I’m a big fan of Patreon.
Comment on Netflix mulls introducing free ad-supported tier. The circle is complete
efstajas@lemmy.world 2 months agoThis is a bit unnecessarily tough on independent content creators… what exactly do you expect them to do? Make no money from their content? How would they be able to make a living?
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 months ago
efstajas@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Sure, Patreon is great, but Patreon alone is not enough for most creators to make a living, considering how hard it is to get people to commit to monthly subscriptions.
Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world 2 months ago
But why do they need to make a living creating content.
We should go back to hobbyist sharing videos of their hobby and interest instead of a guy trying to make money by jumping into trendy hobbies and creating bland generic content until the algorithm picks them
lightnsfw@reddthat.com 2 months ago
There are certainly hobbyists making good content. Most of the great content is from people making a living off it. They have time and resources to devote to doing deep dives into subjects that hobbyists just generally don’t. The bigger problem as far as filling the internet with crap goes is all the react content and people making clips of other people’s stuff that adds nothing to it and whatever YouTube shorts are supposed to be.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Patreon alone is not enough for most creators to make a living
I’ve seen a number of content creators argue otherwise. From the “Hello from the Magic Tavern” sketch comedy group to the “Scenes from the Multiverse” Cartoonist to the various musicians cranking out indie tunes on Bandcamp, the refrain I consistently here is that direct patronage offers significantly better returns than ad-supported payments on bigger media platforms.
Indie creators generally have an easier time of securing monthly subscriptions because they’re more boutique and have closer connections to the audience. And you don’t need an enormous audience to bring in a reliable income. While YouTubers need to get into the hundreds of thousands of subscribers to see any kind of productive ROI, Patreon artists can justify the expense of their work on an audience in the hundreds. They can go entirely indie with an audience in the thousands.
Most creators can’t afford to go fully indie, but the margins are so much better relative to the audience size with direct payments. Even just $2/viewer/episode pays vastly more than what a streaming service offers.
Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Would you put blame on doctors for contributing to the opioid?
I see it the same. Every one bares responsibility. And even though a big chunk is on the pharma and media companies. There is still the pusher
efstajas@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I’m gonna assume by “contributing to the opioid” you mean over-prescribing pain medication for the commission? If so, that comparison is so far-fetched that it’s completely meaningless. You’re really going to compare that with independent creators having skippable ad reads that have to be clearly marked as such on content you get for free?
Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Mind explains what is far fetched about it?
Like can you explain what the original argument was and why the comparison I made would be far fetched in that context?
TheDarksteel94@sopuli.xyz 2 months ago
For me, it depends on what they’re promoting. If it’s some crappy mobile game or crypto, I’m out. But I’m fine with the usual shit like energy drinks or VPNs. Like, those things usually have a serious business behind them, even if they might be useless for the vast majority of viewers.
Iheartcheese@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Yep. I don’t hate youtubers for doing ads. Everyone needs to make money. Just skip the ads.
Except for Ryan George because he actually makes his funny as fuck.
Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world 2 months ago
If Netflix ads were just energy drinks and VPN then you’re cool with them adding these tiers?
TheDarksteel94@sopuli.xyz 2 months ago
It’s a little different with Netflix, because of what they started out as. With Youtube, I expected to be advertised to from the beginning, you know? I pay for Youtube Premium and use Sponsor Block to support the creators I watch while having a mostly ad free experience. Also, I just trust most of the creators that I watch to have my best interest in mind in terms of what they advertise.
But for Netflix, their whole thing from the beginning was that they were better TV. That’s how they sold it to me. Now they’re slowly losing their point. So I’d definitely not be alright with it if they started showing me ads on top of my subscription fee. Same with Prime Video, because I know they’re experimenting with that.