Patreon defends new pricing after user uproar
Patreon is defending a new payment structure that critics say hurts smaller artists. The change, which goes into effect on December 18th, adds a processing fee to each individual patron pledge, instead of taking the cut out of creators’ total earnings. Because this fee includes a flat 35-cent charge on top of a percentage, it disproportionately affects people making small pledges, or pledging to multiple artists. Artists have complained that they’re losing patrons after the announcement — but Patreon says it’s an inevitable consequence of some other changes to the platform.
Patreon initially said that this fee made artists’ earnings more predictable, because they’d only have to worry about a single 5 percent cut taken by Patreon. In an...
