As Chappell Roan speaks out about toxic fan interactions, experts explain how the fan-artist relationship has fundamentally changed.
, the “Pink Pony Club” singer stared directly into her camera, eschewed the typical dynamics of artist-to-fan communication, and laid everything bare. “I don’t care that abuse and harassment, stalking, whatever, is a normal thing to do to people who are famous or a little famous,” she said, her voice breaking. “I don’t give a f–k if you think it’s selfish of me to say no for a photo, or for your time, or for a hug. That’s not normal, that’s weird.
Why do some fans feel a need to be so close with an artist who doesn’t know them? “A fan I interviewed once said, ‘I have stage four cancer, and when I go to my chemotherapy, I take my iPod with my Josh Groban music because it makes me feel better,'” explains Dr. Gayle Stever, an associate professor of psychology at Empire State University and the author ofwho has spent her career studying fan behavior, embedding with fandoms across the cultural gamut.
So why, in 2024, does it feel like we’ve reached a fever pitch in terms of boundary-crossing fan interactions? One factor is how the advent of the internet has fundamentally changed the way that fans and artists interact with one another. Ryan Star, a recording artist and the CEO and co-founder of social-audio platform“Social became everything, where music was almost secondary to it,” Star says. “If you were a rock star , there was a disconnect where couldn’t relate to you.
What the internet has done for fans, Stever says, is remove most barriers for entry. Where pre-internet fandoms would have to meet in-person — at conventions, concerts or elsewhere — today’s fans have direct access at all hours to others with similar points of view. Some fandoms of the past required payment in order to be a member of a fan club; now, fans can organize independently without money changing hands.
As unwelcome behavior toward artists persists, many in the music industry believe that it is within an artist’s best interests to stay silent about unwanted interactions. One artist manager, who spoke toon the condition of anonymity, described Roan’s comments as “a thought best kept in her head.
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