How Artist Are Finally Getting Paid In Digital Age

Jack Conte, a creator and the founder of Patreon, had given a talk on how artists are finally making a living in the year 2017. The video mentioned that the ways of how artists are getting paid being modified since the beginning of the digital age. In this modern day and age, people around the world have more access to different types of artists and creators platforms due to the advanced technology we now possess. As the Internet matures, artists are finally able to get paid in this digital age.

The points stated by Jack were quite precise. However, there is one point that I do not agree with. In the video, Jack mentioned about a theory he made, which is “A Weird Hundred Years”. According to his theory, creators invent new devices for storing and selling art but were quickly replaced by new infrastructure within a 100 years. Thus, the monetization system becomes non-functional. In my opinion, artists do still get paid although new devices are created. Artists’ commission are based on their performance, creativeness and innovation. With new infrastructure are built within a 100 years, more artists are able to make use of them and make money from it. In this digital age, every artist should be proactive in experimenting new devices as technology advances every year. The whole monetization system is fundamentally flawed to begin with. Many trials and errors can be discovered.

So, humans will keep improving and fix them. Artists should take a leap of faith to explore more and expand their business by using the new infrastructure. Besides, Jack Conte has pointed out that membership platforms like Twitch, YouNow, Patreon and many more have benefited many artists in many ways. I do agree that these platforms are very useful business tools in helping them getting paid. For example, membership platforms like Patreon allows their subscribers, Patrons, obtain exclusive contents and experiences such as early access to videos, extra videos and behind the scenes stuff from their favourite creators by just paying a little more. This not only allows creators to make money but also Patrons are able to communicate with them on a whole new level. Nick Scarpino, who is a host of Kinda Funny, commented that Patreon allow artists to have the flexibility to create without having to worry financially. With this level of freedom, artists are able to do what they love and also simultaneously being paid by people who enjoy their work. According to Jack Conte, after launching Patreon a year and half, over a 125,000 people have become patrons of creators on Patreon, paying them over a million every month.

Moreover, in the year 2016, a total of $100 million dollars were paid to the creators. By the end of 2016, creators were doubling their incomes of what they were making at the beginning of the year. Thus, running a membership platform can be a great business model in many artists’ lives. Furthermore, I do agree that the monetization system in 2013 was completely non-functional. Jack has stated that his videos with a million views have only earned 166 dollars in ad revenue in 2013.

The monetization system in Youtube has been providing creators insufficient income for them. For example, Thomas M. Wagner, a science fiction reviewer on Youtube, whose content has garner over 4,400 subscribers on his channel only receives less than a hundred dollars per month in advertising revenue. ‘This discourages upcoming creators from building a channel from the ground up, subscriber by subscriber, week by week, the way so many original Youtubers did,’ says Matt Wallace, a writer and Youtuber. Youtube also rewards content that favours staged Youtuber feuds and dangerous stunts which can negatively impact viewers. In short, membership platforms and the monetization system are indeed informative points presented by Jack Conte but his “A Weird Hundred Years” theory, I am against it. Overall, his talk was very informative. When creators are paid, they can make more amazing things, things that inspire us, things that challenges and things that make us laugh.