During the pandemic, acts were unable to tour for long periods of time and many of their marketing failsafes were suddenly not viable.

Livestreaming offered one connection to fans as well as, for some, a whole new revenue stream. Other acts encouraged fans to buy from their D2C stores. And others still sought out whole new ways to make money. 

Bat For Lashes (aka Natasha Khan) used Patreon to create a two-tier offering that went beyond music and was something that perhaps might not have had legs (wings?) at any other time. 

On the £5 (+ VAT) a month tier, she posted handwritten letters online as well as answered fan questions. On top of this, she offered a recipe or crafting tip of the month alongside “mood boards full of inspirations, top picks and ideas for you to get your vampire teeth stuck in to”. 

On the £10 (+ VAT) a month tier there was “an exclusive monthly musical treat” and backstage videos during tours (when they happened). More intriguingly it took an occult turn where Khan would “pull the Patreon community’s tarot card of the month and explore its themes and meanings”.

The Patreon tiers have evolved in the interim. The Sunday Lovers tier offers roughly what the old £5 (+ VAT) tier used to but now costs £10 (+ VAT) a month. For those fans with a more, let’s say, generous budget, the Pearl’s Dreamers tier costs £200 (+ VAT) a month (yes, you read that right) and includes a 60-minute Zoom call (called Natasha’s Witch School). 

“Don a platinum wig and let’s work together one-on-one on a creative project of your own making,” she says. “I will personally mentor you, supporting you through navigating your creative terrain.”

Fans have to submit a 300-word synopsis of “your topic/project/creative issue of choice” before booking a slot. Should Khan struggle to assist, that £200 (+ VAT) will not be wasted. “If for any reason she feels she can not help you, you will be refunded,” the site says. 

It is a bold move to have such an expensive tier, but there was clearly fan interest. The market will sustain what the market will sustain. 

It does, however, feel like a Patreon of extremes: the more generic offering costing £10 a month (+ VAT); or the fully immersive and interactive offering costing £200 a month (+ VAT). There is nothing in the middle. It all feels like a hard play rather than something that is carefully segmented.