Crowdfunding platform Patreon has revealed some new figures on its growth, saying that over the last year it has helped more than 18,000 creators earn more than $1.5m, with at least half of that money coming in the last two months alone. That suggests a significant acceleration for the site, which launched in May 2013 as a way for fans of YouTubers to sign up to pay a set amount of money (e.g. $1) every time their favourite creators launched a new video (Bulletin, 3-May-13). Since then, its focus has gone beyond YouTube: the latest figures were published in a profile piece by Wired that explained how journalists, webcomic artists, podcasters and authors have been using Patreon. Its VP of operations Tyler Palmer provides the rationale behind the business: “It’s obvious that monetising through ads is not the best way to make money from digital media. Ads don’t reflect how much your audience cares about you. Ad revenue doesn’t reflect the strength of a community or a fan base because every viewer, according to an advertiser, is worth 1/1000 of a CPM.”
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…