“No ceilin’ bearin’ down on me, except the starry sky above”
Everyone’s Talking About Fans… But Few Actually Start With Them
VIP. “Fan activations.” “Immersive experiences.” “Community.” Dare I say it…super serving the superfan. It’s the same language in every deck, news article or keynote speech. But here’s the thing, there’s a difference between building events for fans and building experiences with fans and it’s the difference between:
Fan-facing and fan-first.
Activating audiences and activating ecosystems.
Product and participation.
One-time cash hits and long-term growth strategies.
“...THE FAN ISN’T THE TARGET. THEY’RE THE STARTING POINT.”
"...the human barely gets a mention."
Start From the Fan Out, Not the Artist In
It’s strange, isn’t it? Music is the most human product on earth - personal, emotional, intimate - and yet inside most planning meetings, the human barely gets a mention. What this means, is no one’s asking:
“What does the fan’s world look like, and what role does the artist play in it?”
Without that fan, and all their irrational attachments, idiosyncratic behaviours, and emotional investments, none of us would have a job. That’s why at Sound Effects; the fan isn’t the target. They’re the starting point.
“…THE SPARK WON’T COME FROM A BRAINSTORM, IT’LL COME FROM THE FAN.”
We’ve worked with everyone from Bowie to Dua Lipa, Zeppelin to Charli XCX, Floyd, Muse, Prince, Chili Peppers, Rita Ora, and beyond, yet the process is always the same: we walk in with a clean sheet of paper, not a pre-baked idea. Because if you really want to grow the fan relationship, increase reach, and diversify revenue, the spark won’t come from a brainstorm, it’ll come from the fan - Barry in Burnley, Jackie in Jacksonville, Shaz in Sheffield, Harrison in Harringay. That’s where you’ll find the truth of human need, motivation, and desire, and it’s those truths that spark a creative idea that turns into cultural momentum.
"...where you'll find the truth of human need, motivation and desire..."
Incredible ideas, invention and innovation don’t come in isolation. It’s the fans that hand us the spark; our job is to catch it and build from it. So, the better question is:
“How can we reward that loyalty, deepen that bond, and then scale it?”
The Fan Ecosystem Is a Value Network
In our work, we map the attitudes, behaviours, motivations and expectations that shape the Fan ecosystem that's around the artist. (If you’ve read our piece on The Superfan Ecosystem, you’ll know it goes way beyond sales, streams, shares or ticketing.) But unlike the way the music business is structured, Fans don’t sit neatly in silos marked ‘streaming’, ‘recorded music’, ‘brand partnerships’, ‘merch’, ‘VIP’. They flow across all of them, creating meaning, stories, and value as they go. That flow is the fan ecosystem, and the fan ecosystem is the artists life blood. Understanding and mapping it isn’t a marketing task, it’s a growth strategy.
“FANS RESPOND TO TRUTH. TO PARTICIPATION. TO BEING SEEN AND INVOLVED.”
What Fans Really Want
Fans respond to truth. To participation. To being seen and involved. That’s the gap between fan-facing and fan-first. That's why we developed our tool the Superfan Engine.
Fan-facing is presentation. Fan-first is participation. Fan-facing says, “Look at what we built for you.” Fan-first says, “Let’s build this together.”
And when you build with fans, not for them, you don’t just sell more. You create momentum.
"Fans respond to truth. The participation. To being seem and involved..."
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