Hi everyone, I’m Jack Allen, producer of The Jack & Ash Show at Audio Always. I want to talk to you all today about Patreon. There’s a version of this blog that I started that dealt purely with the Patreon numbers. And don’t get me wrong, the numbers are good. In just one month, The Jack & Ash Show Patreon has grown to thousands of members, and it’s one of our biggest Patreon launches yet.

But the number that interests us most isn’t the number of members. It’s the daily number of messages, replies, and conversations happening every day between Jack, Ash and the people who love the podcast. That’s where something genuinely interesting is going on.

When we launched the Patreon, we emphasised that joining wasn’t just access to exclusive content. Bonus episodes are part of the offering, of course, but the group chat is what we wanted to create. It’s an inclusive, intimate space where fans can actually talk to each other, and where Jack and Ash show up every day to be part of that conversation.

A lot of fan communities exist on platforms where the audience is always performing for an algorithm built to keep fans scrolling, or shouting into a feed that moves too fast to follow. What Jack and Ash have created on Patreon feels more like a room — one where you actually know the people in it, and where the hosts are genuinely present rather than just occasionally dropping in.

That kind of connection is rare, and it matters to us beyond the numbers. 

From behind the scenes at Audio Always, a community like Jack and Ash’s does something important on two fronts. Commercially, it signals something powerful to potential partners. An audience that has chosen to invest their time, their attention, and yes, their money, is an audience that’s engaged. They’re not passive listeners, half-following along on a commute (although, we love all listeners equally). They’re vocal and they’re the kind of people who tell other people about things they love. For potential brand partnerships, that’s a meaningful thing to be able to point to.

From a listener engagement perspective, it creates a feedback loop that most podcasts can only dream of. When your audience has a dedicated space to talk about your show, you learn things you’d never find out from download figures alone. You hear what lands. You hear what they want more of. You hear the moments they’re still thinking about three days later.

I asked Emi Geddes, European Acquisitions Lead over at Patreon for her thoughts. 

“In a crowded online landscape, never underestimate the power of actively listening to your community, having a two-way dialogue with fans, and reflecting their feedback into your work,” said Geddes. “The Jack & Ash Show proves what’s possible when creators go direct-to-fan with Patreon — forming deeper, more meaningful audience relationships that build the foundation for a sustainable business model.”

That kind of insight shapes better podcast productions. And better produced podcasts build bigger communities. And so it goes around.

Jack and Ash’s Patreon community is only a few months old. I’m not standing here claiming it’s a fully formed thing as it’s still finding its shape, and that’s part of what makes it exciting, however, thousands of people choosing to be part of something in its early stages is a strong foundation.

I’m really proud of what Jack, Ash, and the team have created. Not just because it’s performing well, but because it’s performing well for the right reasons.

https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheJackAndAshShow