Next Generation Music Products Monetising Super Fans With Interactive Artist Subscriptions

There is a growing disconnect between fan engagement and fan monetisation.  Facebook and YouTube took artist-fan engagement to the masses, but music spending is still falling.  Aficionados, the super fans that drive most revenue, are both being taken for granted and reducing their spend, trading down from multiple albums a month to            subscriptions.  A new generation of music products are needed, built around interactivity, multimedia and artist subscriptions. Products that will be radically different from their predecessors, and that will, crucially, be artist-specific, not store or service specific.  Rights’ owners will have to overcome some major licensing and commercial issues, but the stakes are high enough to warrant the effort.  At risk is the entire future of premium music products and of safe guarding the spending of the super fans, without which record music revenues will dwindle into insignificance.

• Music Aficionados            the besting heart of the            industry, accounting for just            of            but            of revenue
• Many of            Aficionado super fans are decreasing            spend with nearly a fifth            stopped buying more than an            a month
• There is            disconnect between growing fan engagement            shrinking spend
• Fans want            from their favourite artists:            of            think music is more than            the song, that it is            the artist’s story.             would pay            an interactive artist app with            photos and other types of           
• A new            of            products built around artist            is needed to harness the            demands of Aficionados and must            Dynamic, Interactive, Social and Curated           
• Subscriptions and            funding are the two key            tools for            music products
• Streaming services            key, and artist subscriptions within            can both drive Aficionado spend            monetise the revenue non-man’s land            ad supported and full subscriptions
• Subscribers are            Aficionado elite but are under                       would buy tickets and merchandise            artists in streaming services while            pledge to get an interactive            app ahead of general release
• YouTube is            fans for artist subscriptions:            of            subscribe to artist YouTube channels            the top five of those                       million cumulative subscribers  

Companies mentioned in this report: PledgeMusic, Kickstarter, Bandpage, Paetron, Disciple Media, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Wikipedia