Youtube guitarists asking for cash via patreon, opinions??

I have noticed recently that more and more youtube guitarists are asking for cash via patreon. These guys are getting free gear, and depending on how many subscribers they have and views they are getting, are also making decent cash from youtube partnership program. That mad German dude, eytchpi42, constantly brags about all the free gear he gets, says he wont demo gear unless the companies pay him for his demos amd give him the gear(which usually suck unless he has someone like martin miller doing the demo), and has a patreon asking for money, and a go fund me sometimes like when he left his camera on the ground at musikmesse, of course someone took it, so a go fund me was set up so he could get money for a new camera. This guy has a wall of cool amps, says he got most free from companies, lives in a nice place, and is asking for money??

here is a video by him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1-slY-pVuc&t=1s - looks like he is doing good to me.

Would any of you guys start giving this dude money every month? Personally, I would not give him a dime. I could see giving someone like Troy Grady $10 or $20 a month because that dude is flying all over the world meeting with world class guitarists, picking apart their playing styles, and then breaking them down into lessons. His content is actually worth something. The German guy is demoing stuff that MANY other people are demoing.

A very strange time for guitar indeed. Its the era of the YouTube guitar hero. Although. guys like Martin Miller, Tom Quayle, and Rick Graham who have become well known because of youtube, are actually players who have put in the time to become really good at their instruments. Ibanez just gave Miller and Quayle signature models. If they were not well known from youtube these two would have never got signature models from Ibanez. But, they are both awesome players. Martin Miller RIPS!

So, what do you guys think?

If you're consuming the content, the amount of money/wealth he already has, or how hard he allegedly works to create said content, would have nothing to do with whether he has earned the money. It's voluntary. You're not obliged to pay, but there's nothing stopping him from asking.

My $.02. This could get sociopolitical pretty quickly.

The only guitar thing I've ever learned from YouTube is when Jake E lee showed how he actually plays Bark at the Moon. And he didn't even ask me for money.

I wouldn't subscribe or anything but I have bought stuff YouTube guys make money from because they've helped me a lot with their videos. IE bought some of Ola Englund's music because I found his demos of amps super useful and he took the time to answer some of my questions when I was 16 or so. Also his albums are awesome sooo

Imo it is a low blow to old school guitarists who might be really amazing and busted their ass for nothing but it is what it is. Times have changed. There are tons of youtube guys making money playing music, playing video games, doing comedy. The only money I have given to any of them were Charles Caswell, I ordered one of his CD's based on a short clip I saw which was amazing. (CD was a major let down) and some mixing tutorial guy. I found some worth in them. If the person enjoys the content, nothing wrong with them asking for money. Some people are giving it to them. I do think there may be a lack of pride asking for handouts but it is what it is. I have seen much worse from people using their name to get buzz sell a crappy product.

mooncobra":ewg207gj said:

That mad German dude, eytchpi42, constantly brags about all the free gear he gets, says he wont demo gear unless the companies pay him for his demos amd give him the gear(which usually suck unless he has someone like martin miller doing the demo), and has a patreon asking for money, and a go fund me sometimes like when he left his camera on the ground at musikmesse, of course someone took it, so a go fund me was set up so he could get money for a new camera. This guy has a wall of cool amps, says he got most free from companies, lives in a nice place, and is asking for money??

here is a video by him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1-slY-pVuc&t=1s - looks like he is doing good to me.

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I can not stand that guy at all. He's obnoxious and annoying as hell. I'd give him money to shut up and stay off of youtube. His jokes are almost as lame as his gear demos. Every time I see his face I think of:

Good for those who can make money for / from music IMO. If they can get others to pay them and give them things for free, I say good for them.

I don't pay or donate unless I decide to buy their music. FWIW I view all gear demos the same - they are trying to sell me something. If I like it enough after doing my own research I'll buy it, if it doesn't work for me I return it or sell it.

They're people trying to make a living doing music. We all complain about how little music pays yet give dudes attempting to get around that shit? If you don't like the specific methods these guys are going about it, then don't contribute to their Patreon. It's not like you're being forced to in order to watch their videos. If their Patreons succeed, then enough of their viewers decided it's worth it. If they fail, then they didn't. Don't see what the big deal is here.

I'd rather just buy the entire catalogue from a new artist (new to me that is). Recently, as soon as I listened to a bunch of Plini songs on YT I just went to Bandcamp and bought every song he had there. Out of 30-something songs there's maybe a half dozen I don't like. Worth it to me and a musician got paid.

I think we should all start Patreons for our posts here...like if I write something super witty, throw a fin my way.

crankyrayhanky":lv68ry0r said:

I think we should all start Patreons for our posts here...like if I write something super witty, throw a fin my way.

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totally, sounds good. there are some funny guys here.

….No Way he's as cool as

I look at stuff like this as "It's up to you". If you really feel like you gained something from his knowledge, I see nothing wrong with flipping him a few bucks. If not, don't.

like I tell my kids: if you don’t ask, you probably don’t get. But you definitely don’t get just because you ask, either.

I'm not giving a god damn penny to anyone.

Man as a guy who does demos, I am on the fence about this. I don't sell my presets and I don't charge for any of my stuff. I know guys that do. I know guys that "gofundme" albums and recordings. I dunno. It's not for me but I ain't mad at anyone getting their hustle on.

I also don't get free amps! LOL! If people feel inclined to donate to a YouTuber or whatever, that's their prerogative. I know for sure I will monetize my vids once I hit 1K subs but that is YouTube paying me to allow commercials or some such thing. Outright asking my viewers for money just feels weird.

I personally would do what others have said and buy cd's, etc but I am not funding anyones day gig. I have a square job and that pays my bills. Some could argue that the transfer of knowledge is a commodity but I will leave that up to others. If I ever hit the point where I was actually getting compensated, then no WAY would I patreon or anything else like that. Not because it’s crappy, but because I don’t do this as my main source of income.

It's just a different era completely. My kids if given a choice would rather watch youtube vs tv, netflix. whatever. My oldest wants to be a pro youtuber when she grows up. She subscribes to youtubers that just ramble on about nothing. So yeah I can see youtube guitarist asking for cash and what not.

I appreciate that people do demos - I would never pay for content, but the german guy needs some self editing on his videos. He rambles way too much and you want him to get to the point.

legend71":3arl2hxf said:

I appreciate that people do demos - I would never pay for content, but the german guy needs some self editing on his videos. He rambles way too much and you want him to get to the point.

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Yeah, totally agreed. He does in 20 minutes what can be accomplished in 5.

JerEvil":2az1yy39 said:

Man as a guy who does demos, I am on the fence about this. I don't sell my presets and I don't charge for any of my stuff. I know guys that do. I know guys that "gofundme" albums and recordings. I dunno. It's not for me but I ain't mad at anyone getting their hustle on.

I also don't get free amps! LOL! If people feel inclined to donate to a YouTuber or whatever, that's their prerogative. I know for sure I will monetize my vids once I hit 1K subs but that is YouTube paying me to allow commercials or some such thing. Outright asking my viewers for money just feels weird.

I personally would do what others have said and buy cd's, etc but I am not funding anyones day gig. I have a square job and that pays my bills. Some could argue that the transfer of knowledge is a commodity but I will leave that up to others. If I ever hit the point where I was actually getting compensated, then no WAY would I patreon or anything else like that.

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Almost at that 1k mark man, you will have it soon. Your demos are awesome and you have helped me quite a bit over the years. Between that and the humble attitude that you have you would definitely be the type of person I would donate to vs. someone just straight up asking for money.