Apple looks for more money by changing the math on Patreon
Content creators who use the online platform Patreon may need to increase prices for their supporters to make up for tech giant Apple claiming a 30 per cent share of any transactions completed within the platform’s app on iOS devices such as iPhones or iPads.
Patreon lets individuals or companies charge people for the material they create, either as one-off or recurring monthly payments. Content on Patreon can include everything from podcasts and personal training, to music, comics and more. Much of it is digital, but creators can offer physical merchandise as well.
Starting in November 2024, Apple will require Patreon to pay a fee on any products and new memberships purchased through the Patreon iOS app.
Apple already applies this fee to many other apps and providers on their App Store. It did not enforce the fee with Patreon until recently, though the reason Patreon was exempt is unclear.
Apple did not respond to CBC News’s requests for comment. In an emailed statement, Patreon says it doesn’t have “much flexibility with this change” and is trying to prevent it from seriously disrupting creators’ earnings.
It pointed out the new fee would not apply to existing memberships, but only to new transactions made within the app on Apple devices.
Patreon says it’s “preventing disruption” to creator revenue, in part, by creating tools to automatically increase prices in the iOS app to maintain creator earnings.
The company also said it does not recommend that creators leave their prices as-is, because Apple’s 30 per cent cut will come out of the money the content provider would have made — not out of Patreon’s revenues.
Creators not pleased with this change
The move is getting mixed to negative reviews from some Patreon creators.
“I’m mad at Apple,” said Ernie Smith, a Patreon user and editor-in-chief of the tech newsletter Tedium.
According to Smith, who is based in Virginia, Patreon should leave the Apple ecosystem, “cut their losses on this whole app thing” and just take payments on its website, where an Apple fee would not apply.
“When I signed up for Patreon it was just a website, you know?” he said, laughing.
Apple is requiring the app Patreon to start using its iOS in-app purchase system, which claims a 30% fee on transactions. Some content creators worry it could impact their revenue.
For Edmonton-based Patreon user and podcast producer Craig Baird, the change might force him to raise his prices for his supporters.
The price hike might not feel drastic at first, he says, as the lowest tier for his own Patreon, Canadian History Ehx, costs $3 a month.
But nothing about the product he creates or Patreon itself has changed to justify this increase.
“It kind of feels like the…
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