
The Wrong Right Way - muglug
https://explore.xoxofest.com/blog/2019-the-wrong-right-way
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CondensedBrain
>> _" Ultimately, we couldn’t find a way to make the business viable. We
explored a number of different options—voluntary subscriptions from users,
premium features, increased fees—but the resources required to support a high
number of lower-volume creators always outpaced our revenue."_

I wonder if Patreon ran into a similar problem trying to stay afloat without
handing more control over to VCs.

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johnfactorial
Can someone help me understand, honestly, how a business gets started and
funded without the answer to "how to make it viable" being answered already?

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mathattack
Because Google and Facebook and several others got started that way. VCs know
that the biggest wins often emerge in unexpected ways. And they can pay for a
lot of stupid ideas.

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gowld
Google and Facebook both had technology that was obviously monetizable from
the start. They just needed time to build the product and build the
monetization features.

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ollerac
This is a rosy way to look at things after-the-fact, but, as far as I
understand, the way Google monetized their search (by showing only relevant
ads) was still a fairly new business practice at the time. And Adsense wasn't
well tested either. Both were bets that ended up transforming the entire
online Ad industry...

~~~
sixQuarks
It was Overture that started doing pay per click ads on their search engine.
Google copied that business model and actually got sued for it.

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cookingoils
I feel like these platforms are catering to a very particular kind of artist,
an artist who has an audience that is willing to pay for content and not just
consume it. How do you make people pay for something they never paid for in
the past?

Most interesting works of art are not acknowledged monetarily at least
initially. Money means making compromises and artists really don’t like making
those. I suppose the Drip or Patreon artist is something YouTube helped
create. An artist created by the audience for the audience. I just wonder how
this all fits into the current needs of artists that are not musicians or
YouTube stars.

Artists primarily need funding and space. They need a free studio to work in
and work relief so that they have time to focus on their art. In Europe this
often happens through government backed grants. Of course in the US there’s a
lack of funded for artists. What if these companies used their position and
money to lobby for arts funding from the government? Obviously this would be
hard in the current administration but maybe this could also be done
privately. Imagine if the government or a bunch of tech companies were paying
artists a living wage to create public works or art, teach in schools, and
design our cities.

~~~
fjsolwmv
Companies can fund art directly (and many do, such as Google/YouTube), instead
of wastefully routing it through government.

Government can provide UBI and healthcare to the whole population instead of
picking politically connected artists to make government approved art.

~~~
cookingoils
Sure there’s Google or Facebook residency, etc but they are specifically
looking for artists that are using technology in their art or at least aren't
questioning the companies / private interests that are funding them. There’s
so many artists that don’t use computers to make their work. I mean a program
that supports all artists. I also don’t think government programs like the WPA
were a waste.

I'd agree that UBI and healthcare could be one part of this. It's incredible
that these aren't a given at this point.

I guess I just feel like Drip and Patreon are creating a commodity where there
shouldn't be one. Funding an artist only when they have an audience that has
the means to pay them monthly is a sure way of making some bad art.

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ricardobeat
Would be really interesting to hear what exactly makes a business like this
not viable with, quote, increasingly insurmountable odds. In my observer
naivety I'd expect growth / profitability to be hard, but not unsustainable
operation from the start.

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anotherfounder
curious as well, seems cryptic!

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jerrysievert
i've appreciated andy & andy's choices for stepping up and doing what is
right, even if it were unpopular or counteracted the "norm".

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anotherfounder
I'm a little unclear if they launched but didn't see engagement or traction or
if the projections didn't match the cost to develop it. Anyone else has a
clearer idea?

I'm also curious if this was Patreon + Discovery or a different direction.

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jsjolen
Does CASH Music do the same thing but gratis and FLOSS?

[https://github.com/cashmusic](https://github.com/cashmusic)

EDIT: Nah, not really. CASH Music gives a platform, Drip is for connecting
platforms.

