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Fan Lifetime Value
PLUS: Web3 storytelling, Superfans generate all the income, & music NFTs as 'just another format'
Rob Abelow
April 07, 2023
Hey there, you're reading Where Music's Going.
If you want to join 3,328 artists & builders learning how to navigate music's new future, subscribe below.
Welcome, artists & builders.
Each week, I'll cover new tools & strategies to form better connected audiences. Today we get into the metrics of fandom.
Inside Issue #5:
💡 Context: Fan value calculator
🦁 In The Wild: Storytelling through web3
📊 Numbers: Superfans pay for everyone
⚒️ Toolbox: Collectibles as new format
Measuring Fandom
Turn listeners into fans.
Fans into super-fans.
Create a tribe.
It sounds obvious, but I'm surprised how few seem to prioritize this path.
Perhaps it's those ever-visible numbers measuring us against everyone else that override our better judgment: Monthly Listeners, Likes, Stream Counts.
We've become obsessed with these numbers.
But they are often hollow.
This is why we are seeing artists go viral on TikTok or Spotify, yet no one shows up to the shows. They don't really care. It's disposable. It sits within some playlists or their feed --- content serving its purpose.
They aren't fans. Not of the artist. They may not even remember the artist's name.
Vanity metrics show us tons of hearts, but not the size of them. A stream is a stream, a listener is a listener.
But it’s intensity that creates sustainability.
HOW DO WE MEASURE INTENSITY?
Measurements can vary in importance from artist to artist:
Email Subscribers
Ticket Sales
Vinyl Sales
Collectors
Community Members
These are much better. But, what about something with a more holistic view?
New Fandom Metrics
Let’s borrow from the startup world. I’ve adjusted Customer Lifetime Value to create 2 music-oriented metrics:
Fan Lifetime Value (FLV) - The average revenue a fan is expected to provide over their fandom lifetime.
Total Fan Value (TFV) - Total revenue your audience is expected to provide over their fandom lifetime.
FLV helps you understand your most impactful fans. TFV helps you understand your audience balance.
These metrics illuminate fandom & give artists a better understanding of their business, incentivizing better fan-building behavior.
Stop chasing big, empty numbers.
Start building meaningful ones.
— Rob
How do you calculate these? I’ve created a calculator for subscribers to use: