Goldman Sachs has raised its long-term music industry forecast for the first time since 2022. Its latest Music in the Air report points in part to spending by superfans.
The report says Goldman’s previous estimate that a superfan spends about twice as much as the average listener was too conservative. It also finds that nearly half of fans shopping at pay-what-you-want stores pay more than the minimum when given the option.
Goldman identifies storefronts, memberships, messaging and presales as ways for artists to sell directly to fans. Its report also finds that selling a track to fans before it reaches streaming services adds revenue without reducing subsequent streams.
Fees affect how much of that revenue reaches an artist. On a €3.49 membership through Musikeers, about €2.84, or roughly 81 percent, reaches the artist after the platform share and payment fees. Because part of the payment fee is fixed per transaction, the artist’s share increases when a fan pays more.
Luminate’s fan engagement research says sustained artist engagement helps turn casual listeners into superfans. Musikeers’ Fan Score is one approach to tracking that relationship, using factors such as how long a fan has supported an artist, which events they joined and whether they returned.
