Patreon, a subscription platform popular among individual creators and small companies, is expanding beyond boutique service with a network initiative that has inked Wondery and Sony Music Entertainment to podcasting deals. Patreon says podcasting is its largest category, with participants earning more than $472 million from over 6.7 million paid memberships. The figure marked a 35 percent increase from 2023. With more than 100 million total memberships, Patreon says it is “the best place on the Internet for independent podcasters and media networks alike.” The 12-year-old company provides tools for creators to connect directly with fans.

“The pivot toward bigger partners reflects the aggressive competition Patreon faces in a crowded content subscription market,” reports Bloomberg, listing Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Substack among those vying in the space.

“With podcasting subscriptions for individuals and small networks growing, Patreon is setting its sights on some of the industry’s stalwarts, who are looking for reach beyond their established platforms,” Bloomberg adds.

Although podcasting isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Sony Music, it has a global podcast division with a wide range of shows, though only some of them will be available via Patreon, according to TechCrunch. Likewise, select programming will be available on Patreon from Wondery, which is owned by Amazon.

San Francisco-based Patreon was founded by Jack Conte and Sam Yam. “The closely held company also allows creators to offer a free membership tier alongside subscriptions as a way to tailor offerings to their audience and build a community that potentially leads to future paid members,” explains Bloomberg.

In its recent State of Create report, Patreon said its creators indicated “that on average they make over 24x more per fan on Patreon than Instagram, and over 40x more per fan on Patreon than TikTok,” the company writes in a news post.

Podcast ad revenue is expected to reach $2.2 billion this year, according to a 2024 study from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. “The podcasting industry generally relies on advertising for revenue, but subscriptions are becoming a vital part of some strategies,” notes Bloomberg.