Kickstarter debuts Drip, a service that lets fans subscribe to their favorite creators, in limited beta; sources says 7 out of 8 top execs have left since July
When Kickstarter launched in 2009, there was nothing quite like it: a platform where creators could launch a project with a funding goal …
Context & Ripple Effects
Kickstarter spent 2017 trying to give backers more ways to say yes: the Kickstarter Gold program brought back popular projects for repeat funding months ago, and now the company is converting its 2016 acquisition of Drip, a music streaming and fan community for independent labels, into a general subscription service in limited beta.
The timing is awkward. Sources say 7 of 8 top executives have left since July, meaning the company is betting on recurring creator revenue while nearly its entire leadership bench walks out the door.
First-order effects
- Creators on Kickstarter gain a recurring-revenue channel alongside one-shot project funding, moving the platform beyond the pledge-per-campaign model that produced its $2B cumulative total.
- The near-total executive exodus leaves the Drip beta launching without the leadership continuity typically needed to steer a new product line.
Second-order effects
- Subscription fan-funding puts Kickstarter in direct competition with dedicated creator-subscription services, where rivals like Kick are already luring top creators with lucrative contracts and a 95/5 revenue split.
- Independent labels and musicians — Drip's original audience — become the test case for whether a project-backing platform can hold onto fans between campaigns.
Third-order effects
- The eventual outcome — Kickstarter handing Drip to Andy Baio and XOXO co-founder Andy McMillan with fresh seed funding — suggests the subscription bet fit poorly inside the core crowdfunding business and was better run at arm's length.
- If platforms keep bolting subscriptions onto transactional models while their own strategies churn (the abandoned blockchain pivot, payment-processor-driven content rules), creator monetization consolidates around whoever offers the most durable ongoing relationship rather than the biggest campaign marketplace.
The trend: Crowdfunding platforms are being pulled toward subscription-based creator economies, forcing them to choose between campaign marketplaces and ongoing fan relationships.