What is Patreon?
It's not like 'only fans' 😂. It's a membership site where you donate a small amount once a month to your chosen musician, artist, poet, writer... It's a financial support platform. In return, it's completely up to the creator what they offer you. You should get a sense of this from their signup page.
What's mine all about?
My Patreon is little. There's 23 of us. 😁 There's no bullshit. The group are like a combination of a sounding board for new ideas, songs and artwork, an early birds club (videos, music, gigs) and whenever possible, I send free stuff or discount things I can't viably give away. For example, my Patrons have either a free double LP, or a free CD, or a free download, of the brand new band album, depending on their donation. You can choose what suits you, from £3 up - and change it or stop it at any point. I blog funny things that happen to me as a musician, promoter and touring person. Stuff that's a bit 'close' for social media. I have found writing to a group of people that have a common interest really cathartic. And it's brilliant when they write back! I wanted to be a writer, some time ago. I've found Patreon to be a great outlet for it, when I just get an idea, or something curious just needs to be discussed!. There's also a 10 short episode video blog of my August tour, including bleary morning eyes in Beer (town), backstage in The Acorn (Penzance), Inside the Golden Hinde!, and a shiny new tune performed in my van in an ASDA car park in Suffolk. 😎 You'll know from my social pages that filming myself is quite rare. I still don't find it easy in that wide public setting.
Joining gets you a freebie. Most take a CD. Most start at £3 or £4.50. I will send a welcome gift right away. Have a look. You can follow for free, but I must confess I very rarely post there, as I give any time spent on it to full members.
What led me to it?
I was very dubious, and a bit embarrassed about Patreon at first. I friend of mine, who is a much more established musician, suggested that I should drop my fears, and pride, and just give people an opportunity to help me out. And I did. In 2020, Music income took a substantial wobble, shall we say. The things I'd used to fund the band and my musical self had dropped to 10% of what it had been in 2019. It's now mostly improved, radio royalties came back, gigs started again. Permanent damage was done, though, as many moved long term to online, couch music entertainment, and the shift towards free music and social media incomes, for which you need millions of viewers, has put me and my band in the same situation as many: Gigs are often just breaking even as less are able to come out frequently due to the cost of living and the trend towards nostalgia/legacy bands/tribute bands. Promoters are less interested as they know making money is unlikely, from an original band with a smaller following. So I opened a Patreon page. And yes, it's been wonderful. I was wrong. And I got over it.
What do I do with the money?
Lots! They're helping me directly as a songwriter and musician, and often also the band, Broken Windows.
Example: I got the second press of Bounty CDs earlier this year. I saved Patron donations for 3 months, which meant I could up the order to 1000 CDs from 500. This took almost 40% off the price of an individual CD. I sell this CD, and when I sell it at band gigs, the profits go towards paying the band. We've had some gigs where the ticket profit, after venue, transport and promotions costs has been as low as £15 a head. But I always split merch sales from live shows, so my hard working band are topped up.
Last year's combined donations paid for a recording mic for guitars, and 50% of the cost of having our Live Album professionally mixed and mastered. This year I used Patreon to properly promote my May, June and August tours and I am about to use 3 months of donations to cover the expenses of a gig too far away to drive home at night. And truthfully, some months I have just popped it straight into my 'daily life' bank account because I am chasing a pay day.
Thank you for reading.
If you like the idea, it's a £3 gamble, for 1 month.
If my stuff isn't for you, there's LOTS of other creatives doing all sorts of things on Patreon, so have a look.
"None of these publications have noticed Liz Jones, sadly. I think the Guardian listed one of the gigs once..."
Señor Verdad
