A year later…

After years of research, interviews, and writing, I finished my book Superfans: Power, Technology, and Money in the Music Industry in January 2020.

Within days of sending my final manuscript to be bound, the world had changed from the spread of COVID-19. (There is a lesson in here somewhere about never knowing what is going to happen and things changing quickly...)

By the time the first hard copies shipped to the first customers of my book about one year ago over Memorial Day Weekend in the US, Superfans’ discoveries and solutions seemed moot.

At that time, it did not feel right to promote my work, which says “go to concerts in small crowded music halls” a bunch of times, in the middle of a global pandemic.

Parts of the US are emerging from the COVID-19 crisis and I just bought my first set of concert tickets in over a year, so I’ve spent the anniversary of my book hitting mailboxes evaluating how well it aged. My core thesis, found at the very end of my introduction, was, “We are again at a tipping point in which fans have more power than they know. If harnessed properly, this superfan power will shape the future of the industry, for the better.”

Looking back on it, this past year proved my thesis true, but not in any way that I would have expected. Since they ultimately hold the purse strings, fans wield the power to change the music industry. The pandemic exemplified this when the industry essentially shut down because fans couldn’t safely participate in it.

COVID-19 has had lasting impacts on the arts, including but not limited to:

• venues closed forever from lack of revenues and high costs of maintenance, rent, mortgages, and more
• artists lost fans by not being able to produce new music without access to studios or money from live shows to support recording costs
• artists have lost a primary source of income without playing live shows for over a year
• the crews of professionals who dedicate their lives to supporting artists who tour — setting up elaborate sets, working with venues to build tours, maintaining venues — have been without wages or jobs for over a year

As concert tickets start to go on sale again and the economy begins to recover, it is more important now than ever before for fans to understand the power they have to bring about change in a very broken industry.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

Me with Casey (left) and Sam (middle) of X Ambassadors, at The Independent in San Francisco, CA

Adam Levin, drummer of X Ambassadors, offered me a chocolate chip cookie from a rectangular translucent green Tupperware container that he’d just pulled out of their black touring van parked outside The Independent in San Francisco. It was just after their show ended; I waited until early in the morning to meet them outside of the venue on an August weekday in 2015. I took pictures with the band and asked them to sign my friend’s birthday card.

I was starstruck.

Then, I quickly realized that I had just watched them load their own equipment into a small van and drive themselves away into the early hours of the morning. Though they are successful now, it took a lot of hard work, perseverance, and help along the way.

In my book Superfans, I dig into what that hard work, perseverance, and help along the way looks like. I posit that fans have the power to make that journey a reality for more artists, and that the industry itself is ripe for a big change. There are a few key ways that fans can help:

• Attend live music shows for bands of all levels of fame at venues of all sizes.
• Buy merchandise! This is often (but unfortunately not always) the only channel of money that is untouched by other parties.
• Tell artists how much they mean to you! Small notes of encouragement go a long way.
• Support artists in breaking down the black box of the industry and creating more transparency.

To learn more, and hear the whole story of the first time I met X Ambassadors, read the full introduction of my book Superfans: Power, Technology, and Money in the Music Industry for free here.

— — — —

A few quick disclaimers:

• This post was made possible by Smallpools, specifically their album LOVETAP! which played as I edited, wrote, and rewrote this post after having it sit in “drafts” for over a year. This is a big deal because I haven’t been able to work to anything other than Taylor Swift for a year.
• X Ambassadors did not sponsor this post or me or my book in any way — I am just a superfan of theirs and meeting them set me on this path.
• I don’t condone illegally loitering outside of music venues to meet celebrities.