YouTube’s not the only way for artists to make a buck,
You don’t already have to be a superstar to rake in the dough
Creators on these platforms can make anywhere from $7,000 per video, comic or photo to more than $40,000 per month.
Hungry amateur artists are finding new ways to turn a dime on the Internet — beyond YouTube.
While Google’s video-sharing site has become synonymous with discovering the next hot musician, content creators have turned to other platforms designed specifically to help them share their work, connect with their fan base and make money.
Creators on these platforms can make anywhere from $7,000 per video/comic/photo to more than $40,000 per month. These websites, which include Patreon, Live.Me, Bandcamp, Pivotshare and YouNow, typically take a cut of money raised in exchange for the platform.
What might suit one might not be the best option for you. Some are oriented to musicians; others cast a wider net, hosting writers and visual artists. The percentage they take from the artists’ money raised varies, too.
Here’s an overview:
PATREON Patreon gives creators, from comic book writers to musicians to comedians, a place to display their creative content while connecting with their fans personally. Co-founders Jack Conte and Sam Yam created Patreon to help Internet artists make money after their experience making videos on YouTube led to low income.
“There was such a discrepancy between what I felt like I was giving back to the world and what I was getting paid for,” Conte told USA TODAY.
How it works: You make a Patreon page to share content on and advertise on your other platforms (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) that you are a part of Patreon, encouraging your fans to check it out. Fans then go to your page and become your “patron” by paying you to create more content.
You can set up different pay tiers so the fans that pay you more have bigger and better rewards.
For example, Patreon member Peter Hollens creates music videos. According to his Patreon page, he has more than 3,000 patrons and makes more than $13,000 per video post.
Hollens has nine different payment tiers his patrons can choose from in order to see his content. These range from “Patreon Hollens Family,” where members can pay him $1 per music video and in return get 25% off his merchandise, to “Angel Investor,” which costs patrons $750 per music video.
Conte told USA TODAY that Patreon will be paying its creators more than $150 million in 2017, with the top creators making up to $70,000 a month. A Patreon page is free, but the company takes 5% of creators’ profit.
BANDCAMP Bandcamp is a platform built specifically for musicians to share their music with their fans. The website also contains a section for audiobooks and podcasts.
“We treat music as art, not content, and we tie the success of our business to the success of the artists who we serve,” the Bandcamp website says.
How it works: You can sign up as an artist, fan or even a label on Bandcamp.
As an artist, you can set up your own page to sell music and merchandise. You determine how much you want your fans to pay for individual songs or whole albums. You also can require a minimum payment instead of a set price so fans can choose to pay more if they want.
The artist and fan pages are free. Bandcamp takes 15% of the profit from digital sales and 10% from merchandise.
Labels can sign up on Bandcamp to discover and manage artists. A label accounts costs $20 per month for 15 artists or $50 per month for unlimited artists.
“Our revenue share-based business model means we only make money when artists make a lot more money,” Bandcamp told USA TODAY.
According to Bandcamp, fans have paid artists $5.3 million in the last month and $221 million total. Its artists sell approximately 29,000 records a day and obtain more than 100,000 new users each month.
PIVOTSHARE
Pivotshare is a website that creates subscription channels for people who make videos. These fall under multiple categories, including fitness, religion, professional and more.
“Pivotshare’s primary goal is not to just help you sell your video content, but to help you sell more of it,” its website reads.
How it works: Pivotshare has different categories of videos, and under those categories are channels that members create. For example, under the Fitness category, there would be separate channels for yoga, CrossFit and more.
People who visit Pivotshare can sign up for a monthly subscription to your channel so they can have access to all your videos. You can also provide a pay-pervideo option.
It is free to make a Pivotshare page and collaborate with other members, but the company takes 30% of your profit — higher than the others.