor}}</ref> In June 2014 the company raised a further $15 million in a [[series A round]] led by [[Danny Rimer]] of [[Index Ventures]].<ref name="series A">{{cite web | url=http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/23/patreon-raises-15-million-series-a-revamps-site-to-showcase-artist-content/ | title=Patreon Raises $15 Million Series A, Revamps Site To Focus More On Content | publisher=TechCrunch | date=23 June 2014 | accessdate=26 August 2014 | author=Buhr, Sarah}}</ref>

The company has signed up more than 125,000 "patrons" in its first 18 months.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Amanda Palmer races to $13,000 per release in Patreon crowdfunding|url = http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/04/amanda-palmer-patreon-crowdfunding-backers|website = the Guardian|accessdate = 2015-06-11|first = Stuart|last = Dredge}}</ref> In late 2014, the website announced that patrons were sending over $1 million per month to the site's content creators.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.patreon.com/creation?hid=1070951|title = Creators on Patreon Receive Over 1,000,000 per Month From Patrons|date = October 10, 2014|accessdate = June 12, 2015|website = |publisher = |last = |first = }}</ref>

In March 2015, Patreon acquired [[Subbable]], a similar voluntary subscription service co-created by [[John Green (author)|John]] and [[Hank Green]], and brings over Subbable creators and contents including [[C.G.P. Grey]], [[Destin Sandlin]]'s ''Smarter Every Day'' and the Green brothers' own ''[[CrashCourse]]'' and ''[[SciShow]]'' channels.<ref>{{cite web|title=Patreon Acquires Subbable, Aligning the YouTube Stars|url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexpham/2015/03/16/patreon-acquires-subbable-aligning-youtube-stars/|website=Forbes|accessdate=17 March 2015}}</ref> The merger was consequent of an expected migration of payment systems with [[Amazon Payments]] that Subbable used.

In October 2015, the site was the target of a massive [[hacking attack]] with almost 15 gigabytes' worth of password data, donation records, and source code taken and published. The breach exposed more than 2.3M unique e-mail addresses and millions of private messages.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hunt|first1=Troy|title=Pwned websites - Patreon|url=https://haveibeenpwned.com/PwnedWebsites#Patreon|website=Have I been pwned?|accessdate=7 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Goodin|first1=Dan|title=Gigabytes of user data from hack of Patreon donations site dumped online|url=http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/10/gigabytes-of-user-data-from-hack-of-patreon-donations-site-dumped-online/|website=ars technica|accessdate=7 October 2015|date=2 October 2015}}</ref>

==Model==
Artists set up a page on the Patreon website, where patrons can pledge to donate a given amount of money to an artist every time they create a piece of art, optionally setting a monthly maximum. Alternatively a fixed monthly amount can be pledged. This is different from other crowdfunding platforms like [[Kickstarter]], where artists obtain a single sum after a successful campaign and typically have to start over for every new piece.<ref name="pbs" /> Similar to other platforms however, artists will often provide rewards for their patrons.<ref name="billboard">{{cite news | url=http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/1561353/jack-contes-patreon-anyone-can-be-a-patron-of-the-arts | title=Jack Conte’s Patreon: Anyone Can Be a Patron of the Arts | work=Billboard Biz | date=10 May 2013 | accessdate=1 March 2014 | author=Pham, Alex | location=Los Angeles}}</ref><ref name="mercury">{{cite news | url=http://www.portlandmercury.com/BlogtownPDX/archives/2014/02/07/portland-cartoonist-erika-moen-launches-a-patreon-also-patreon-sounds-pretty-brilliant | title=Portland Cartoonist Erika Moen Launches a Patreon (Also, Patreon Sounds Pretty Brilliant) | work=The Portland Mercury | date=7 February 2014 | accessdate=1 March 2014 | author=Henriksen, Erik | location=Portland, OR}}</ref> Patreon takes a 5% [[commission (remuneration)|commission]] on pledges.<ref name="patreonhelpcenter">{{cite web | url=https://patreon.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/204606125-How-do-you-calculate-fees- | title=Patreon Help Center | publisher=Patreon | accessdate=19 August 2015}}</ref>

==Participating artists==
As of February 2014, almost half of the artists produce YouTube videos, while the rest are writers, draw [[webcomic]]s or make [[podcast]]s.<ref>[http://www.patreon.com/discover Patreon.com: Projects Roll]</ref> On average, patrons donate $7 per creation. Patreon is growing rapidly both in patrons and creators, with 10,000 artists expected to use Patreon by the end of February 2014.<ref name="gigaom">{{cite web | url=http://research.gigaom.com/2014/02/analysis-patreon-seeing-strong-growth-in-creators-pledges-pageviews/ | title=Analysis: Patreon seeing strong growth in creators, pledges, pageviews | publisher=Gigaom Research | date=19 February 2014 | accessdate=1 March 2014 | author=Wolf, Michael}}</ref> While the website initially targeted musicians (musician and performer [[Amanda Palmer]] uses Patreon and operates independently from a music label), established webcomic artists such as [[Jonathan Rosenberg (webcomic artist)|Jonathan Rosenberg]], [[Zach Weinersmith]] and Paul Taylor are successfully using it.<ref name="publishersweekly">{{cite news | url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/61145-patreon-raises-2-1-million-for-subscription-based-crowdfunding-platform.html | title=Patreon Raises $2.1 Million | work=Publishers Weekly | date=24 February 2014 | accessdate=1 March 2014 | author=Allen, Todd}}</ref> Any content creation that may be deemed pornographic photography is prohibited since a December 2014 policy change. Non-Photographic sexual imagery (drawn, sculpted, or computer generated, for example) is allowed.

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{official website|http://www.patreon.com/}}

[[Category:Companies based in San Francisco, California]]
[[Category:Crowdfunding platforms]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 2013]]

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