MBW Views is a collection of op/eds from eminent music trade folks… with one thing to say. The next MBW op/ed comes from Deviate Digital founder Sammy Andrews, who argues that the trade’s present definition of ‘superfans’ is simply too slender – and primarily based too closely on buying energy fairly than different, much less tangible, however simply as worthwhile elements…
The phrase ‘superfan’ has develop into totally inescapable. It’s now the centrepiece of each boardroom technique deck and will get tossed round in advertising and marketing conferences as if it’s a solved downside, regardless of half the folks utilizing the time period not with the ability to recognise a funnel if it hit them within the face.
Segmenting audiences and changing high-affinity followers is little one’s play with the appropriate technique and funds (spoiler alert: it at all times has been). However the music trade is more and more coming at all of it improper.
Goldman Sachs estimated that the worldwide superfan monetisation alternative was at $4.5 billion (£3.5 billion) for 2024, and everybody – from main labels to streaming platforms – is scrambling to seize their slice.
Common is pushing collectibles, “experiences” and new DSP partnerships; Warner has a superfan app in improvement; and DSPs are touting new premium tiers aimed toward this section. The route of journey is evident. The query, if you’d like a protracted sustainable profession and income stream, is whether or not or not the vast majority of the trade is lacking some very important steps and funding on this course of.
Having labored in advertising and marketing, know-how, and having a deep understanding of fan segmentation, engagement and conversion for many years, it’s clear to me that a lot of that is reactive and in locations very superficial – a mass monetisation land-grab with little thought given to long-term loyalty or the broader dynamics that underpin real fandom.
“Lowering superfans to strolling wallets is painfully short-sighted.”
Sure, the economics look compelling on the floor: international recorded music revenues nonetheless grew 4.8% in 2024 (to $29.6 billion), however that’s a marked slowdown from 10.2% the 12 months earlier than. Advert-supported streaming and matured markets are stagnating.
In the meantime, knowledge from Luminate reveals that superfans make up simply 20% of listeners, however spend disproportionately – 66% extra on stay music, for instance. It’s apparent why the trade desires to lean into them (and now we have been doing that each day at Deviate for eight years). However approach an excessive amount of of the present pondering reduces superfans to strolling wallets. And that’s painfully short-sighted.
What defines a superfan isn’t simply spend. It’s social signalling, id alignment, emotional funding, and group. These folks don’t simply devour, they contribute, create and amplify. Strip that right down to who can afford a snazzy vinyl field set, entry to unique content material, a brand new DSP tier or meet ‘n’ greet and also you’ve fully missed the purpose – and the upside.
What’s misplaced within the (respectable) rush to monetise is the popularity that superfans don’t emerge from nowhere. They’re made – over time, by means of tradition, content material, group and constant interplay. They’re lurking in and run Discord servers, seed content material on Reddit, run and work together with fan profiles on TikTok and drive narratives that transcend the music itself.
And more and more, these communities are being constructed on platforms the trade doesn’t management, together with personal message chains, which is why the majors and HYBE’s delve into “superfan” apps makes a great deal of sense (although I’ve spoken with many managers who query inserting their complete fanbase, and that knowledge, within the arms of label-owned apps with out applicable compensation or knowledge porting capability).
These are fantastically messy, decentralised and may be extra influential than any label-sanctioned marketing campaign. The sensible groups have direct relationships with all of them and allow them to lead, not simply begin their very own pages. Listening, watching and analysing a fan-led group is extra vital than simply shouting at them when you actually need to prosper.
Superfans aren’t outlined by spend alone. They’re those who construct group, convert informal listeners, and elevate tradition. A few of the Most worthy advocates don’t purchase merch, they generate momentum. However the present mannequin most of you might be peddling in conferences and investor comms rewards fee over participation, sidelining followers who contribute in different methods.
This isn’t simply philosophical, it’s business. Probably the most engaged followers – those who convert others, who flip up early and produce associates, who evangelise in each digital crevice – usually aren’t those with the deepest pockets. If you happen to exclude them out of your technique, you’re not solely being elitist, you’re actively shrinking your future market. And this isn’t hypothetical, we’ve seen it repeatedly
play out.
