HiFi Tour YouTube Video COMMENTS RESPONSE

Regular website readers should ignore this post. It’s not aimed at you in any way. Its a sort of global response to a YouTube post I made based on the recent HiFi Tour, Patreon announcement and a few YouTube-specific comments that emerged off the back of that.

So I would ask regular readers to excuse the intrusion. Normal service will resume after this one. In this feature, I am aiming my comments purely and solely at certain uptight figures in that YouTube Comments section. There is a link in my YouTube channel to this feature. It’s quicker to respond in this way, I feel.

FOR YOUTUBE VIEWERS

I thought I would pen this detailed post to some of the comments I’ve seen attached to this post. I thought it would be the right thing to do, to fully explain my position

Firstly, if it was me? If I saw someone doing something that I disagreed with, I would firstly ask questions and gather evidence. I would do at least some basic research. Just to see both sides of the argument. To at least find out the truth behind the matter and not launch into an immediate attack.

In short, I would put my brain before my mouth. 

There seems to be a lot of misunderstandings here. Misunderstandings about me and about Patreon and about what I do. I will answer a few questions here. Questions I’ve yet to receive.

MY JOB

Firstly, I’ve been a self-employed, freelance journalist for around 35 years. This is what I do for a living. I’ve worked in many industries during that time. I currently work in the HiFi and music industries. Always as a self-employed, freelance journalist. 

This is not a job you do to get rich. I earn about an average wage over a full year. Maybe slightly below. I chose to do this job because I love it. I want to wake up in the morning, excited about my job. Nevertheless, I work long hours, mostly for less than basic pay. 

So I’m not independently wealthy, I’m not a Lottery winner, I don’t have a flash job, etc. This is it. 

What I do here? This is my job. I have a website, I have a YouTube channel, I run a Facebook Group and I still do freelance work for a UK HiFi magazine. That is, I am paid by the word (and it’s the lowest rate, let me tell you).

On all of these things, I am paid a basic – and I mean basic – wage. That includes YouTube. I receive a few (and I mean a few) pounds from YouTube every month. Only people with 1+ million subscribers earn anywhere near a decent wage from YouTube. The only reason I’m on YouTube is to use it to expand my profile and to allow my work to reach more people.

Most of you will be earning far more than I.  

So tell me, is it “unsavoury” for a man to make a living?

Am I “chasing the dollar” if I wish to pay my bills?

Am I selling out if I want to support my family?

For my next point? I feel an odd mixture of hilarity and distaste.

PATREON CONTENT

I’m receiving howls and cries from some viewers regarding this Patreon post now but let me ask this: where were these dissenting voices when I started Patreon a full year ago? I talk about Patreon in every video I publish on this channel. Where was the negativity then? I’ve been offering exclusive videos and text features on Patreon for a year. So why vomit anger now? Is it because they finally see something they want, something they demand and they can’t have it for free?

It’s not petulance is it? Surely not. You know what I mean. When a child in a sweet shop demands sweets and Mother says, “No!” 

After all, nothing has changed on this channel. I used to publish two free videos per week. I am publishing the same two free videos and will continue to publish two free videos per week. 

Nothing has changed. Except perhaps, there’s a new jar of sweets, just out of reach.

PATREON

Let me explain what Patreon is and is not. 

For those who might not be familiar, Patreon has been compared to Kickstarter. Yet, instead of helping to fund a product to completion, with Patreon you offer support to a content creator to enable them to continue doing what they’re doing, doing those things that you enjoy and to help them grow and evolve into bigger and better things. 

I know a lot of people who run a Patreon and they offer no rewards at all. They just ask for help, set a tier fee and that’s that. You don’t have to add rewards but I have chosen to do so, purely as a thank you. So the support comes first, the content arrives after as a thank you. You’re not paying for content. Patreon isn’t like Netflix. I’m not obliged to give you free stuff if you pay me money. It doesn’t work like that. To repeat, you support me because you like what I do and you want to continue to see me do it. And you do that NOT expecting a reward. It’s called…kindness. Then I come along and say, “Hey that’s really nice of you guys, maybe I can offer a thank you for your support”.

It’s that way around.

Patreon – as I say at the end of every single YouTube video – Patreon helps to fund this channel. Without it, you wouldn’t be getting your free videos in the first place. And may I once more repeat, you are still getting the same two free videos per week. Nothing has changed. 

If you decide to unsubscribe from this channel because I’m trying my best to make a living and support my family then that makes me sad but so be it. Maybe, in fact, it’s for the best. I would rather support those who wish to support me.