Goldman Sachs. Citigroup. Barclays, all confidently modelled the future of music…and all completely wrong. Meanwhile, fans quietly built a billion-dollar resurgence right under their noses. A story proving that if you don’t understand fans…you won’t see what’s coming next. New edition of the Superfan Formula
The phrase “meet fans where they are” is thrown around a lot in the music industry, but rarely understood. This edition of The Superfan Formula explores what it really means, why tiered monetisation misses the point, and how to use attitudinal insight to scale emotional connection and build a fanbase that lasts.
Everyone’s talking about “super-serving superfans” but no one’s asking what’s the actual plan? Strategy isn’t slapping “digital” in front of a campaign—it’s understanding what your artist means to fans, and where they’re going long-term. If you’re still throwing spaghetti at TikTok and calling it a strategy, it’s time to read this.
A decade ago, we predicted how streaming would reshape music — and we were half-right. The industry embraced track-based strategy but ignored the need to build enduring artist brands. Now, labels lean on catalogue, artist development has stalled, and WHY data is more essential than ever. Time to rethink. #superfans
Labels may hold extraordinarily rich data about recorded-music consumption.
But can any single commercial partner develop an effective strategy for an artist ecosystem it neither controls nor sees in its entirety?
That isn’t a criticism of labels. It is a structural and commercial question about where responsibility for the whole artist strategy should sit.
My view? With artist management.
Has artist management accidentally been reduced to project management? The manager spends the day responding, approving, forwarding and chasing. Busy? Absolutely. Strategic? Not necessarily.
Somebody must optimise for the artist’s whole career, not simply the stream, ticket or T-shirt in isolation. That responsibility belongs to the manager.
