Cyber PR is always looking for new ways for artists and musicians to get involved with their fans. Patreon is one of the more creative ways to increase engagement and follower-ship for any new and beginning or experienced artist. To help you get an idea of how to use Patreon, we are counting down the 10 musicians on Patreon worth talking about!

What is Patreon?

Before we delve into our 10 picks, let’s do a quick introduction for those of you who are hearing about Patreon for the first time. So what is Patreon? And why is it so significant? Patreon was established as a company for creators who want to get paid what they believe their work is worth. It started in 2013 when YouTube musician Jack Conte wanted to make a stable income from his YouTube posts and millions of fans that watch. Thus, Patreon was born to help creators turn their art into financial stability.

What is unique about this website is that creators set their values and put together bundles they believe their fans would want. This could range from special merch, exclusive content, and VIP communities. The bundle the fan chooses varies in price. The more within the bundle, and the more exclusive content is within it, the more expensive it is. Fans pay a monthly subscription to the artist of their choice and with that subscription, they gain access to everything listed in the bundle they pay for.

Why are so many artists on Patreon? Patreon provides a sense of community and closeness for artists and/or musicians with their fans. This is a very direct source of contact that can help build relationships which therefore builds the following and commitment. Patreon musicians and creators are all about their community. The only people willing to pay a monthly subscription to an artist are those that are already fans, therefore artists feel great about themselves and their work because they receive no criticism, and fans are typically just as ecstatic for being a part of the creative journey. Now let’s get into some of these artists!

Want to learn more about Patreon artists? Click this link to listen to a podcast on how to grow your superfans using Patreon!

1. Amanda Palmer

Here’s a name you definitely know. You’re likely familiar with Amanda Palmer, whose music career initially took off with a major label. However, she quickly became disillusioned by the lack of creative control and revenue. So, she turned to Patreon. On her Patreon Amanda focuses on providing exclusive content through a tiered system. The higher the tier patrons select, the more exclusive the content becomes.

Amanda’s philosophy revolves around community and sharing art with others who appreciate it. That means her tiers are accessible and she even reinvests many of her earnings into supporting other creatives or charities.

She encourages feedback from her patrons, which only serves to build a stronger community and fanbase. With a growing patron base of over 18k Patrons and counting, Amanda’s innovative approach to connecting with fans and supporting artists is something to admire and mimic.

Follow Amanda Palmer on IG here!

2. Pomplamoose

Pomplamoose (Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn) initially gained traction on YouTube for creative covers and original songs. While it’s worth noting that Jack Conte is one of the co-founders of Patreon, their numbers speak for themselves. They serve as a prime example of cultivating a loyal fanbase that stands by you and (this part is important) takes time to grow. You don’t need huge numbers to see a financial return. Fans want to support you — they just need to be given an avenue to do so.

Despite having a total membership exceeding 5,000, only 1,500 members are paid members. Nevertheless, they generate over $8,000 per month from these tiers and openly express their gratitude for their fans, emphasizing ”

Please don’t feel any pressure to support us financially. You can absolutely join for free if you just want to know when we release things or play shows. Or if you want to download our music and watch more footage of us in the studio, you can join at the $5 tier! Either way, all of our music and videos are available for free on Spotify, YouTube, Instagram and Tiktok! So thank you for supporting independent music in whatever way you do. It matters so much and we are so grateful!”

 

3. Cynthia Lin

Cynthia brings us an approach that is quite common to see on Patreon: music lessons. Cynthia has played the ukulele for many years now and frequently writes her own music. However, her Patreon is dedicated mainly to a community of sharing projects and ideas and intimacy. Her tier system allows patrons to pay for what they are most interested in. Cynthia offers live chat sessions between her and other patrons where they can talk and get to know each other. She also offers ukulele lessons where she goes step-by-step through a tutorial on writing and playing a song. She also posts all of her lessons to YouTube for free because she believes that if people want to learn how to play an instrument and write music, they should have access to it without having to pay for it. Although part of her packages include teaching, this package is also more of a way for people to assist her in her teaching career. Cynthia currently has over 8k patrons that are dedicated to helping her share her art with others and provide ukulele lessons for free.

Follow Cynthia Lin here!

