When his YouTube AdSense income started outpacing his salary at his full-time marketing job, the choice was clear.
Since 2024, he’s worked full-time as a Taylor-Swift-focused creator. He charges US$5,000 per brand partnership, in addition to merchandise sales and ticket revenue from a tour in June across the US with his podcast co-host Rubicam to stage live shows.
He requested to keep his exact monthly earnings private for this article. But with 390,400 followers and counting on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, supplementing an ever-growing pool of Patreon paid members, it’s unlikely he’ll need to return to corporate Singapore just yet.
“People always ask if I’m afraid this is just going to go away, and I’m like, why would this disappear? Brand deals disappear, but for this relationship that I built with my audience, I’d have to do some serious damage to get them to stop (following my content),” he added.
“There are some people who have been paying (for my Patreon) … for two years. That’s a relationship that’s been established, and it would be difficult to disrupt that.”
KEEPING CRITIQUES HONEST
Because most of his income comes from subscriptions, not brand deals or advertising, Hourihane describes himself as “an unusual influencer”.
He’s turned down record labels that approached him to promote their artistes, he shared, though not because he didn’t agree with their messaging. He simply believes such deals should be made transparent to his audience.
“Undisclosed sponsorships are a hard line for me,” he stressed. “I haven’t had a single label work with me because they didn’t want to admit that they’re paying someone.”
He refuses to risk the hard won trust of an audience with selective attention spans, who expect him to uphold the same honesty that drew them to his content.
“My relationship to the people who watch my stuff is very important to me. I don’t belittle them (or) think they’re stupid. I think they’re smart, and I listen to what they want for them,” he said.
