The superfans of music superstars Identity and cut-through
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20,000-foot view
Fandom is becoming the music industry’s golden goose, with labels focusing on building and monetising superfan bases for their top artists. However, superfan behaviours are changing in response to oversaturation and hyper-fragmentation. What once worked for measuring and monetising fandom will not work the same in the future. Based on a survey of over 2,000 US consumers, this report analyses the superfan bases of 12 music superstars. It explores attitudes, listening, social engagement, purchasing behaviour, and identity resonance. We present a new framework for understanding and measuring the impact of superfans today.
Key data and insights in this report:
- Fandom data for 12 popular music artists
- What proportion of listeners are superfans?
- Artist tracking data from a brand tracker study
- How can artists cultivate music fandom?
- Strategies to drive engagement and spending among an artist’s community of superfans
- The link between music identity resonance and fan behaviour
- Pop music culture and artist brand identity
- Measuring social media engagement for each artist’s fanbase
Methodological note:
This report is based on data from a MIDiA Research survey of 2,009 US consumers conducted in Q3 2024. Consumers were asked to indicate their attitudes towards a selection of 12 artists on a 1-5 scale. These artists were selected to represent a range of ages, musical styles, record labels, and career stages. For the purposes of this report, segments are defined as follows:
Superfans: Respondents who selected 5 “Really like (I’m a huge fan)”
Fans: Respondents who selected 4 “Like (I am a fan)”
Neutral: Respondents who selected 3 “Neither like nor dislike / no strong preference”
Dislike: Respondents who selected either 2 “Somewhat dislike” or 1 “Strongly dislike”
The full data sheet of responses can be found in the Excel attached to this report.
Note: For some charts, a combined fan category is shown, which includes both fans and superfans (options 4 and 5)
Words: 4147 Infographics: 6 Pages: 21
Companies and brands mentioned: Coldplay, Chappell Roan, Charlie XCX, Drake, Halsey, Madonna, Oasis, and Taylor Swift