Furry artists among top highest-paid Patreon creators, but face threats to their livelihood.
by Patch O'Furr
This article went out in January 2017 titled “Yiffing for Dollars”. Here’s a re-edited update a year later, to coincide with a bump in notice and a concerning situation.
Furries have built their own small industry on creativity worth millions. Their membership is rising and it’s likely to see the “furry economy” grow with it. You can see what’s up by watching the small slice who are devoted enough to make a living in the fandom – Profans.
Adult art can have an edge in dollars because it has more of a niche quality. Clean art is perfectly valid, but perhaps the mainstream is where it succeeds most – making an apples/oranges comparison. This look at indie art business will focus on the naughty stuff, but doesn’t exclude other kinds, and it applies outside of fandom too.
Check the list of top creators on Patreon and play Find The Furries!
When first looked at in January 2017, fandom member Fek was earning $24,000 per month for making furry porn games. (Quote: “Ditch the dayjob and live the dream.”) He had the stat of #2 best-paid per-patron on all of Patreon. (See his art on Furaffinity.) Others were in or near the furry ballpark (dogpark?) Most of the NSFW entries in the top 50 had furry content. #12 was the Trials in Tainted Space NSFW game, earning $27,000 per month. #30 was the kinda-anthropomorphic-NSFW artist Monstergirlisland, earning $20,000 monthly.
I haven’t checked these numbers since early 2017, and I think the list changed from “amount of money” to “number of patrons” which knocks furries down the list, but… Artists are getting rich from this, no joke.
Older news:
- Cracked – We Draw Furry Porn: 6 Things We’ve Learned On The Job. “Every artist agreed it would have been impossible to make a living doing this as recently as 10 years ago. But today they constantly have multiple projects going and portfolios with hundreds of completed works, and they find themselves in ever-increasing demand.”
- NYMag: The Secret Furry Patrons Keeping Indie Artists Afloat. “When it comes to commissioning original works of art, nobody can match the furries.”
- Vice: How Cryptocurrencies Like Bitcoin Could Save the Indie Porn Industry (featuring furry artists.)
- Vice: Offbeatr, the Kickstarter for Porn, Is a Furry Playground. (Old news about a defunct site.) More at Flayrah: Furry porn sweeps Offbeatr; their CEO, project leads explain. That business didn’t succeed, but the trend continues.