Jack Conte and Neopatronage: A New Creative Economy
Unless you've been living in a cave on Mars, you're aware that the entertainment industry is in flux. Disruptive tech innovations, corporate screwups, and the path of least resistance becoming a slippery slope have destroyed the old paradigm.Jack Conte, CEO of Patreon, addressed this upheaval in his keynote speech at SXSW 2024. There, he offered a vision for how creators can thrive in a market that bears little similarity to the past. Watch him here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zUndMfMIncJack's insights harmonize strikingly with the concept of Neopatronage, which I’ve discussed at length as a model for the future of artistic endeavors.Conte’s speech focused on letting creators connect directly with their audiences, leveraging platforms that favor transparency, stability, and autonomy over the fickle whims of the old gatekeepers. His emphasis on rebuilding the economy of creative work parallels Neopatronage’s core goal: dismantling the middlemen who dictate terms, stifle creativity, and extract resources from creators without adding value.Related: Neo-PatronageLet’s explore how Conte’s principles align with Neopatronage and illustrate a way forward for creators and patrons alike.Breaking Free from GatekeepersConte identifies a fundamental problem in the traditional entertainment industry model: Institutions like publishers, record labels, and streaming platforms have long controlled access to audiences. They’ve forced creators into exploitative deals, prioritizing their profit margins over their talents' careers.This observation jibes with Neopatronage’s critique of the old publishing and distribution systems. Whether it was the big New York publishers or Amazon’s pay-to-play algo massaging, creators have become dependent on gatekeepers whose goals conflict with artists' needs.Neopatronage proposes a solution: Bypass the gatekeepers entirely. Instead of ceding control to corporate overlords, creators should seek direct relationships with audiences, forging partnerships that invest power with those who produce and consume the art, not those who merely monetize it.
A New Economic FrameworkIn his keynote, Conte describes how Patreon has reimagined the creative economy by offering artists tools to connect with fans directly. As you may have recognized already, this approach is a stepping stone toward Neopatronage. By facilitating direct funding, platforms like Patreon, SubscribeStar, and Substack hearken back to a Renaissance style patronage system updated for the digital age.Related: Neopatronage RisingNeopatronage takes Conte's idea to its logical conclusion. Imagine a future when crowdfunding and subscription-based models move beyond current platforms. Instead of relying on corporate middlemen, creators and audiences will establish direct support pipelines, reducing or even eliminating the need for go-betweens.But for now, platforms like Patreon and Kickstarter provide an invaluable proof of concept. They demonstrate that creators can make a living income from loyal patrons without chasing algorithms or blowing ad dollars. The key is expanding this model to ensure that creators keep full autonomy while fostering closer engagement with their audiences.Stability in an Unstable IndustryConte’s focus on creator stability aligns with one of Neopatronage’s most compelling promises. As he noted, a career in the creative arts shouldn’t be a gamble, with success depending on going viral or hitting an arbitrary bestseller list. Neopatronage champions long-term relationships between creators and supporters, offering a predictable revenue stream that lets artists focus on their work instead of hustling to appease black box algorithms or corporate DIE teams.Related: Sanderson’s Neopatronage MasterclassAudiences benefit from this greater stability, too. With Neopatronage, readers, listeners, and viewers know their support goes straight into making the art they love. Establishing that sense of investment and shared purpose with their patrons means that creators needn't chase trends or pander to the Pop Cult. Instead, they can create work that reflects their vision while pleasing their supporters.Beyond the PlatformsThe ideal Neopatronage model bypasses even the most creator-friendly platforms, replacing them with decentralized points of contact. Such a system could involve custom subscription services, blockchain-based funding, or independent networks of patrons pooling resources to support their favorite creators.The result? A creative environment that's resistant to censorship, immune to algorithmic manipulation, and driven by the direct interaction between artists and their audiences.It's encouraging that Conte, too, sees a future in which artists are empowered to create freely and engage with audiences directly without interference from corporate parasites. Our task now is to use the tools we have today while working toward the more robust, decentralized framework of tomorrow. Because growing direct relationships with patrons is how creators can escape the clutches of algorithms, corporate gatekeeping, and cultural decay.Conte’s optimism for the creator economy and the principles of Neopatronage point to the same conclusion: The power to shape the future of art lies in the hands of creators and their audiences.
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