Exclusive: Fan club platform TopFan opens to creators
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TopFan, a 12-year-old fan engagement company that's powered sites and apps for the likes of Warner Bros., the Denver Broncos and Maroon 5, is opening its platform to creators, CEO Jeffrey Kohn exclusively tells Axios.
Why it matters: The company is hoping to support creators who have grown frustrated with social media algorithms, claiming they throttle organic reach.
- "All your fans' data is in one place, and guess who owns it? You," Kohn says. "Instagram doesn't own it. Substack doesn't own it. Cameo doesn't own it. Eventbrite doesn't own it. YouTube doesn't own it. You own it."
How it works: After years of building fan communities for major entertainment clients, TopFan is now offering creators a place to publish content, sell merch, livestream and own their audience data on one platform.
- Creators can launch custom-branded websites and mobile apps under their own URL and name. Artists can upload songs and albums for fans to purchase. TopFan can also host podcasts and provides video direct sales and distribution tech.
- TopFan is available to any creator over the age of 18 with at least 10,000 fans across social media, Kohn says.
Follow the money: TopFan offers a free product where it only takes a cut of new monetization occurring on the creator's own platform.
- Creators keep 95% of merchandise sales and event ticketing revenue, 85% of content sales and subscription revenue and 70% to 85% of third-party advertising revenue.
Zoom in: Levi Kreis, a Tony Award-winning Broadway actor and independent singer-songwriter, says he joined TopFan after growing frustrated with social media algorithms.
- "I think creatives have to end up molding themselves into what the algorithm is anticipating them to be. ... It has nothing to do with how they ultimately really want to show up in the world," Kreis says.
- Mariann Yip, a New York-based lifestyle creator, says she was drawn to the platform being white-label.
- "I'm able to customize using their platforms to make it my own, and that's what I love," Yip says. "I feel like it's more of a partnership, and they are supporting my journey as a creator, instead of the other way around."
Zoom out: Kohn, who is based in Denver, founded TopFan in 2013 after meeting the head of a studio while he was working at Oracle.
- Kohn says he learned that the studio had little or no data on who their audience was ahead of their move to consumer streaming.
- TopFan is a team of 20 and has been profitable for more than five years. It has self-funded its expansion to the larger creator economy, Kohn says.
- The company had raised $2.6 million in 2016.
The big picture: Creators of all sizes are reclaiming their fan relationships and building on owned platforms.
- "'I think that we're going to see in the next five years creatives realize that they can own their ecosystem and also just create a more meaningful connection with the people who matter in their ecosystem," Kreis says.
Go deeper: Everyone's a creator
