The launch we ran for The Band of Heathens’ Patreon in 2021, where it stalled, how we fixed it, and the step-by-step plan I’d use for a band today.
A band Patreon works when it gives a home to fans who already show up for you. The Band of Heathens didn’t build a club on Patreon. They moved one there, and I set up the launch: the page copy, the website, the emails, the ads and the merch table.
This post is the whole plan. What we did in 2021, what the notes say happened, and the version I’d use today.
In this post:
- How a free Tuesday livestream became a paid Patreon
- The about page, website, three emails and ads we built for the launch
- Why I’d skip the $5 tier and keep the band’s own posts from pitching
- A monthly program and tier ladder you can copy
Plan your Patreon launch with us
Where did The Band of Heathens’ Patreon come from?
When touring stopped in 2020, the band played a free livestream every Tuesday night called the Good Time Supper Club. I ran the checklist for each episode: social posts, a Facebook video ad, artwork, the email and a Bandsintown listing. During the show the pinned comments carried the Venmo and PayPal tip handles, a link to book a private stream and an RSVP for next Tuesday.
The band’s own copy calls it a “Billboard charted livestream that ran over 50 episodes.” Tips covered a week at a time. They weren’t steady income, so the Supper Club moved to Patreon and the regulars followed.
In June 2021 the page had 134 active patrons. That’s when the band brought me in to grow it past the people who already watched every Tuesday.
What should a band’s Patreon about page say?
I taught the band to write the page for strangers. The regulars knew the show. Everyone else needed proof first, then what they get, then where the money goes.
So the page opens with proof. “We are The Band of Heathens: Ed, Gordy, Trevor, Richard, and Jesse.” Then the albums they’re best known for, Sunday Morning Record and Top Hat Crown and the Clapmaster’s Son. Then the numbers: “Hurricane,” “L.A. County Blues” and “Jackson Station” had been “streamed 49,400,000+ times on Spotify.” Then the company they keep: tours and collaborations with Margo Price, Hayes Carll and Kid Rock.
Only then does it get to the club. A new song for members every month, patron-only posts and hangouts, livestreams into fans’ homes, vinyl of the Supper Club recordings, a guest-list spot at a show, pins, bootlegs and “Master Class” streams on playing, songwriting, cocktails, records and cooking.
Then the part fans read twice: where the pledges go. The list was specific on purpose:
- New music gear, guitar strings and mics
- Studio time, mixing and mastering
- Album art and licensing costs
- New cameras
- “Occasional peanut butter rice crispy treats”
An FAQ handled the objections. Any currency works. A custom pledge of $1 a month is welcome. You can change or cancel any time, and here’s who to message if you’re stuck.
The page closed with a P.S. for anyone who didn’t know the band yet. It sent them to bandofheathens.com/hithere, a page with streams of the biggest songs, the best videos and a download of a few unreleased tracks. A newcomer who isn’t ready to pay still leaves with music.
The welcome video had one rule: make it for someone who never saw the livestream and doesn’t know the music. Get the whole band in it, explain Patreon, and mention the old Tuesday show only in passing.
The settings mattered too. The “what are you creating” line under the band name got specific and changed often. Each tier got its own image. Patronage was public, so visitors could see a real crowd. We added a Google Analytics ID and an event for every step from viewing the tiers to checkout, so we could see where people dropped.
How should you name and price Patreon tiers?
We named the tiers after the band’s songs and records: $5 Jackson Station, $10 Medicine Man and $25 Sunday Morning Record. Above them sat Duende, with a day in the studio with the band and four tickets to a show.
Each tier opened with a line or two in the band’s voice. The first read “Welcome to Jackson Station! You’re supporting us and co-creating music with us and that’s huge!” and listed every perk. The higher tiers said “all of the perks from the $5 plan listed above, plus” instead of repeating the bullets.
How do you sell the top tier?
Let a patron do it. In July 2021 a couple at the Duende level spent their studio day with the band. They heard a private set, saw how the band uses its two recording rooms, had the producer walk them through the board, toured the vintage mics and talked with every member.
A few days later they emailed the band a long account. They wrote it to get other fans “to move up to a contribution level” that would give them the same day, and said to use it however we liked. Of the Tuesday shows: “It was the highlight of the week for me and my wife for a year.”
