Beyoncé. This all started with Beyoncé, really. She was the only reason I had needed to watch Superbowl XLVII last February. And by watch, I of course mean mingling with the ladies about anything other than football while the actual game captivated the men in the room adjacent to us until it was time for Beyoncé to take the stage. I wouldn’t even consider myself a super fan — if there was a test to get into the coveted Beyhive, I’m certain I wouldn’t pass–but I just love to watch Beyoncé be Beyoncé.
The Halftime show was everything. Beyoncé wowed us with amazing visuals, impeccable twerks, and a literal surprise, pop up Destiny’s Child reunion. She managed to cram all of that plus nine songs into 14 minutes because Beyoncé is also maybe God. Immediately following the Superbowl performance, while real football fans everywhere were freaking out over the blackout, the Black Women of America quickly held an emergency meeting in which there was 100% attendance. A motion had been made and the vote was unanimous: we were all going to attend Beyoncé’s next concert tour and she hadn’t even formally announced it yet. It was the shortest recorded conversation between black women ever.
On that fateful day when tickets for the Mrs. Carter World Tour finally went on sale, I couldn’t get a single ticket. Not the VIP ticket I was willing to pay far too much for. Not the nosebleed seats either. Had I sinned against Beysus? How could buying concert tickets be so hard? As I would soon learn, buying concert tickets was a lot like playing the lotto; it was a complete game of chance. I couldn’t wrap my head around that. So like I always do when I don’t understand something, I read up on the topic. Ticket Masters: The Rise of the Concert Industry and How the Public Got Scalped by Dean Budnick and Josh Baron helped me understand a great deal. But I was still pissed.
Why is it that, in 2014, every time we want to experience our favorite artists live in concert it feels like we’re competing in The Hunger Games? Certainly, it doesn’t have to be this way. Not when companies like Eventbrite and TicketFly exist. Eventbrite and TicketFly are online ticketing platforms that makes listing and purchasing tickets to any event a breeze, does not require your first born child as payment for mysterious “processing fees”, and has a good social discovery element that can connect fans before the event. And then there are new, last-minute ticket buying apps like WillCall (recently acquired by TicketFly) and Jukely (a concert subscription service). Beyoncé — and most other major artists–doesn’t sell concert tour tickets through Eventbrite or TicketFly or Jukely but maybe, for fans sake, she should.
I spend an incredible amount of money on concerts each year. This year, I’ve spent close to $3,000 on concert tickets. That’s roughly $250 per month. That’s more than my monthly student loan payments. Granted, I spent most of that amount on purchasing tickets to amazing OutKast shows that were already priced at a premium, but that’s still a lot of money to give up every month. The Beyhive is both massive and mighty — imagine that spending power on a monthly basis. At the very least, Beyoncé can expect to earn about $100 from each fan per year (9.99 per album, $89 per nosebleed concert ticket). If a subscription service was in place — a fan club, if you will–she can easily double her money. In this fan club as a subscription service utopia I’ve just created, by paying X amount of dollars per month, fans are guaranteed more music and exclusive access to live events from the artists they love. Continuing to use Beysus as an example, let’s say I’m willing to give her $25 in tithes each month, $300 per year. In return, I’d expect to receive at least one album (with at least 11 tracks), a few exclusive singles/EPs, and at least one ticket to a live show in my area. That is the bare minimum, of course she could choose to do exclusive live streams, fan chats, meet & greets, and a host of other things on top of that.
This fan club as a subscription service thing works for labels too. TDE, home to Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, and Sza amongst others, is an incredible imprint that I feel puts out quality work from quality artists. If it were possible to pay a monthly fee to get new music from TDE each month and exclusive access to live shows in my area, I’d do that. Also, for smaller labels like TDE that have a couple of powerhouse artists and are constantly developing new talent, a subscription would allow them to get those new artists in front of an established, paying fan base. Fan clubs as a subscription service eliminate some of the financial risk labels may take on new artists. The current way we’re introduced to new artists is through free downloads and mixtapes. Free songs are great as a promotional tool but too many free tracks can result in poor album sales and abruptly end an otherwise good career.
Fan clubs are archaic, true. But with the advent of social media and new tools popping up each day to help us discover new music, I think the music industry could find a way to bring fan clubs back in a way that benefits the artists, labels, and fans.