Toxic relationship

Back in October, Alan Moore wrote in the Guardian: "I believe that fandom is a wonderful and vital organ of contemporary culture, without which that culture ultimately stagnates, atrophies and dies. At the same time, I'm sure that fandom is sometimes a grotesque blight that poisons the society surrounding it with its mean-spirited obsessions and ridiculous, unearned sense of entitlement."

That truth of that second point was borne out by another Guardian article published earlier that month, in which Alim Kheraj explored toxic fandom in pop music - a phenomenon that seems to be on the rise. Kheraj touched on inappropriate and obsessive fan behaviour of all kinds, ranging from hassling artists in the street to cyberstalking and (in the case of Tegan & Sara) catfishing.

Such behaviour, while inexcusable, does seem to have an obvious cause. Before the advent of the internet, pop stars often appeared untouchable, almost otherworldly; now, social media has collapsed that distance, creating an intimate bond between artist and fanbase - or at least the illusion of one. As Tegan commented, "[t]he more personal you are, the more connected people become. That's supposed to be a positive thing, but it also makes them feel entitled. It gives them ownership."

Lucy Bennett, a Lecturer in Journalism, Media and Culture here at Cardiff University, pointed out that "[t]he relationship between fans and artists is a power balance. Sometimes the power can tip back and forth." The obvious solution, she suggested, would be for artists to stop oversharing, take a step back from social media and become more aloof and remote again.

But for them to do so would run counter to the primary objective of the pop industry: selling product. Artists have always sought to cultivate relationships with their fans, but the emphasis is now increasingly on monetising those relationships. Social media has simply presented a golden opportunity that the industry has eagerly capitalised on, and while I have some sympathy for artists as individuals, there's a distinct whiff of "leopards ate my face" about the complaints.

As Eamonn Forde discussed in a typically excellent state-of-the-biz article for the Quietus, record labels appear hell-bent on treating loyal fans simply as cash cows to be milked for all they're worth - whether that's for limited edition releases/formats, exclusive gig tickets or tiered streaming subscription models. In other words, the "power balance" that Bennett spoke of is hardly tipped in fans' favour.

The risk is that fans finally reach breaking point, tired of being bled dry, and simply stop buying. Forde sagely suggested that "the obsession with short-term gain can only cause long-term damage to fans' trust".

But will the industry heed such warnings? Not likely. As Forde himself acknowledged, "[t]he danger, and the record business has plenty of form here, is that greed only begets more greed". With that in mind, it seems that fans will continue to be made to feel both entitled and exploited, and the situation will grow ever more toxic - with artists caught in the middle.