Fans have more ways than ever to give creators direct financial support. But what if a recession hits?

When COVID lockdowns first clamped down in 2020, people stuck at home ended up watching record-setting amounts of digital content–and, as a result, ended up financially supporting creators to a degree our industry had never seen.

The bulk of creators’ income has always come from ad revenue and brand deals, and when both those things were predicted to slope down in early pandemic days, fans stepped up, purchasing channel subscriptions and otherwise contributing money directly to creators through platforms like Twitch, Patreon, and OnlyFans, where sales jumped 615%. These platforms, plus YouTube, Facebook, and more, responded to the increased fan traffic by expanding ways for them to connect with creators, both in financial support and community. And there were new platforms that launched, places like Fanfix and FanHouse, that were solely dedicated to getting creators paid.

All of this means fans now have more ways than ever to directly financially support content creators. It’s also become more culturally acceptable for creators to toss out an ask for subs to their channels or extra content platforms, with fans receptive and overall more willing to support the content they enjoy.

But what happens if those fans suddenly stop having as much disposable income? With a potential recession looming, plus the uncertain tariffs, that just might happen–and, like they did when we all thought digital ads and brand deals would go down five years ago, wary creators are already bracing for impact.

Twitch streamer Swearin, who has 56,000 followers, told Digiday his revenue is currently split 50/50 between Twitch channel subscriptions, paid for by fans, and brand deals. He said he wants to tilt that ratio more toward 60/40, favoring brand deals.

“I don’t like to put the onus on my [Twitch viewer] chat to give me money,” he said.

Meanwhile, Instagrammer/TikToker Max Schneider, who has ~360K followers on Instagram and 1.6M on TikTok, said he’s pivoting to creating more long-form content on YouTube to take advantage of the Google

-owned platform’s AdSense program, since it’s more robust than TikTok’s and Instagram’s.

Gaylen Malone, SVP of Talent at gaming-focused management agency Loaded, added that this–putting more emphasis on YouTube content–is an overall trend among prepping creators.

“Creators are putting more priority on YouTube and long-form content, where there has been a very long history of a great monetization model,” she said. “So creators are responding and diversifying their content in a way that they can continue to make some of this passive income, versus relying solely on subs and donors, and even sponsorships.”

The tl;dr here is that creators who worry their audiences will be impacted by a recession are trying to find ways to increase revenue, without asking their fans to continue the same level of financial support.

Digiday also found that these same creators, in addition to lessening their asks to fans and increasing their long-form output on YouTube, are trying to bulk their revenue with brand deals, too. But not just any brand deals–the kind of brand deals we here at Tubefilter have been writing about since Spotter‘s creator-focused upfront presentation.

During that presentation, Dude Perfect and other creators talked about how they’re no longer seeking one-off brand deals. Instead, they’re seeking long-term partner brands that will pay for more than videos. Dude Perfect, for example, has an ongoing deal with bev brand BODYARMOR, one that’s resulted in two collab flavor releases. It’s currently seeking six more sponsors–and hoping at least some of them will chip in on its upcoming global tour.

Whether things will go this way and fan financial support actually will drop–not because fans are less dedicated, but because there is simply less money to go around–remains to be seen. But in an industry where income is variable, it’s always smart for creators to protect themselves, even if the hit never lands.