{"id":4512,"date":"2018-01-01T12:00:49","date_gmt":"2018-01-01T20:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/passivepromotion.com\/?p=4512"},"modified":"2020-05-15T12:05:09","modified_gmt":"2020-05-15T19:05:09","slug":"patreon-year-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/passivepromotion.com\/patreon-year-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Patreon, Year Two"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Patreon consumed my last year. Between launching my page<\/a>, promoting it, and delivering on what I promised to patrons, there was little time left for other musical or marketing activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These days, most of what I make from my music comes from patrons. Starting at $1 per month, they get exclusive first access to new songs, demos, remixes, instrumentals, lossless downloads, quarterly video Q&As, signed CDs, private Skype chats, and special thanks in the credits of new releases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That said, I think<\/em> most of them only care about the songs, and some aren’t even interested in those! More on that later…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prolificness<\/strong>. My previous album\/EP set took six years, which breaks down to one new song every five months. Last year I released a new song every month: 10 songs to patrons, and 6 singles worldwide. Granted, 4 of those were collaborations and\/or covers, and 8 of them were already complete or nearly so, as my launch video teased:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today it’s a different story. I have no backlog, and no sneak peeks to offer. I’m hoping to track vocals for next week’s release this afternoon!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Freedom<\/strong>. Before Patreon, I was always working on my next album, with clear direction and constraints. Now I just need a song. If that song isn’t worthy of official release, then it’s a patron exclusive! That hasn’t happened yet, but just knowing I have the option is liberating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last year I recorded four synthwave tracks, potentially for an album. Right now I’m not feeling the synthwave thing. Maybe I’ll change my mind next month, or maybe I’ll decide to move on and release the completed tracks as an EP. If I’d gone the Kickstarter or PledgeMusic route, I’d have been committed to complete a synthwave album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Community<\/strong>. I can’t overstate the value of having a dedicated group of fans who are intimately familiar with, and literally invested in, my work. When I’m stuck, I can ask or even poll them. Patrons aren’t just along for the ride \u2014 we’re all in this together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, last week I was struggling with vocal styling: how to apply vibrato tastefully without it getting too “Broadway” or “Disney” (as described by several Crowd Review<\/a> listeners). I provided an mp3 of my singing a couple lines two different ways and asked for their preference. One patron even referred back to my vocal performance on a 1997 release!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meaning<\/strong>. Sometimes we all wonder… why am I doing this? For example, when browsing other artists’ monthly listener counts on Spotify.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThings I love about Patreon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n