Two examples of fan groups to understand how engaged super fan groups are
ARMY, the fan club of BTS. Big global fangroup that also organize themselves on a local level. In the UK they bought ad space to commemorate the BTS' 8th anniversary - link. Good article in BBC here. "It's part of a global effort by international fans of the group to purchase as many posters as possible around the world to mark the milestone."
Beyhive, superfans of Beyonce. 17k members in 2016. Long article of how they organize here. Join it here to get advance access to news, special experience, exclusive merchandise and more.
In 2019, Kpop boy band Monsta X’s loyal following, known as Monbebe, was so furious about member Wonho leaving the group that it raised $20,000 to erect a billboard in New York’s Times Square demanding his return.
And some online fan/music forums to get an idea of what things look like
KTT2: (Kanye to the) Kanye focused redit type of place that branched out to many different threads
RYM: (Rate my music). Rate the music that they own. Lots of brilliant lists curated by members—everything from "best albums of the year" to "favorite trap rap songs" to a playlist for "a swanky dinner party."
Hiphopheads: Redit thread
ughhforums: (Undergroundhiphipforum)
Go to disboard.org and search to get to the right discord channel
K-Pop is blaizing the trail
K-Pop is paving the way for a new way to think about fan engagement. "the companies behind some of the biggest acts in K-pop are pioneering a new way to monetize them. They’ve developed online platforms to help K-pop fans feel as though they have direct access to their idol favorites. That access helps shape the way these fans interact with the idol as a form of friendship and how they engage with other fans." [...] "Several companies have created new social apps for their artists, entirely bypassing third-party platforms like Twitter or Facebook. Three main platforms now stand out:"
The gaming company NCSoft’s universe is used by a wide range of groups and includes features like a “private messaging” service, exclusive music, and mildly controversial AI-generated voice calls with idols.
Weverse is home to mega-groups like BTS and TXT and structured more like the DAUM fancafes*. These apps don’t just offer fans the ability to receive comfort from the artist, for some fans the appeal is in getting to offer support when an artist is going through a health issue, a scandal, or simply when they’re bored on their rare downtime. *Fancafes: a kind of digital fan club that often required fans to prove their knowledge of a particular artist before gaining access to artists
LYSN, first launched in 2018 as an “interest-based fan community.” It was a relative failure before the 2020 introduction of its Bubble idol instant messaging service, which kicked profits into the stratosphere. With the different versions of Bubble, fans can contact their favorite idols through partially private messaging, paid for on a subscription basis. The app is designed to look like a one-on-one chat window, but the reality is more like a massive group chat, with the idol dropping in messages for thousands of fans at once and seeing replies as they come in.
The verge explains more here.
Nielsen report finds that fans are underserved ( I don't have access to the report unfortunately.)
Nielsen found that the industry was arguably undeserving key fan demographics by not presenting them with exclusive or unique content as much as they could. “These big spenders have indicated that, at large, they’d be willing to pay even more for exclusive extras, in-studio updates, real-time emails, pre-orders, limited editions, autographed copies, vinyl records and lyric sheets handwritten by the artist,” the report claimed, suggesting the industry was unconsciously leaving money on the table here.
Superfans are smaller in numbers but considerably more engaged and spend more on their artists. More here link
"What is clear here is that superfans might be smaller in number, but they are—by some considerable distance—the most engaged. They buy products, they repeat stream, they attend all the shows and they are the engine room of any act’s social media. They are, in many ways, the easiest to spot as they are the most vocal—in the real world and on social media—but care and attention needs to go into how they are dealt with. Making the most of your superfans is complex but will pay off in the long term many times over."
People embrace music to build and validate their identity (according to Havas, a French media group)
