Patreon has etched its place in the content economy by being a source of additional revenue for content creators. It has proved vital for many creators that are adamant to make the content they want, but it wouldn’t necessarily boil to the top with the algorithms on sites such as YouTube. It allows viewers to support them directly, rather than the creators having to rely on ad generated revenue. The company has announced it is building its own video streaming site to accompany its main business.
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The main goal of this site is to host the content directly, with creators then not relying on YouTube, Vimeo or the likes of Twitch to supply to video-on-demand platform they need. CEO of Patreon, Jack Conte, confirmed that it is working on its own video hosting, along with a dedicated media player.
“We’re building the horizontal architecture for any creator, no matter their medium, or no matter the upload format, to be able to build a business around their work,” Conte explained. He added that Patreon already hosts podcasts on its platform, so video hosting is a natural progression.
Conte is aware that should this platform receive positive feedback and decent uptake, Patreon will need to spend a lot of resource in order to create a clear content policy. Other platforms’ policies have been very murky at times, leading to creator confusion and frustration when their videos are demonetised or supressed by the algorithm. These policies are clearly needed, however, to stop the spread of misinformation, hateful content, or explicit content.
“We want to attract the most awesome, forward-thinking, curious people who are building for the creator economy to Patreon,” Conte said. “We want those people to hear how we think about the world, and our vision, and what we want to build, and what we believe in, and who we are.”
