What about voluntairy subs to a creator like patreon? Seems to be working well for many creators, not sure how large of a cut patreon takes.
I remember experimenting with this before Damus purple, when Alby introduced authorization for scheduled outgoing LN payments from their wallets.
Still think this could be such a usefull feature
Patreon takes like a 10% cut plus payment processing fees. I think the patreon-style subscriptions can make sense for certain things. I’m not aware of any nostr clients that offer features like that. Fiatjaf made “Zapbox” relay which lets you post notes that can only be read by people who have zapped you a certain in the past 3 months, or something like that. There’s also Geyser, which isn’t a subscription platform necessarily, but could be used to create more well-defined tiers of support, and integrates well with nostr.
Yeah was just thinking aloud. Elsat pointed out that highlighter.com offers subs to creators, but can't find out whether they actually work. From a function design perspective you want something with the least amount of efford for the user and as close to their existing frame of referrence as possible. Zap per post requires this shift in mindset that's quite high to overcome it seems...
There's also Fanfares but that makes more sense for larger pieces of content like audiobooks and such.
It would be best to have a “subscription” feature built into a popular client such as nostr:nprofile1qqs9xtvrphl7p8qnua0gk9zusft33lqjkqqr7cwkr6g8wusu0lle8jcprpmhxue69uhhqun9d45h2mfwwpexjmtpdshxuet5qyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnswf5k6ctv9ehx2aqlk6gvg . It could even be something as simple as receiving a reminder/notification to support a creator you’ve opted into supporting, with a button to zap them. That keeps it optional and leaves the user in control. Typically subscribers would get access to content that others aren’t privy to, or at least access it earlier than others get it. They would eventually need to figure out how that would work on Nostr. Probably “early access” is easier to achieve than “exclusive access” because of the nature of digital content and how easily events are broadcasted around nostr.
"It would be best to have a “subscription” feature built into a popular client such as @primal"
I agree, the function fits with content specialized apps. especially since they already have a build-in wallet. This makes it much easier to configure compared to connecting a 3rd party wallet through NWC.
"Typically subscribers would get access to content that others aren’t privy to, or at least access it earlier than others get it."
nostr:nprofile1qyd8wumn8ghj7enpdenxzun9wvhxummnw3erztnrdakj7qg4waehxw309aex2mrp0yhxgctdw4eju6t09uqzp47czz0wgdjhees9dtdyv5cqdwakg8e3u58g2fpks8p8y3g8sy0vf86jar build a function for this where notes containing content are decrypted upon LN payment.
Oh interesting, encrypted with the subscriber’s key? That’s clever.
The - tag should prevent trivial republishing; the rest is just good old pirating which will always exist.
Personally i think the zapbox relay model would work best:
follow = get free feed;
Pay = instantly just get the free+paid content aswell in the feed.
Most frictionless, client independent experience for the user. Publishers need to make sure they use the right relays that will comply with their chosen witholding scheme/metrics.
I lean toward the zabox approach too. A client could display those notes in a subscriber’s main feed, marked with a special tag or badge indicating that they’re seeing those notes because they’ve supported that author/creator. That communicates it as a reward and also encourages them to keep zapping that author if they want to continue seeing those notes, without feeling like the author is begging.
Zapbox itself might be a little bit bare; but a simple NIP for some receipt such that regardless of payment method, publishers could make it clear to the relays used what npubs are supposed to receive what should cover most usecases (including tiers and whatever).
The 'badge' is a nice idea, could indeed be a simple tag inside the event.
Boom, we just fixed substack, podcast subscriptions and whatever else.
Now im busy figuring out the spec for kidstr/TEPP (trust extended permission protocol), so someone else picks this up including a decent podcast standard and we can kiss RSS goodbye.
Or even something as simple as the client reminds you to make a scheduled payment
The function with the least friction is set and forget. Apparently Highlighter.com offers this, but the problem with any app offering functionality independantly is that people need to actually use that specific app.
