The state and future of music fandom Unleashing fan creativity

20,000 foot view:  Streaming is buckling under the weight of new music being released every day, listenership is fragmenting, and artificial intelligence is poised to intensify these challenges. The music industry’s next era of growth lies in monetising fandom, not consumption. However, streaming has had the unintended consequence of encouraging passive consumption, so the industry must understand how to cultivate fandom before attempting to monetise it. As music creation goes mainstream, the future of artist-fan relationships will be much more creative, derivative, and collaborative.

Key insights 

Section            Artists

• Breaking through            noise is the most common            for professional music creators, with            it among their top three           
• As artists            more, they rely less on            income: it is            of music            for creators earning $1-$999, but                       for those earning           
• These trends            motivating more artists to focus            building and monetising core fanbases            than scaling audiences
• YouTube is            as best for building a            Bandcamp for generating income
• Bandcamp is            only platform that scores relatively            for both building a fanbase            generating income

Section            Fans

           of consumers say the music they listen to “very much” reflects who they are — more than any other entertainment, but not far from movies / TV and clothes (both at           
• Music’s role            identity peaks for consumers aged            but remains strong through consumers’                      
• DSPs have            sway over teens’ listening, as                       listen to streaming stations and            to playlists, compared to            and            for           
• DSPs are            cultural capital and influence to            with            of            listening to songs            on TikTok 
• Video is            most popular way to engage            artists beyond music, with            of            watching music videos,            watching YouTube            and            watching live TV performances
• Time spent            content (including non-music) nearly doubled            the course of 2022, from            hours per week in            to                       2022
• Music fans            more likely to make music            and artificial intelligence (AI) will            enable this trend, opening up            opportunity for artists to sell            stem packs, branded gear, and            tools

Section            Industry

• The fan            generated            billion in 2022, with            merchandise contributing nearly half            of            revenue 
• Asian music            NetEase Cloud Music, Tencent Music            and HYBE illustrate the power            monetising fandom
• The current            for fandom is only breaking            surface of what it could            with fan creation among the            frontiers

Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Ableton, Amazon, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Artiphon, Audiomack, Bad Bunny, Bandcamp, Bandzoogle, Braindead, ByteDance, Cameo, Catalog, COLORS, CoSo, Discord, Dominic Fike, Dua Lipa, El Muerto , Euphoria , Fave, Fortnite, Grimes, Hello Merch, Holly Herndon, HYBE, HYPH, Instagram, Ithaca Holdings, MAG Signature Sound, Marvel, Mayk.it, Metta & Glyde, Minibeats, NetEase Cloud Music, NPR Tiny Desk, OnlyFans, Patreon, Radiohead, Ripple, Roblox, Saturday Night Live , Snapchat, Softside, Soccer Mommy, Songfinch, Sony Music Group, SoundCloud, Sound.xyz, Splash, Splice, Spotify, Tencent Music Entertainment, TikTok, TikTok Music, Travis Scott, Twitter, Universal Music Group, Versace, Warner Music Group, Weverse, YouTube, and YouTube Shorts