Re:Patreon Raises $90M Series E at $1.2B Valuation
by chipotle_coyote on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @02:38AM
(#24350621)
"Donation" is not the word the OP should have used, because it implies Patreon is some kind of charity middleman. They are not. Patrons are not donating money to creators, they are paying them to create; creators are not receiving donations, they are receiving income. Patreon is charging a service fee to them, and they know this up front. It is no more or less ethical than any other similar business proposition like setting up an online store with Shopify or selling an ebook on Amazon.
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Re:Patreon Raises $90M Series E at $1.2B Valuation
by masklinn on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @03:02AM
(#24350741)
> they are paying them to create
That’s really not true. Subsidising creation maybe, but for most patreon that I’ve seen most of the value produced by the creator is public.
There might be some exotic sideshows (eg access to a discord server, time-limited exclusivity is also common) but I’d see it more as funding creation than paying to create, the latter implies much more direct transaction and benefits / exchange e.g. commissioned work, that is “paying to create”.
Re:Patreon Raises $90M Series E at $1.2B Valuation
by emptyfile on Wednesday September 02, 2020 @04:09AM
(#24351081)
>because it implies Patreon is some kind of charity middleman
They're not? I honestly thought they were a utility like PayPal.
Bizarre that people think they can make big money off it.