The Rise of Fan Membership Services; Pearpop’s Maroon 5 Challenge

For some creators, brand sponsorships are losing their luster, even though they remain the top way to make money. Subscriptions, a path to earn recurring income directly from fans, have emerged as an attractive second option. That’s fueled the success of OnlyFans and Patreon. Now other startups and big social networks are following suit.

Take Fanhouse, co-founded by creator Jasmine Rice as an alternative to OnlyFans. Unlike on the larger U.K. startup, Fanhouse stars don’t provide explicitly sexual content but, similar to OnlyFans, they can communicate directly with their top fans. Rice told me in May that she “took out what worked” from OnlyFans, such as subscriptions and tipping. Fanhouse also tries to distinguish itself with its fee: it takes a 10% cut compared to 20% for OnlyFans.