2. What are Fans?
Fans by the dictionary definition are:
“A person who has a strong interest in or
admiration for a particular sport, art or
entertainment form, or famous person.”
Buying Albums.
Going to
the shows.
Emotional
investment to the
artist and their
music.(e.g. arguing
passionately on
their behalf)
Up to date with the
latest news (Reading
articles, watching
interviews etc.)
Social networking
interaction
Facebook, Twitter,
Myspace, Instagram
etc.
Purchasing
Artist
merchandise
Influenced by their actions
(e.g fashion choices
wearing particular brands
because said artist wears
the same brand)
3. Heavy Metal subculture
S Heavy Metal metal fans have taken their passion for music to another level by creating
their own subculture and guidelines to follow to achieve authenticity within their own ranks;
for example from the clothes they wear, haircut styles, contributing on metal forums and
website‟s and the obvious buying albums.
S The behavior includes certain moral guidelines in which metal heads have to follow for
example, dismissing „pop‟ or chart music, as it is see as “selling out” in the metal
community. There is a sense of scrutiny between metal fans and who holds high grounds
in terms of authenticity. While the Heavy Metal following is mainly white male‟s in the
lower/middle class, the group is tolerant of those outside its core demographic base who
follow the rules and code‟s of dress, appearance, and behavior.
S This Heavy Metal subculture has received enormous amount of exposure to which point
there was a book written about the metal heads; “Deena Weinstein‟s book Heavy Metal:
The Music And Its Culture” in which the book talks about the idea‟s of authenticity of metal
heads and also the codes you have to follow as a metal head.
S From looking at this information and research my group and I came to a better
understanding on who exactly our target audience was; roughly teens to the early twenties
who were middle class/working class white males. This was very useful research because
now we understand how to appeal to this audience
4. Case Study: Marilyn Mason
S Marilyn Mason has to be one of the most
controversial exposed Metal artist, this is
believed to be one of the many reason why fans
are the so infatuated with him and his unorthodox
life style.
S For many fan‟s, Marilyn Mason has become a
symbol of the messages he has communicated
through his music and as such has created such
controversy around himself such as rumors of
what he has done to his body (rumors of him
removing his ribs so he could fellatio him self).
The Real person The Reel Peron
5. Case Study: Charles Manson
S Charles Manson was a Rock star in the sixties who arose
a insanely loyal cult fan base known as the “Mason
Family” in which to this day has quite a strong
following, who share the belief‟s of the once famous rock
star and now alleged murder convict, in the late sixties
Charles Mason and members from the Mason Family were
convicted for horrific series of murders, Charles Manson
himself, was charged on conspiracy to murder.
S The Mason family is a great demonstration of the
relationships between an artist and its audience and how
much influence(in extreme cases) an artist can have on a
fan.
S Charles Mason himself just like Marilyn Mason had built a
persona or image of who he was based on myths and
legends rather than actual fact