There’s additionally a much bigger downside with everybody chasing the identical top-tier followers: it turns into a zero-sum sport. If each label and platform builds merchandise just for the best spenders, you’re not rising the market, you’re slicing the identical pie into thinner items and driving up acquisition prices within the course of. That’s not scale, it’s cannibalisation.
And it’s tone-deaf within the present local weather. Within the UK, cost-of-living pressures are nonetheless biting. Many followers are already priced out of reveals and merch, or compelled to decide on between a couple of premium choices they merely can’t afford. Ignoring them as a result of they will’t afford “superfan” tiers isn’t simply ethically suspect, it’s strategically naïve.
These are sometimes the folks doing the groundwork for you. They’re the road workforce and artist improvement workforce you didn’t pay for. Minimize them out at your peril.
“Engagement needs to be measured by affect and intent, not simply transaction dimension.”
The concentrate on purely monetising the highest finish additionally sucks oxygen away from the decrease tiers of the ecosystem: the grassroots venues, the smaller artists who want help with touring, content material and group, the entry factors the place fandom is shaped. These areas are fragile (not least with the incoming tidal wave of AI attention-grab content material).
In the event that they collapse as a result of cash and a focus are hoarded on the high, the long-term provide of followers (and artists) collapses with them. I’ve but to see this acknowledged in any investor comms, however was happy to be taught that Sony, Warners and Beggars are indirectly supporting MVT’s Personal Our Venues initiative. Supporting grassroots needs to be seen as infrastructure, not charity.
After which there are the artists themselves. The relentless drive for extra “engagement” places them underneath strain to be at all times on, at all times responding, at all times posting, at all times producing new methods to feed the machine. The demand for parasocial intimacy is intense, and it’s usually unsustainable with out correct technique and help.
It’s not simply an HR or psychological well being difficulty. It undermines the very factor that makes superfans: the sense of an actual reference to an artist who has one thing to say, not simply one thing to promote. Treating artists like infinite gross sales pitch content material farms is a quick street to burnout – and
disillusioned followers.
That danger is amplified by the rise of AI. Regardless of some very intelligent deepfake know-how that I’ve zero doubt our trade will embrace, in addition to sue the arse off, fairly quickly human interplay and authenticity turns into the principle differentiator in life. Over-automating, completely rinsing them or faking connection erodes belief, and as soon as that’s gone, you don’t get it again.
Worth must be redefined. Advocacy, community-building, and creativity from followers aren’t side-effects – they’re core property. Engagement needs to be measured by affect and intent, not simply transaction dimension. The trade has to start out valuing the depth of connection not simply operating a six-week advertising and marketing marketing campaign and hoping for the very best.
Inclusivity must be embedded into technique. You’re not devaluing premium, you’re reinforcing it with a broader basis of loyalty and attain and fuelling the funnel.
And fan communities have to be co-created. The very best ones aren’t top-down campaigns, they’re areas the place followers really feel possession, company and contribution. Allow them to assist form the story. That’s the place the actual loyalty comes from. Use knowledge correctly. Not simply to determine spenders, however to know behaviours, motivations, emotional alerts – the actual ‘why’ behind fan actions. That’s the way you construct segmentation and campaigns that resonate. The rest is simply noise.
And begin wanting in new locations. The sheer quantity of you which might be consistently recycling the identical high-spending demographic, chasing diminishing returns with more and more determined bundles isn’t development, it’s inertia. Construct fandom in new geographies, new age teams, new cultures. Make the pie greater. Or another person will.
The $4.5 billion is actual. However most of it gained’t go to the loudest or the quickest. It’ll go to the individuals who construct correctly. for the long run. Those who perceive that superfans are made, not simply mined, who respect their viewers sufficient to construct one thing sturdy, not simply extract what’s straightforward. These are the winners. The remaining will probably be left asking why the gold turned out to be mud.
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