Verified Superfandom

What fan management platform Fave tells us about the fandom business.

The app Fave has a couple of years under its belt already, but I only became aware of it with the news of major labels Sony Music and Warner Music Group investing in it. Even HYBE, that have their own fan management platform, Weverse, have chipped in, citing “expanding synergy in the fandom business,” as one of the reasons for their investment.

When the industry starts to invest and get involved, I start paying attention.

Fave sticks out to me because it is a fan-to-fan platform, as opposed to Weverse which touts direct engagement with fan objects and ringfenced platform exclusive content that users feel ownership over.

Meanwhile, Fave seems focused on having fans “prove their top-fan status” which they can do by leaning into the commodification model.

“We’re exploring ways to allow for people to enter the fandom if, and only if, they really are a fan.” — Jacquelle Amankonah Horton, CEO of Fave

It also really stands out because it seems to revel in the most toxic part of stan culture: the need to outspend, out-stream, out-invest others. Because how else can you “prove” yourself?

I joined the app to get a better understanding of what it asked of its users. The idea is to document approved fan activities that will result in points. Once you hit 1,000 points you become a “Verified fan” — after which you’re on the road to “Verified Superfan.”

Points are collected by documenting various activities, 29 in total for music fandom, with some variation for comics fandoms. Some activities are worth more points than others, some are a one-time thing, others can be repeatedly claimed, such as “Merch Collection” that allows you to collect points for each individual merch item in your collection.

Screenshots from Fave. Open image in new tab for full size.

I think it’s worth highlighting the activities that garner 100+ points per fulfillment.

• Fandom tattoos

• Concert attendance

• Travelling 5+ hours for a concert or other event

• Spotify Wrapped (claimed yearly) and monthly top artists (claimed monthly)

• Organizing/hosting streaming parties and participating in them

• Losing sleep, cutely titled “Night Owl”

• Interacting with your fan object—or their team

• Promoting the Fave app on socials

• Organizing fandom related events

In general, the concept of activities that affect your standing in the community gives me flashbacks to Swift tix, the Ticketmaster and Taylor Swift collaboration. It’s not the first time this approach has been taken, but it was particularly shameless.

The difference is that Swift tix was “only” being used for your priority placement in line.

In their official words,

“You’ll have the opportunity to participate in unique activities that advance your spot in line. Based on the activities you participate in, your place in line will move up and down. The better your spot in line, the better the opportunity to access tickets.”

The section of the Swift tix video that explained the process has been included below, because seeing how it’s being framed is essential to understanding the way fans are being conditioned into normalizing this type of competition.

This is the same approach being used on Fave, and all the more sordid to me is the selling point is the app “allows these fans to come together and connect more deeply with each other.”

I don’t know about you, but my connection with fellow fans and fandom itself has only been harmed by this approach.

I’ve had plenty of deep connections with fellow fans and developed friendships that outlast our fandom interest, and it worked because the fandom community itself was what mattered, not what we did to prop up the fan object du jour. We connected based on shared appreciation, not ability to stream music catalogues 24/7 on three separate devices, buying the most merch and brand collaborations or attending the most shows.

I have fond memories of travelling for concerts, hosting fans who travelled to my country for concerts. I treasure the phone calls I got from concerts I was unable to attend, so I could enjoy at least one song in real time, and I was happy to do the same for my fandom friends. I’ve lost sleep to stream a concert from across the globe, or because I wanted to finish reading a fic. I even have fan tattoos, but to collect “points” for them would devalue their purpose.

In contrast, activities from my stan days still nauseate me, because none of it was based on sheer enjoyment; it was a one-sided obligation.

This is the difference between fandom and standom.

The new standard of fandom.

Considering Fave’s close collaboration with labels and artist teams, I was surprised to notice at least two incorrect fan group names (Stylers and Horandogs), which seems like a massive misstep considering the PR line that they care so deeply about the fan communities. I was told that it’s not like the app “really matters to anyone” by someone in the affected misnamed fan groups.

In one way, this is a good thing. It’s good that fans can remain unconcerned with what an app is doing. That’s a healthy approach. It suggests stan culture isn’t all encompassing just yet, that it’s possible to do your own thing.

I envy their chill, but I’m too cynical at this point not to look at attempts to entrench the worst part of stan culture because it’s good for business to have volunteer fan armies at their disposal.

Even if no one else cares, I think it’s important to document the shifts over time. I’ll keep documenting what I come across, and over time we’ll know what mattered and what didn’t, what sticks and what’s discarded.