Patreon is a site for online creators to run a crowdfunding subscription service. Patreon is a significant source of income for YouTubers, artists, writers, musicians, and other form of online creators.
Patreon announced today that they now have 3 million “patrons” which are the Patreon users who pay online creators on a monthly basis.
In addition to the record number of patrons, Patreon stated it expects to pass $1 billion in creator payments in 2019.
Patreon was founded in May 2013 by musician Jack Conte, who wanted a way to make a living from his YouTube videos. He and Sam Yam developed the platform that allowed patrons to pay a certain amount when an artist created content.
In a blog post, Patreon stated:
“Reaching this milestone means creators and patrons are reimagining what it means to be a creator, and proving that a creative career is a viable one.”
While sites like YouTube do offer their own forms of monetization, Patreon allows for content creators from various sites to centralize their earnings to one platform.