We posted it for patrons with a short intro from the band. A fan describing a perk does more than any tier description the band can write.
How do you launch a Patreon page for a band?
Every channel the band owned pointed at the page, in this order.
The website
A yellow top bar across the site read “New music from The Band of Heathens every month,” with a link to join. A yellow Members Only button went in the menu. The homepage section that had held the livestream became the Patreon section: the logo, the welcome video, “Join Our Community for New Music Every Month,” a Become a Patron button and two sentences on what it is.
Beside it went five reasons to join: the community, early access to new songs, music that never shows up anywhere else, the inside story of how the songs come together, and more music overall, because patrons waiting on the next song keep a band writing. A splash page and a news post carrying the about copy finished the site. Here’s how we approach band website design if your site needs the same pieces.
Three emails
- Sneak peek. To the most active subscribers, before launch, with a secret link to the page. It asked three questions. Does everything make sense? Which rewards would you join for? Who should we connect with to spread the word?
- Just launched. To the same fans first, signed by all five members: “As one of our most active email subscribers, we wanted to share the news with you before promoting more widely.”
- Reminder. A short follow-up naming the target: “our first goal of 200 patrons.”
The sneak peek does two jobs. It fixes the page before the wider launch, and it invites your best fans in before anyone else. For the setup behind sends like these, see Part 4 of the E-commerce Success Series on email.
Ads
The band made a short animated video for the sell, and we ran it as the ad. The Facebook and Instagram plan was a series: the welcome video, a song from a patron-only stream, a teaser of a new track, then a direct ask to join. On Google the plan added YouTube ads to fans and site visitors, display ads to past visitors, and a search ad on the band’s name that sent people to Patreon. By November a lookalike audience built from the patrons was on the to-do list.
One rule from my checklist for the band: “Never directly ask for the sale (I’ll do that with ads).” This is where I part ways with most Patreon advice. The band’s own posts never pitched. They thanked patrons, showed the work and shared what was coming. The ads did the asking.
Shows
At the merch table: a printed card with three QR codes, one each for the $5, $10 and $25 tiers, on a stand next to checkout.
The archive
The band had years of soundboard recordings. We put dozens of them in a store on their own site as paid downloads, with the full archive included for annual patrons at $10 a month and up.
What to take from the launch:
- Show the page to your most active fans first, and ask what’s unclear.
- Put the Patreon on every page of your site, not one link in the menu.
- Let ads ask for the sale so the band’s posts don’t have to.
Did the launch work?
Partly. My note from December 2021 is honest: “We definitely picked up new subscribers but not as many as I had hoped.” The launch push was a burst. Bursts end, and December is a hard month to pitch a monthly charge.
So for 2022 we built a system that runs without a launch:
- Every new email subscriber gets an automated email about the Patreon. Same for new SMS subscribers.
- A low-budget ad reaches site visitors, excluding current patrons and anyone who has already seen it.
- Every Patreon release gets treated like a single, with a teaser clip on every channel linking back to the page.
By early 2026 the page had 190+ paying members, and most of them paid $10.
The patrons became part of the records too. The liner notes for Simple Things in 2023 thank the band’s “Patreon family for sustaining their ability to create.” In February 2024 the plan was a live album curated by patrons: the band picks songs from their shows, patrons vote, voters get producer credit in the liner notes, and the $25 level gets the vinyl.
That 2024 meeting turned up one problem worth knowing about. The band’s free email list was being called the “VIP club,” and it was upsetting patrons, who were the ones paying. Keep the special names for the people who pay.
What would I do differently on day one?
Skip the $5 tier. The usual advice is a cheap way in. The Band of Heathens’ $5 level drew members who rarely engaged and rarely upgraded. $10 is the real front door.
Build the evergreen pieces before launch. We added the automations six months in. They should be live on day one.
Lead with new music and time with the band. That’s what patrons responded to most. The archive was a good extra. It wasn’t why people joined.
Make joining feel like the fan’s idea. My note from the 2024 meeting: “people need to feel like it was their idea to sign up.” Every Patreon session should produce one or two public reels, some posts stay ungated, and emails to non-patrons feature the free Patreon content.
What Patreon plan would I use today?
Here’s the plan I’d hand a band or songwriter launching now. It’s The Band of Heathens’ launch with five years of lessons built in. The artist does a few things a month, and the rest is support.
The monthly program
“One new song a month. One livestream. One fan chat.” That’s the whole program. The song comes in the first week and doesn’t need polish: a voice memo, a demo or an acoustic take. Fans are paying for access to the process.
The livestream lands mid-month. The fan Q&A comes late in the month, on Zoom or in live comments. Road photos, demos, setlists and journal entries fill the gaps.
The tiers
- $10, Core Member: the monthly song, livestreams and replays, the monthly Q&A, the Vault, and early notice on shows, releases and merch.
- $25, Deep Fan: everything above, plus occasional bootlegs, a merch discount, lyric sheets, rare downloads and votes on setlists and covers.
- $100, Collector: everything above, plus signed items, a personal recorded message and an executive producer credit on future releases.
- $500 and up: rare personal experiences like a private acoustic show, a studio visit or a handwritten song. Three to five spots.
The top tier is where the Duende studio day would live. When the first patron takes it, ask them to write it up.
The Vault
A private Google Drive folder, linked only in a patron-only post. Seed it with live recordings, demos, posters, road photos and journals. Add something every few weeks and tell members when you do. It costs nothing and keeps members around, but it won’t be why they join.
How to post
- No text-only posts. Attach a photo, video, audio clip, link or poll every time.
- Write specific titles with the tier in brackets. “Tuesday Night Chat” becomes “[$10+ Members] Live Q&A, Tuesday at 8pm CT | Songs, Stories & Requests.” Never reuse a title.
- Write custom preview text for every locked post. It’s the pitch to the fan on the fence.
- Keep some posts public, then tell people what patrons got this week.
- Organize the library into a few sections, like Monthly New Song, Livestreams, Fan Chat, Vault and Road Journal. Patreon now handles this with Collections, which group posts and sit on your page.
Talk to patrons inside Patreon
Patrons have already converted. Tag them in your email tool and keep them out of general marketing emails, then message them through Patreon by tier. For the rest of the list, here’s why a note from the band pays.
Set a welcome message for each tier that says where the Vault is and when the next song drops. While the count is small, thank each new member yourself. My 2021 thank-you draft for the band ended with a P.S. asking what made them sign up. Ask that every time, because the answers tell you what to post.
How fans find it
- Shows: one sentence from the stage and the QR card at the merch table. Shows are the most reliable place a fan says yes.
- Social: the biggest driver. Clips of 30 to 90 seconds from the livestream, and a photo with one line about what patrons got this month.
- Email: the three-email launch, then the best Patreon content featured for the first few months, and a Patreon link at the bottom of every email.
- A goal: name one you can hit at launch, like the band’s 200 patrons, and tie the next one to something fans want. A signed, numbered box set limited to 50 or 100 copies works.
- A launch offer: something for anyone who joins in the first 30 days, like a handwritten lyric sheet or an acoustic demo.
Price the tiers knowing Patreon’s cut. Patreon’s pricing page lists 10% of what you earn, plus payment processing, currency conversion and payout fees. If your page launched before August 4, 2025, keep it published: older pages keep their original rate.
Questions musicians ask
How much should a band charge on Patreon?
Start at $10 a month. The Band of Heathens’ $5 tier drew members who rarely engaged or upgraded, and most of their paying members pay $10.
What do patrons want from a band?
New music and time with the band. The archive and bootlegs were good extras, but they weren’t why people joined.
Should the band ask fans to join in its own posts?
No. Let ads do the asking. The band’s posts thank patrons, show the work and tease what’s next, so joining feels like the fan’s idea.
How many patrons should we expect at launch?
I can only tell you ours. The Band of Heathens started from a livestream audience, had 134 active patrons in June 2021, and set a first goal of 200. Pick a goal you can hit and say it out loud.
What should you do first?
- Write the about page for a stranger: proof first, then perks, then where the money goes.
- Launch to your most active fans first with three emails, then point your site, ads and merch table at the page.
- Run the evergreen pieces from day one so the page keeps growing after the launch fades.
A Patreon stalls when it depends on a launch. Build it to grow every month without one.
This week, write down what your regulars already show up for. That’s your first tier.
Plan your Patreon launch with us
The Supper Club started as a livestream. Here’s how we run livestreams for artists.
