The Music Industry’s New Relationship With OnlyFans

With the start of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the internet saw a huge surge in demand for digital content. All forms of live entertainment disappeared, sending society into a chaotic frenzy of nervous energy and endless boredom. Users searched desperately for a new distraction, while creators flocked to a variety of platforms in search of a renewed source of income. One of the most significant websites to emerge was subscription-based service OnlyFans, which allows customers to pay a monthly fee for access to personalized, unfiltered content from creators. The website reached over 85 million users this past year and rose to mainstream popularity after Beyonce referenced it in the song “Savage Remix” with Megan Thee Stallion. In December 2020, CEO Tim Stokley reported that they were bringing in up to 500,000 users a day, paying creators $200 million a month, and were on track to generate $2 billion by the end of 2020. Although it’s best known for its specialized sex work, the growing platform has also caught the attention of influencers, fitness creators, comedians, celebrities, and now musicians.

Many artists have found OnlyFans to be a great way to share interactive content with fans. It can be used to promote new music, host ticketed live streams, and share behind-the-scenes footage of recordings and concerts. In an age where people are overwhelmed by profuse amounts of content online, the platform provides a way for musicians to give fans the deeper, more intimate connection they crave. Musicians such as Rico Nasty, Austin Mahone, Swae Lee, TreySongz, and The-Dream have joined it this past year, looking for a revolutionary way to connect with fans and publicize new music in a time when live shows are not possible. Grammy Award winning rapper and songwriter Cardi B announced in early August 2020 she too would be joining in to promote her single “WAP”. She took to Instagram to promote her newest conquest, offering fans a behind-the-scenes look at the “WAP” music video rehearsals, filming, and overall process. She also invited viewers to share what content they wanted: “I want to know what my fans would like to see...Ask a question and it will be a topic on my OnlyFans.” For $4.99 a month, anyone can now access the most personal insight into her life. However, Cardi made it very clear that her OnlyFans would be strictly used for music and lifestyle related content, not any form of nudity or pornography. While the website is most famous for sex work, Cardi B demonstrated that there is potential for it as a music promotion and marketing tool as well.

OnlyFans is also a good method for musicians to distinguish their superfans and show them how valued and appreciated they are. Platinum-selling rapper/singer/songwriter Boogie Wit Da Hoodie reported on December 16th via Instagram that he would be joining OnlyFans to share unreleased music and take feedback on it. In his OnlyFans bio he explains how he wants to give fans the most personal experience possible, and professes his deep appreciation for their opinions and feedback on his music. This marketing tactic closely aligns with Kevin Kelly’s 1000 True Fans Theory, which states that if a creator has 1000 people willing to pay them $100 a year, then they will net enough income to support themselves purely through their artform. OnlyFans gives fans the chance to help support their most dearly beloved creators in exchange for the interactive content they crave.

While OnlyFans offers an exciting new way to campaign music releases, there are a few drawbacks that keep artists and fans from joining it. The website does not have an app, so it isn’t anywhere nearly as accessible as other forms of social media. Also, since the platform is supposed to be the most exclusive form of content from a creator, artists can’t cross-promote on it. For Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram, musicians often use the same photos and videos to share new information about releases; however, OnlyFans needs its own specific stream of content in order for it successfully maintain its exclusivity and entice viewers to pay for the monthly subscription. This is a time-consuming process for artists that are focused on trying to reach as many people as they possibly can over a variety of social media networks. Even if a creator does manage to provide a steady stream of unshared content, they often face leakage. Fans can find many OnlyFans posts leaked onto Reddit and YouTube, making it less likely they will invest money in the actual platform.

Swae Lee, rapper from the hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd, confronted these issues by making his OnlyFans free in order to promote his single “Reality Check”. Although it doesn’t cost money to subscribe to his account, followers can send him bonuses through the website’s “Tips'' feature. Swae Lee and other users with free accounts can also collect entrance fees for their live streams and monetize individual posts. Nevertheless, like many musicians he has had trouble maintaining a consistent stream of content on it and has neglected it in favor of focusing on platforms with bigger followings.

There are still a lot of details to figure out before artists will begin consistently utilizing OnlyFans, but the company has made it clear they’re taking strides to open up the platform to a broad spectrum of creators. The music industry has been hit very hard financially by the pandemic, so it certainly seems like OnlyFans has a lot to offer struggling artists. There are many great monetization features on it for musicians that are not offered on other social media platforms, such as collecting tips and Pay-Per-View messages. However, these tools are only helpful if musicians can figure out how to attract an audience and keep a consistent following on the website. As OnlyFans continues to expand, it will be interesting to see what role it plays within music marketing and if it will be able to escape it’s taboo reputation.