This is going to revolutionize content creation!
Isaac Hayes III developed a new social media app to help creatives monetize their content.
Fanbase is a new social media app that allows users to follow and subscribe to their favorite content creators. Creatives can use the site just as they would any other social media platform while also creating exclusive subscription-only content. In addition to subscriptions, users can tip people in “love,” a feature that pays microcents out with every tap, allowing users to love a post as much as they want.
Hayes has a background in music but decided to create the app to help creatives make money.
“I’ve always been pretty savvy at social media…Tech was an inquiry into how I could build a product that would help people monetize their content,” Hayes told Because Of Them We Can.
He first launched the site in January 2019 in beta test mode, without letting on that he was the app’s creator. He figured the less his following knew of his ties to the platform, the more genuinely he could gauge engagement. After leaving it on the market for a year, he decided to begin crowdfunding via StartEngine. He made history, becoming only the second Black man to raise over $1 million via StartEngine. He ranked 2nd in most the most money raised within 24 hours, receiving more than $700,000 the first day. To date, Hayes has raised more than $2.8 million to launch Fanbase.
He credits 3 Black women with his success in crowdfunding, Reign Ventures CEO Monique Idlett, Flat Out of Heels founder Dawn Dickson-Akpoghene, and Streamlytics CEO Angela Benton.
“Monique made the suggestion [to crowdfund], Angela made the intro to StartEngine, and then Dawn coached me and was like my mentor. Those three women are the reason that I was able to raise this money,” Hayes said.
The Atlanta native said he feels Fanbase will be critical for recreating Black wealth because it finally gives people an opportunity to make money off the content responsible for keeping many social media apps in existence.
“We’re in a space right now where we see the value of Black culture. I’m a Black founder, and while Fanbase is not exclusively a Black platform, it’s a platform for anybody to monetize their content. As a Black founder, I am aware, and I am passionate about Black creators because we overwhelmingly increase the valuation…of companies like Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Snapchat, TikTok, Clubhouse, etc.,” Hayes said. “[These companies] make billions of dollars and give the users none…[There is] money that’s being left on the table by everybody that creates content…The money is not in your following; it’s in your fanbase.”
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Fanbase allows users to choose subscription packages for single or multiple creators at a monthly price. Creators receive 50% of all revenue and can create as much free or subscription-based content as they like. Hayes and his team have also ensured that all creatives receive the same type of visibility and views in the algorithm to ensure there is an even playing field.
Interested users can sign up now, and Hayes is currently adding audio rooms to the app. He hopes the new addition will help create more equity in the social audio space while also offering public, private, and subscriber rooms.
He encourages anybody looking to get into tech to study and do their homework while ensuring they have a solid team around them that knows what they’re doing.
Hayes’ advice to all creatives…“[Don’t] complain about not having opportunity or equity… grab some shares in Fanbase and then drive your audience over there.”
To learn more or sign up for Fanbase, click here.
Congratulations Issac! Because of you, we can!
Photo Courtesy of BStarPR