Announcing Launch of New Membership: Voyager

Real talk. I launched a membership on Patreon about 18 months ago. It was an experiment. I had read all about how setting up a membership is an important thing for artists to do if they want to get some recurring revenue in the door. 

Since I'm always creating new stuff I thought, "let me try it... what's the worst that could happen." 

So I did. 

And like most things, when you launch something you have these dreams of how grand it's going to be. You have these grandiose visions of how successful your new venture is going to become. 

The reality wasn't disaster, but it also wasn't roaring success. 

The Patreon Experiment

I had a few of you join. An incredible few. A few that actually made me realize there are people out there who are want to get closer to the music, the process, the artist. What ensued was an 18-month journey in discovering how I was going to package and release the things I was making. 

I fell in love with it.

I was nervous if I would actually like sharing my secret stuff. A demo of a new song I'm working on, an unfinished mix of a song, an intimate vlog entry of things I'm struggling with as an artist, a behind-the-scenes documentary of the recording process, and so on. 

I didn't know if I would want to share it... and I didn't know if anyone out there would even care.

But I found out there were people who cared. More than that, there were people who loved it. I was shocked, honored, humbled and excited all at the same time. 

And so I kept uploading goodies to patreon as I lived my life. Demo tracks. Voice memos. Vlogs from the road. Journal entries. You name it. And a core group of people would message me every week in the membership commenting on how much they loved it.

But, then something happened. 

I started wanting to integrate patreon with the rest of my tech stack, with the rest of my ecosystem. I wanted to have more control over the interface, and most importantly over my data. 

And that's where my relationship with patreon went from love to hate. I wanted fans to be able to have one place, one login, one location for all of their music. I didn't want multiple platforms and accounts. I wanted to make it easier, not harder for you to come on this journey. I realized patreon wasn't it. So I paused it. 

Then I went looking for a better solution. 

What a rabbit hole that was. 

I emerged from the other side with a frazzled brain, sloppy code, half-baked ideas and content scattered across multiple platforms I was testing out. It was messy, it wasn't working and I was discouraged.

On top of that I had my regular website with all of my music, products, blogs and more. How could I connect everything? I was stumped. 

The Launch of the Voyager Membership

But eventually, after enough persistence, I cracked the code. I found my solution. I worked tirelessly on the code and the architecture until everything fit together.

The result?

A brand new membership called: Voyager

The best part? 

It lives right here at RomanSamuelsMusic.com.

There's no separate account. There's no new platform. There's no scattered access. There's no complexity. No confusion. It lives right here, natively on this site. 

Furthermore, any music you purchase on this site will automatically show up in your Voyager membership portal as well. The experience is seamless. Everything integrates. 

From my end I also get to see when you become a deeper fan. When you start supporting me more, I'll see it. I'll know. And that can allow me to offer special discounts, events, gifts directly to you.

I finally own my data, which will help our relationship immensely. 

What You Get in the Voyager Membership

In the patreon days I went through a number of iterations of the membership. I had The Archive, Glassroom, Airwaves, on and on... all kinds of different names for essentially the same thing... taking you on my journey and showing you my creative process.

So much of this music is created on the road, in motion, traveling. My life sometimes feels like a constant adventure. And as I was building this membership it occurred to me that what people were most connecting with wasn't the actual content... it was the story of what I was doing, or where I was, or what was happening at the time everything was created. 

The story was what they wanted. 

And sure, they also wanted to hear the song, or track, or idea I was working on.

But what you really want is the story of what is happening and how is that influencing the music. 

So rather than creating a membership centered around content... I figured I would create a membership centered around the journey... the story... the voyage.

Become a Voyager

And so I invite you to come join the journey. Come along with me as I work on new records, new songs, new ideas, and travel to new places. Come behind the scenes and see how we work in the studio, see the team, get the vibes. 

When you join Voyager you get access to the journey as it happens.

That means demos of songs that may or may not ever get finished. Early mixes from the studio. Voice memos recorded when an idea first strikes. Behind-the-scenes videos. Journal entries. Photos from the road. Unreleased music. Stories about where I am, what I'm making, who I'm making it with, and what was happening when the music came to life.

Some of it will be polished.

A lot of it won't be.

That's kind of the point.

I want Voyager to feel less like another subscription you're paying for and more like having a passport into this strange little world I'm building.

And there couldn't be a better time to launch it.

After nearly a year of sitting on The Aviator and the Hourglass, I'm finally beginning to release the record.

The first single, Different Directions, is only the beginning. Over the next 10–11 months, I'll be releasing new music from Aviator and taking you behind the scenes as the entire thing unfolds.

You'll hear the finished songs when everyone else does.

But inside Voyager, you'll get the miles between them.

The demos. The sessions. The stories. The wrong turns. The breakthroughs. The places. The people. The things that normally disappear once the finished record arrives.

That's the voyage.

And this time, I'm inviting you along for it.

BECOME A VOYAGER TODAY >>

Voyager is a recurring monthly membership that gives you access to all Voyager-exclusive posts, music, videos, photographs, stories, and other releases for as long as you're a member.

You can join or cancel anytime.

If you've ever wondered what happens between one Roman Samuels record and the next, this is where you'll find it.

We're just getting started.

Welcome aboard.