Written by: Katherine Penman
When fan clubs first began they communicated through newsletters sent directly to members' homes. Now with smartphones and apps fan clubs can communicate much more easily. There are multiple types of fan club apps which foster communities and some even offer perks to fans. Here is a guide to the different types of fan club apps and where you can find them!
Some fan club apps host many fan run fan clubs. Apps like Discord and Amino are great platforms for fans to use to create fan clubs. The owners of the fan clubs can assign moderator roles to trusted members to ensure the guidelines of the community are being followed. These types of fan clubs are free to join and mostly involve sharing related content such as fan art, theories, or fanfiction. They also focus on making friends and creating community.
While many of these fan clubs are free and fan run, some celebrities are using Discord to host their official fan clubs. The fans clubs can be private and fans can pay monthly on sites like patreon to be added to the artists Discord groups, or the servers can be public for all fans to join. Mxmtoon has her own discord server which is free for her fans to join, but if the fans are subscribed to her Twitch channel, their username is displayed in pink text!
Apps like Discord and Amino aren’t specifically for fan clubs and have many communities that aren’t fan clubs, and while they are a great resource, there are apps made specifically for official fan clubs. Apps like Weverse and our very own With the Band app are made specifically for official fan clubs where fans can interact with the artists. These apps usually have payment options that can give fans access to content that other fans can’t see. The perks can range from all different forms of content, for example if you join a Fan Crew through the With the Band app, you can gain access to exclusive content, behind the scenes, meet and greets, and exclusive merch.
Fan club apps are a great addition to the world of fan clubs. They allow a place where fans can create their own safe space to form communities and also a space where artists can create a closer relationship with their fans. Fan club apps have made it easier for artists to improve their fan engagement even through a pandemic when concerts and meet and greets weren’t safe to be held in person. Fan club apps are an amazing resource, and we’re happy to have one of our own where we create a safe place for fans and artists to interact!
If you want to get more involved in fan communities,
join a Fan Crew or our awesome weekly newsletter!
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