On Monday crowdfunding platform, Patreon, announced the news that it has acquired Subbable, which was founded by YouTube sensation Hank Green and his brother John Green, who wrote The Fault in Our Stars.
According to Forbes, the big merger consolidates two funding platform. With their artists and YouTube stars combined, the platform is expected to generate more than $25 million from followers in 2015. Patreon’s creator roster features big names, including Amanda Palmer, comic artist Len Peralta and comedian group, Kinda Funny. Subbable’s creators has SmarterEveryday, MinuteEarth, and G.C.P Grey.
Explaining why backers are willing to give more than $2 million a month for the platform’s services, co-founder of Patreon, Jack Conte, stated:
“Because they’re not paying for content. They’re paying for the people. People always ask, ‘Should music be free?’ But music is already free. The question is: ‘How do we pay people?’”
Hank Green added to that comment by explaining:
“We ascribe to the idealistic notion that audiences don’t pay for things because they’re forced to, but because they care about the stuff that they love and want it to continue to grow.”
Patreon’s team shared that it is just under a quarter of a million patrons who have agreed to give anywhere between $1 and $10,000 each time their artist produces a song or video.
The media outlet revealed that the merger was precipitated when Subbale’s payment process, Amazon Payments, noted that Subbable’s 12,464 subscribers would be to reauthorize their contributions by June 1st, when Amazon said it will be migrating to a new payment system. The move sparked fear that many subscribers wouldn’t be re-authorize those payments, potentially leading to massive attrition.
While dealing with the situation, Hank Green asked Conte for advice, and Conte suggested that the two platforms merge. Patreon will assume the task of helping subscribers transition to the new payment system.
Subbable announced on its website that it will be shutting down this summer.
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