Facebook to launch 'Patreon killer' that grabs 30% of fan money vs. Patreon’s 5%

REUTERS/2018

Just when you thought Facebook couldn't get any sillier.

TechCrunch's Josh Constine reports that Facebook is launching a fan subscription service á la Patreon, but unlike Patreon's 5% cut of the tip jar, Facebook plans to take away 30%.

Because of course.

Excerpt:

The policy document attained by TechCrunch shows Facebook plans to take up to a 30 percent cut of subscription revenue minus fees, compared to 5 percent by Patreon, 30 percent by YouTube which covers fees, and 50 percent by Twitch.

Facebook also reserves the right to offer free trials to subscriptions that won’t compensate creators. And Facebook demands a “non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use” creators’ content and “This license survives even if you stop using Fan Subscriptions.”

Distrust of Facebook could scare creators away from the platform when combined with its significant revenue share and ability to give away or repurpose creators’ content. Facebook has consistently shown that it puts what it thinks users want and its own interests above those of partners. It cut off game developers from viral channels, inadequately warned Page owners their reach with drop over time, decimated referral traffic to news publishers, and most recently banished video makers from the feed. If Facebook wants to win creators’ trust and the engagement of their biggest fans, it may need a more competitive offering with larger limits on its power.

More at TechCrunch. Below here is more of Matt Saincome's original Twitter thread on the subject, on which the TechCrunch piece was partly based.