TLDR: Royal Patron enables creators and platforms to recognize and reward patrons—individuals who elevate and sustain digital art through various forms of support, which includes royalties. Celebrating these patrons fosters a positive culture, encourages more participation, and supports the growth and sustainability of the digital art ecosystem.

A patron approach can be the most long term rewarding

Snowfro paints a picture:

I allow myself to see beyond immediate or even mid term future, and envision a world where patrons of today are internationally recognized for their early participation in the elevation of digital art. These patrons will buy and sell art, potentially find opportunities to elevate their own lives both financially and culturally, while engaging in dialogue with the broader art and cultural institution, finding prominence in a world...

Patrons act in a positive sum way. They enable artists. We want more patrons. We’re making tools to perpetuate this culture. We think recognizing who we appreciate and what we value is how to perpetuate it. We believe in positive rewards, not shame. Non-patrons aren't bad. We’re building where our heart is, but we’re not here to judge people who participate differently.

Patron pluralism 

There are many ways to be a patron. We think royalties are one way, but there are many others. We want to surface the many ways people are patrons. We expect this to evolve. We also expect our partners will want different definitions. We support that. 

Patrons aren’t gone

You hear royalties are at 0. They are not:

Royalties are down, but not gone in crypto art. What if we celebrate the people who paid instead of bemoaning those who didn’t? Will more people pay? What happens if we recognize patrons? 

Snowfro on royalties:

Some individuals participate as clear patrons and supporters of the arts and culture. These individuals are objectively stewards of artists, platforms, projects, communities, and our cherished ecosystem as a whole. They recognize the value proposition of creators and platforms participating in the dialogue adjacent to an initial release by supporting them with the social and cultural construct of royalties as designated by the artist and/or platform. They generally also recognize that there are net positive economic and democratization impacts resulting from the royalty model that potentially enable them to participate in an artist’s career which might otherwise be inaccessible to them if an artist or platform was forced to encapsulate the entire value of a release in the primary sale.

These individuals should be recognized, or more precisely, I personally would like to recognize these individuals and their contributions to elevating the practice of digital (and generative) art. You know who you are. THANK YOU.

Pilots: recognize patrons on your terms

We’re running pilots for artists and platforms to identify their patrons for recognition. We’ll build you custom allowlists for whatever rewards you want to offer. 

Free for artists, reasonable for platforms. DM for early access (x, warpcast); spots are limited.

Pick whatever reward you want—small, big, or non-monetary. Highlight on X, send a card, give a discount, or AL. It's your call. Pick your patron definition. Top holders, royalty payers, etc. Raffle a few or include all. 

We want varied rewards and patron definitions. Let’s run some experiments. See our first pilot with SquiggleDAO.

We’re open to bigger ideas too: identifying patrons of ecosystems, reputation systems, patron/collector CRMs, self-serve creator tools, opt in patron notification systems for rewards, etc. This data is tricky so we’ll start small, while thinking big. 

Get Involved

We're building tools for a positive sum culture. Some people will light the fuse, others will carry the torch and some will hang around the fire. All are needed roles. If you're an artist or platform interested in pilots to light the fuse, reach out on x or warpcast. If you want to follow along, subscribe here on paragraph or follow us on social media.