What the Music Industry Can Learn from Patreon & the Creator Economy

Creator monetization platform Patreon’s inaugural “State of Create” report, released in February, argues for strengthening the connections between creators and their most dedicated fans. But while the report’s in-depth survey focuses on the creator economy, there are also lessons in it for the music industry as its main players start to embrace the notion of the “superfan.”

Whereas social media platforms were once the go-to for creators to reach their followers, factors including the unpredictable algorithm have made doing so significantly more difficult. Specifically, 53% of creators surveyed agreed it’s harder to reach followers on social media today than it was five years ago.

When asked about their social media activity, 78% of creators said the algorithm, which generally prioritizes content that’s already proven to maximize watch time and engagements, impacts creative output. Some 56% of creators went further and said it prevents them from exploring their passions and interests.

Jumping on the latest trend or meme can certainly help a creator reach new people, but if their usual work veers from what the algorithm deems worthy, their fans may not even see it. Creators openly talking about feeling obligated to post clickbait instead of their best work has even become a genre of content in itself.

Patreon highlights how those who are most eager to support their favorite creators — coined “core fans” — are the key to addressing these problems. Core fans not only regularly consume a creator’s work and tell others about it, but they are exceptionally willing to financially support creators they like. Among the core fans surveyed, those who said they were likely to pay creators were on par with the percentage of those participating in free activities.

We’re already seeing this direct-to-fan renaissance take shape as platforms such as Substack, Discord, and, of course, Patreon gain popularity. Some of the major algorithm-driven platforms, including YouTube and Instagram, now also let creators set up paid membership tiers on site instead of needing to link to an external site like Patreon.

These problems should sound somewhat familiar to those in the music business. For one thing, social media is as crucial to a musician’s career as it is for non-music online creators. The aforementioned pressures on creators — catering to the algorithm, sacrificing self-expression for “content,” not effectively reaching existing fans — apply to indie and mainstream artists alike.

As Doechii (whose music has gone TikTok-viral several times) said in her track “Denial Is a River”: “Labels want the TikToks/ Now I’m making TikTok music, what the f**k.”

Just like Patreon’s “core fans” argument, music industry leaders believe superfans are the solution to restore value to music. Universal Music Group has led the charge with its “Streaming 2.0” initiative, which says the industry needs to pull back from market growth and instead focus on superfans’ untapped buying power.

There is ample evidence that music inspires especially fervent fandom. For starters, Luminate’s “Entertainment 365” survey found that 79% of respondents identified as “die-hard” music fans, the second-highest percentage behind watching TV. Music superfans’ passion also often translates into spending: Luminate’s 2024 Music Report found that superfans spent around $113 per month, or 66% more than casual fans, on live music events last year.

We’re seeing these findings playing out with the growing success of music-centric, social media-style “fan club” apps. Weverse, where users can pay to join an artist’s community for exclusive content and perks, expanded its initially K-pop-centric artist roster (it’s the official home of the mighty BTS Army) to include Western pop artists Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa and more.

So far, 2025 seems to be settling in as the year of the music superfan. Weverse is a key factor in UMG’s push toward superfans thanks to its partnership with Weverse owner and South Korean label HYBE Corp., while Warner and Sony have started looking into superfan apps of their own.

While we don’t know much more than these developing plans, UMG has pitched Streaming 2.0 as its way to inject new value into music. By extension, fan-centric apps present a chance to create stronger direct-to-fan channels for artists that circumvent the issues with traditional social media. Better yet, they could differentiate the split between being a musician and being a content creator.

Indie musicians finding fan support via platforms such as Substack, Kickstarter and Patreon is nothing new, of course. Still, a music-centric, algorithm-free social media or membership platform cosigned by the Big Three labels or a streaming platform could help independent artists in particular cut through the random and endless content feeds of TikTok and Instagram and better reach people who care about their work.

Perhaps it could be some amalgamation of Weverse and, say, Bandcamp, a vital indie music platform where users can buy, download and even stream music directly from an artist’s page.

As music’s major players embrace superfandom, the biggest lesson they can take from the online content world is that the power to create and reach fans needs to be given to the artists and not the algorithm. That sense of agency and authenticity is precisely why platforms including Patreon and Substack are so appealing to both creators and followers.

Additionally, just as the likes of YouTube and Patreon are accessible to both major, big-budget creators and new, emerging talents, Streaming 2.0 will only work if smaller artists and communities benefit as well.

There was some willingness from the major labels to assist small artists after Chappell Roan called them out from the Grammys stage, but that should be just the start. For as much promise as these superfan-aimed strategies have for increasing music’s value for the main players, hopefully that surge will also be felt by the entire industry.