Philip Burrows
A Billion-Dollar Miss, Because They Didn’t ...

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

Philip Burrows
“MEET FANS WHERE THEY ARE!" BUT THEN WHAT?

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.

“MEET FANS WHERE THEY ARE!" BUT THEN WHAT?
Philip Burrows
PUTTING THE WORD ‘STRATEGY’ AFTER THE WORD ...

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.

PUTTING THE WORD ‘STRATEGY’ AFTER THE WORD ‘DIGITAL’ DON’T MAKE IT STRATEGY, MATE!
Philip Burrows
WE SAW THE FUTURE…APPARENTLY SOME DID’NT LISTEN

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

WE SAW THE FUTURE…APPARENTLY SOME DID’NT LISTEN

MusicBusiness

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SFF45: YOU KEEP USING THE WORD “INSIGHT”…

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I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the slide in your presentation labelled “Insights” probably doesn’t contain any.

Streams increased by 14%. Frequent match attendees buy more replica shirts. Vinyl buyers spend more on concert tickets.

These may be useful observations, patterns or correlations. But they do not necessarily explain why anything happened. And without the human explanation, we may be measuring activity while completely misunderstanding the person.

This atricle: why data, evidence and insight are not interchangeable and why knowing what fans did yesterday is not enough to create growth tomorrow.

You Keep Using the Word “Insight”…

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AN AUDIENCE IS NOT A COMMUNITY. AND A COMMUNITY IS NOT A FAN STRATEGY.

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There’s a growing consensus across music - and increasingly sport - that we need to build stronger, more direct relationships with fans. I agree completely, but we also need to be much more precise about what we mean.

An audience is not automatically a community.

A database is not automatically an owned relationship.

A group of highly engaged consumers is not automatically a fan strategy.

And calling something a community does not make it one.

Not every fan wants the same relationship. Some want access. Some want recognition. Some want to participate, create or advocate. Some simply want to listen, attend and remain quietly loyal for decades.

That does not make them less passionate. Although many of the engagement metrics we use to judge fandom would suggest otherwise.

This week’s edition of The Superfan Formula distinguishes between six things that are related - but absolutely not interchangeable.

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SFF43: THE MANAGER IS THE AUTEUR.

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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.

WHO OWNS YOUR FANS?

The next ownership battle in music won’t be over masters. It will be over understanding. Artists have spent decades fighting to own their recordings, publishing, image rights and merchandise. But as audience insight, fan intelligence, AI and predictive analytics become more valuable, another question is becoming increasingly important: Who owns understanding of the fan? Labels, streaming services, promoters, ticketing companies and merchandise partners can all contribute valuable information. But each sees the fan through its own commercial lens. Only management sees the whole career and the complete fan ecosystem. This is not about weakening commercial partners. Management-owned understanding should make every partnership, brief, campaign and investment decision better. Article 41 of The Superfan Formula: Who Owns Your Fans? Because once someone else owns understanding of your audience, they begin influencing the decisions that shape your future. Who owns the strategic picture in most artist businesses today?