Patreon adds free fan memberships, direct-to-fan digital sales

Subscription-based membership platform Patreon has added a free tier and will now enable creators to sell digital products to fans on and off the platform.

Patreon’s new tier is free for creators and fans, making it a freemium gateway for new creators to build a fanbase before charging and for established creators to add casual fans to their Patreon community. Fans who sign up can get updates to their inbox, through the Patreon mobile app, and on the web without algorithms getting in the way.

Creators can now also sell digital products like songs, albums, videos, podcast episodes, and other downloadable files including global payment processing both to their members and to the general public using Patreon.

When the creator uploads media and chooses a price, Patreon creates a product page, and as more products are uploaded, a browsable shop, both of which are publically shareable on other platforms.

Learn more about Patreon’s new free features here.

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.