Patreon, the oft-cited content creator rewarding platform, is building its own video platform, complete with hosting and player. The company is hinting it wants to offer multi-format creators a single destination, possibly away from YouTube and Vimeo.
In addition to launching a new podcast, Patreon CEO Jack Conte confirmed the company is actively developing its own video-sharing platform. Needless to mention, Patreon has been steadily moving towards self-reliance, and such developments are key.
What are Patreon’s new video-sharing platform and a new podcast?
Content creation has come a long way from creating engaging videos, uploading to YouTube, and hoping for sustainable revenue from ads. Creators, be it audio, video, or any other media, including multimedia, are expanding into other areas.
Content Creators are increasingly tying up with brands and businesses. Such contracts usually ensure a decent payout.
At the same time, creators are also offering exclusive content to paying subscribers or fans. However, Patreon subscribers have to rely heavily on other platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo to upload their creations, even for a select audience.
Patreon’s building native video hosting for creators to sidestep YouTube https://t.co/QiYI1tKPig pic.twitter.com/izczGsI9Po
— The Verge (@verge) November 11, 2021
Patreon has always hinted that it wanted to be a self-reliant and independent operator. However, platforms such as YouTube have far more subscribers and users to compete against.
Nonetheless, Patreon has garnered a substantial number of subscribers, who, in turn, have paying followers. And quite possibly, it is now confident that these “fans” will follow their favorite content creators to an independent platform.
Speaking about the new endeavors, Patreon CEO said: “We already host podcasts, and now we’re starting to host video, as well. We’re building a video product … So, in terms of how we’ve approached our strategy, and what exactly it is that we’re building, 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.”
Is Patreon shifting away from YouTube and Vimeo?
It is abundantly clear that Patreon wants to become self-reliant. The company hasn’t offered any specific timeline, nor has it offered any glimpse of the video platform.
Conte has merely indicated the company is actively developing a video platform. It would include a website with ample backend server space for hosting videos and other multimedia content. He also mentioned a video player. This strongly suggests apps for iOS and Android.
Patreon is building its own video hosting platform https://t.co/ZRjTKgHDDW pic.twitter.com/RWwN6yDwno
— Engadget (@engadget) November 11, 2021
Currently, creators who want to share videos with their patrons have to upload them to third-party services like YouTube or Vimeo. Creators have to then set specific access control rules under privacy settings. Patreon members can attach a video file to a post, but the file size cannot exceed 200 MB.
A dedicated platform for Patreon members sounds good on paper. However, competing with YouTube, Vimeo could prove a difficult challenge.
The company would not only have to build a video-hosting platform, but also manage CDNs (Content Delivery Networks). Needless to mention, it will continue taking a commission from all the subscribers that pay their favorite content creators.