Not sure if this the right place to ask but since I love sailing the high seas, maybe you guys would know. A preface before the question: I am of the mindset that others’ reasons to pirate are their own and any discourse on supporting creators is not productive and financial support should be left to the individual’s own devices and morals. It’s not for me to judge, blah blah blah.
Anyway, I was thinking about South Park and am wondering how their shift to Paramount+ has been. I wonder if they’re making any good profit since not a lot of people have subcriptions and especially so after the whole Colbert thing.
It’s been suggested here and there on this sub that a good way to financially support creators, if a pirate wants to do so, is donating directly do them. Does anybody know of a way to do this with bigger creators? If South Park was in any danger of being cancelled due to funding, I was considering this option since I’ll never give my money to a streaming service again. Any ideas?
they’ve already made their money, you’re fine. you don’t need to support them as they’ve already been paid. Most creators for films and tv shows have already been paid.
Music artists, indie game devs, etc support them instead. Most musicians aren’t getting million dollar contracts, hell most don’t even get a few grand contract and any album sales or whatever fractions of a penny they make from music streaming sites go to the record label anyways. But their merch, go to their concerts as that’s where artists make their money.
Give your money to literally anybody else but billionaires.
South Park just signed a 5 year, 1.5 billion dollar deal, their funding is save. Also Matt & Trey have made pro-piracy comments in the past (even made an episode about it: “Christian Rock Hard”).
So don’t worry about South Park.
I don’t think there really is any other way, without making it incredibly awkward. Can you imagine the scenario? Who would you find? Who would you know is directly responsible for the thing you’ve pirated?
See, there is quite a slope here to go down on when it comes to this very thing. Let me put it into perspective for you.
Pirating movies isn’t really hurting anyone that badly. Usually, actors and actresses are paid six to seven figures a film with lesser-than actors probably getting four to five digits of funds. They’re fine. It’s the greedy, ungrateful and unappreciative executives operating the studios that want more and more.
That’s just an example. A lot of the time, the rights of media content is largely signed over to the networks anyways so it would be a moot point to bother with doing this. I really don’t know what to tell you in regards to this.
I just think it’d be awkward to hunt down almost every individual involved with something you pirated, to directly support them. That’s a lot of lives to sustain and make up for in directly supporting. Not everyone here has bottomless pits of cash laying around, that’s why they sign with record labels and make deals with studios, because they have that kind of pull and money.
Also to consider, maybe some people are against piracy whom you want to support, you don’t know that. You can run into the wrong person, tell them you pirated their material, they could get offended and take you to court for it.
So to wrap it all up - it is not simply worth it. We know who we’re “hurting” and it isn’t the creators. All that they’d ask us to do the most, is appreciate what they’ve done.
Dudes got 1.5 billion. theyre good
if i may, i suggest focusing more on supporting smaller creators instead, it will make a much bigger difference to them. if there is a youtuber whose work u really like, kick em a few bux on their patreon or kofi, bc most of those ppl get shit all revenue, esp if they don’t get sponsors or get demonetised a lot, and youtube takes a big cut of donos. imo supporting ppl that way, buying music & merch off bandcamp, commissioning artists or buying from their online shop, support ur local arthouse/indie cinema, putting some $ into kickstarters/backerkits, etc - that helps pay ppls rent & bills. everyone can do what they like with their own money but for me, it makes no sense to give millionaires more cash when u can help someone who is operating on a shoestring.
Outside of the music industry, there really isn’t any monitzation path outside the mainstream paths. You might buy DVDs of anything you’re interested in, but other than that…. I don’t know of any legitimate DRM-free sources.
As for South Park in particular, my understanding is that they have been trying to cancel themselves for some time and failing. I think they’re probably good regardless.
From what I can observe, usually older companies don’t have direct means of monetization, the option instead seemingly being preferred for smaller/independent groups. I’d expect the team behind South Park to be no different given how long the show’s been around.
And if no means of direct support can be found, best I can think of is to purchase merchandise from the series from official retailers, like DVDs, toys, etc. Some cut will go to other parties, but at least the SP team will be financed, and you’ll have a tangible item too.
