Introducing the Pilerats Patreon, a new home for Pilerats exclusives

If you can't be bothered reading the big spill below and just want to check out our Patreon, head here.

It's a strange, unfortunate time to be in the music and arts industry at the moment. As you've probably seen over the last fortnight, governments are crushing down on events and shows - from music festivals and sporting events to art shows and many more - and as a result, there's a lot of money (and potential money) being lost, and things are struggling. All of these events (and the people behind them) are incredibly important to our scene and keeping it alive, and now, a lot of this is up in the air - and the livelihoods and careers of the people behind them are up in the air too.

If you've had a festival or a show cancel on you, why don't you put the money you've had refunded into your back accounts back to the musicians you were going to see - buy their merch, grab a record or two on a platform like Bandcamp that give back a little more than your standard streaming platform. If an artist needs a bit of help in keeping afloat, help 'em out however you can. Or, if you're a bit unsure about supporting an artist (we'll assume you can't choose just one, or maybe the merch is a bit out of their price range), then maybe donate to Support Act - a charity that's a place of solitude for musicians and music industry workers struggling.

It's no secret that times are grim for the Australian music world at the moment, and unfortunately, that means for us too. We want nothing more than to continue to help leg-up the next generation of Australia's music scene for as long as we can, but for us to do that, we need your support. It's expensive doing what we do - we pay as much as we can to as many people as we can, to keep the big ol' circle that is the music industry free-flowing - and we're asking for a bit of help to get stuff across the line and keep the lights on.

We're launching a Patreon to help out, and we'd greatly appreciate your involvement. Basically, Patreon is a subscription service that - depending on what subscription you choose - gives you access to a tonne of exclusivities for a small fee a month. Here are our tiers, with all prices in $USD.

Become A Rat - $2USD per month, including:

1. A good night's sleep, knowing that you've helped us help Australian music – and that feels gooooooood.
2. Exclusive access to the Pilerats Patreon.

The Basic Rat - $5USD a month, including everything in the first tier plus:

1. One week's early access to our merch drops, meaning you never have to miss out.

The Rat Nest - $10USD a month, including everything in the last tier plus:

1. Access to the exclusive Pilerats Rat Nest – a private Facebook Group that will give you a place to share tunes you like (or have made yourself), participate in online AMAs with music industry guests and band members, and get advice on everything from website pitching to brand direction to Facebook marketing.
2. Exclusive giveaways (which may include movie and gig tickets, signed merch, vinyl/records and exclusive experiences).
3. A subscription to our fortnightly email list, giving you access to the best content we offer every two weeks without having to leave your inbox.
4. 10% off merch releases.

The Rat Guild - $25USD a month, including everything in the last tier plus:

1. A free, exclusive sticker pack.
2. Your name on the website in a special section amongst our team.
3. 20% off merch releases.

The Rat Rulers - $100USD a month, including everything in the last tier plus a bunch of ideas we're currently working out - so keep your ear out and we'll be in touch. We're open to suggestions but we can guarantee you that it's gonna be awesome. In the meantime, if you have some offshore bank accounts you need to empty, feel free to empty them here.

There's a tonne of stuff in the pipeline we're incredibly excited for, so if you have a bit of spare cash and want to help us out, why not visit our Patreon and sign up now - we'll do our best to make sure it's worth it.

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It's no secret that times are grim for the Australian music world at the moment, and unfortunately, that means for us too. We want nothing more than to continue to help leg-up the next generation of Australia's music scene for as long as we can, but for us to do that, we need your support. We're launching a Patreon with different tiers that'll give you more delicious content – from merch discounts and giveaways to exclusive content and more to be announced – and we'd greatly appreciate all your support. Here's what we'd like you to do: 1. Keep yourself safe and healthy – keep up to date with accurate news and keep washing your hands. 2. Check in on your favourite local band and make sure them and their team are doing okay amongst the madness – buy some merch, grab a record or two from Bandcamp; whatever you can do to help. 3. With whatever's left, support your favourite Australian music website who just wants to keep on chugging and making good content. Check it out – and sign up, if you – via the link in our bio.

A post shared by Pilerats (@pilerats_) on Mar 16, 2020 at 3:29am PDT

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