🌻On micro-patronage in our time.

Imagine: Van Gogh is painting his sunflowers, no money, nobody understands him. And then some patron in a top hat appears and says: "Buddy, I like your work, here's a salary for you, keep creating, and in return I get the first version of the painting, while the rest of the crowd doesn't even know you exist yet."

Such a system existed for millennia. Artists, writers, composers survived as long as they found one rich benefactor who believed in their talent. If they didn't find one, they became bookbinders, laborers, or out of despair poisoned themselves with arsenic (also a historical fact, by the way). In short, they lost the opportunity to create and disappeared from the face of history.

In the 20th century, everything broke down. Patrons ran out, the market arrived. Now a creator depends not on the love of a connoisseur, but on an advertising algorithm that, unfortunately, mostly encourages trash content. And true art is the complete opposite of trash content, so it's not profitable, and algorithms don't like it. As always, a creator needs a patron. Or... many micro-patrons?

And then first Patreon appears, and then other micro-patronage services: Boosty, Sponsr, Lavatop, and others.

We are witnessing the revival of an ancient beautiful tradition, only upgraded through the internet. Now the author has not one wealthy person, but a thousand ordinary people who chip in a little bit. Each subscriber on Boosty is such a micro-patron. You are not buying a product; you are saying: "Buddy, what you do matters to me, keep going, here's some money for paints."

And yes, as in the good old days, the patron gets access to exclusive content, things not shown to the crowd. Paintings "for the inner circle," drafts, private concerts, book chapters before publication.

Technology has moved forward, but the scheme is the same: the creator creates, the connoisseur supports. Only now, instead of one name on the list of patrons, there are hundreds of names, and that's even fairer.

Subscribe to my Boosty, dear readers, support me, even with a micro-donation, and then there will be more stories you like :)

#Ρ€Π°Π·Π½ΠΎΠ΅ #Ρ…ΡƒΠ΄ΠΎΠΆΠ½ΠΈΠΊ #ΠΏΠΈΡΠ°Ρ‚Π΅Π»ΡŒ #бусти #boosty