4. Home Free

Another interesting and effective approach that seems to work for this band is focusing on music videos. Home Free is a country-style acappella group that switched gears from solely releasing music to making artistically creative videos to the music to make it more entertaining for the fans. Home Free has mentioned how ever since they switched to making videos, they have sold many more albums through physical sales and at a much faster rate than before! Their primary focus has shifted to include these videos they work so hard on, so each of the tiers include the videos along with the songs. Currently, Home Free has 5,099 patrons and continues to grow each day. Their music videos sure are a lot of work, but it seems to be paying off well.

Follow Home Free here!

Kevin Woo

Follow Kevin Woo here!

5. Circa Survive

If any one of these Patreon artists were to be chosen as that most tailored to their fans, it would be Circa Survive. Circa Survive have been on Patreon for a while so they got the chance to play around a bit with what their fans want and like. Price points for their Patreon is pretty average, but what they’re offering is very valuable. Not only did they create a discord for their fans to talk freely on, but they also go out of their way to create exclusive content for the patrons in a given tier. They make special merch, give out unreleased recordings and other documentations, and early access to all things band. They have truly mastered the idea of putting your fans first. Although they have less than a thousand patrons, they make sure that every one of them knows how special and loved they are.

Follow Circa Survive here!

6. Kina Grannis

An artist taking it another step forward is Kina Grannis. Kina has decided to not only share her music with her fans, but she has converted her Patreon into her own label, with her patrons being members of this label. After being signed to a few labels in the past, Kina cut ties with being owned and decided to own herself and her music with the feedback and opinion of her patrons. She has built a community around her work. She continues to share her music on streaming platforms for those who want to support to cannot afford it, but also allows her patrons to gain early access to her latest work. Kina is only at just under 1k paid patrons (over 4k total), but she holds great promise because of her dedication to her fans.

Follow Kina Grannis here!

7. Andrew Huang

Someone who tries their best to provide constant content for their fans is Andrew Huang. Andrew promises that for every $1 a patron pledges to his music, he will provide them with every song he releases for as long as they are patrons. He dedicates every Monday and Thursday to releasing new music videos for his fans as well as sending out new sample packs throughout the year. Andrew has a lot of music that he shares with his patrons in exchange for their support and contribution. He may only have 3k patrons, with only 400 of those paid, but he is making a splash within the community.

Follow Andrew Huang here!

8. Postmodern Jukebox

Now this one is an interesting twist to music as we know it. Postmodern Jukebox makes music out of the ordinary and typical genres. They take modern songs and put a vintage spin on it. Their Patreon is a little higher in value than the previous ones we mentioned, but their tier system seems to be mainly based on membership services, such as gold or platinum. This is one of those accounts where it looks like they primarily want financial stability and reinforcement from their fans. Postmodern Jukebox has blown up on other platforms, but only has 138 paid patrons. We may see an increase in Patreon like they had on other platforms, but for now they sure do seem to be pretty unique.

Follow Postmodern Jukebox here!

9. Ben Grace

What is interesting about Ben Grace is his already grand experience with the music industry and his tier implementation is different than others. Ben offers tiers at a monthly price equivalent to the price of a beer at a concert. Ben is a beer enthusiast, so choosing the theme of beer seems very fitting. This is important—make your Patreon fit your brand and the idea your fans already have of you.

This idea of virtually buying someone a beer by supporting their art is a very beautiful sentiment, especially since the pandemic shut down live concerts for a year. Ben also makes use of annual subscriptions on his Patreon so people have the choice of either paying to be a patron per month, or giving into him completely for a year. This has not been seen on the previous 8 Patreon artists’ pages, so it’s nice to see it here. Ben gives his fans early access to all his music, both live and recorded, and promises to have a beer with them for being a patron. With only 56 patrons, Ben sure is quite incredible.

Follow Ben Grace here!

Kamauu

What I love about Kamauu’s Patreon is the quirky supporter names (Mushroom Patron, Nostril Patron, Light Owl in a Shadow Wolf Tier). They’re quirky and perfectly in line with Kamauu’s brand. Plus, each is packed with amazing opportunities. This is a wonderful example of how to make fans like they’re getting a LOT for their support. Even the $5 Mushroom tier offers song demos and sketches, archived posts, early access, behind the scenes, and a monthly movie night (how fun!)

Is it any wonder they have nearly 600 paid members?

Follow Kamauu here!

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