The estate of John Denver has taken the unusual step of launching a Patreon page, where fans can pledge a monthly financial contribution in exchange for access to previously unreleased tracks and archival material from the late singer-songwriter.
‘“Welcome to the John Denver Patreon Page, approved by and run on behalf of John Denver’s Estate. We hope to build a home here for building his community and to preserve his artistic legacy. We’ll share monthly rewards including unreleased music, rare photos of John, images of memorabilia with accompanying stories, photographs taken by John in his travels, and more. Patreon members will receive exclusive offers and first notice of special projects and releases,” a rep from the musician’s estate said in introducing the Patron page.
If you’re not familiar with Patreon, it is a crowd-funding and patronage platform designed to support creatives. Fans can pledge monthly financial support and in exchange, receive access to exclusive content from an artist. The site offers tiers to allow creators to tune their offered content to match different levels of financial support.
“a virtual museum”
“Patreon is a Membership platform that makes it easy for creators to offer exclusive content to their fans in exchange for a small monthly pledge. We’ve decided to build a “virtual museum” of John’s work on Patreon so that his most dedicated fans can get access to his personal photographs, previously unreleased recordings, and other special content. The collection will be carefully curated and new content will be released each month. Patreon also serves as a community space, where fans can comment and share their experiences around John’s music and art,” the estate’s rep said in explaining the decision to launch the Patron page.
Denver’s page at present offers two tiers – a seven dollar tier that provides access to 10 songs or more per month of live performance recordings, and a twelve dollar tier that includes 10 songs or more per month of live performance recordings, as well as exclusive art and travel photos created by Denver while he was alive. As well, the twelve dollar subscription includes a calendar featuring Denver’s photography.
Just 38 Fans…
So far, the new venture does not seem to be a runaway success. Denver’s Patreon page, which offers $7 and $12 patron levels plus a $1 donation option, has recruited just 38 supporters.