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Apr 14Liked by Monia Ali

It’s honestly wild how much this all reminds me of the video game industry, down to fans calling people casuals and doxxing critics. I saw something in Music Business Worldwide with a former Columbia/current Riot Games exec praising Taylor Swift for how well she gamified fandom. Even if this app never takes off, that seems to be where their heads are at.

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The potential profits and open wallets blind them to the bigger picture and the inevitable rebellions. It's alarming.

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Apr 14Liked by Monia Ali

It is highly possible that this app never catch any momentum but it set a precedent in fandom gamification. I would not be surprised if it end up being a case study for labels to do their own better version.

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I definitely think Ticketmaster may start incorporating this type of "verification" for tickets. There was a backlash to the Swift collaboration but there was a backlash to platinum tickets too, at first.

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We’re going to become Pokemon trainer fan showing each others our badge to see who’s the very best.

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I feel like it’s the sort of thing that could trigger an ‘arms race’ - maybe none of the labels wants to bother with it, but if they think a rival might make it work-

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There's quite a few apps that have been rolling out lately, definitely a question of seeing where it ends up. That the Weverse team invested is very interesting to me. It's got that Lou Pearlman vibe of profiting from your own product and the competition.

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