Fans turn waiting into its own event
Fans create a block of time between the present and the anticipated.
If you are not a subscriber of The Fanbase Builder, join the 1k+ artists, creators and music industry executives who receive it for free.
Let’s dive into today’s topic:
Fans turn waiting into its own event
Nobody likes to wait, but fans are surprisingly good at it.
Why it matters
Artists spend a lot of energy on the release itself. Less thought goes into the space anticipating the release.
Many music campaigns focus on the concepts of anticipation and speculation. For example:
Announcing an album and the campaign leading up to the release date.
Announcing a tour, the campaign leading up to the on-sale date, and the time in between purchasing a ticket and the event itself.
Rumours of major artists going on tour or releasing new music.
Fans predicting festival lineups.
Fan discussions about DJs playing 'IDs' at major shows.
For artists trying to build a lasting relationship with their audience, knowing how fans behave during a campaign’s build-up is as important as the campaign itself.
How it works
Fandom academic Owain Gwynne introduced the concept of fan-made time in his philosophy PhD thesis at the University of Otago in New Zealand.
For two years, Gwynne analysed discussions on a popular Lord of the Rings website prior to the release of the first film in the ‘Hobbit’ trilogy. The film’s production faced many obstacles, including lengthy delays, a union strike and the departure of the original director. According to Gwynne’s thesis, these events appeared to be as emotionally engaging for fans as they expect the films themselves to be.
The pre-release period is a block of time that fans create, shape, and possess themselves. During this time, fans engage in speculation, frustration, debate, and discussion. The wait between the present and the anticipated transforms into a separate event: a special experience that's enjoyed as much as the release itself.
In her book Fangirls: Scenes from Modern Music Culture, author Hannah Ewens applies this concept to fangirls queueing for many hours for concerts. She describes the queueing as a ‘block of time created by fans’. By queueing, the girls extend the experience of a concert.
The release doesn’t start the experience. The announcement does. Sometimes the rumour does.
Yes, but..
Fans create most of this themselves. The speculation, the anticipation, and the community energy often happens despite an artist’s marketing, not because of it.
So, if fans are perfectly capable of generating their own engagement around an artist, what is official marketing actually for? And is there a risk that too much managed communication; like scheduled posts and polished teasers; actually interrupts what fans were happily doing on their own?
Gwynne’s argument is that fan-made time should be treated separately from hype and marketing strategy. It’s not the same thing as a rollout. Conflating the two risks turning an organic fan experience into a managed one — and fans tend to notice.
Take action now
Artists could facilitate fan-made time to be enjoyed. Monitor fan accounts on Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, Discord, etc. Learn how to engage with them and send them some news once in a while.
Your thoughts
Further reading
Fan-made time: How fans enjoy waiting (The Fanbase Builder)
Gwynne, O. (2017). Fan-made Time: Power and Play in the Production Paratext of The Hobbit (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy). University of Otago. [link]
'Fan-made time' - a study of Hobbit fans (Otago Post)
Can superfan and community strategies coexist? (The Fanbase Builder)