Warner Music Group‘s long-promised superfan app is moving closer to reality, with a more sophisticated version now being tested by a select group of users, according to a new Wall Street Journal report.
The app, which features Ed Sheeran as its first featured artist, has progressed from its earlier beta version that was first made available to some employees for testing in spring.
Sheeran is now “actively posting” on an in-development version of the app, according to the WSJ interview with Atlantic Records CEO Elliot Grainge.
It’s unclear from the WSJ report when other artists might join the app, or what WMG’s long-term plans for the platform are.
Sources tell MBW that Warner is still experimenting, so the exact look of the app and its launch date remain up in the air.
Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl first revealed the company’s plans to build a superfan app last year during a Web Summit tech conference in Doha, Qatar.
“I’ve assembled a team of incredible technology talent from Google and Stripe and Instacart and lots of other great technology companies who are working on a superfan app, where artists can connect directly with their superfans,” Kyncl said at the time.
The initial beta version of the app reportedly resembled “an Instagram feed of only Ed Sheeran posts that users could like and comment on” but was considered “bare bones in both tech and content.” The WSJ reports that Sheeran “had a lot of feedback” on the initial version.
Kyncl says new Atlantic Records CEO Grainge is now working closely with the tech team to improve the product.
The project is believed to be steered by an internal tech team at WMG, led by the company’s President of Technology, Ariel Bardin.
The push into the superfan market comes as music companies increasingly look to monetize the relationships between artists and their most dedicated followers.
Superfan market heating up
Warner’s entry into the superfan platform space follows the success of HYBE’s Weverse, which reached 150 million cumulative global downloads in 2024.
According to Weverse’s Global Fandom Trend Report, the platform grew its artist communities by 30% year-over-year to 162 in 2024, with its user base expanding by an average of 19% across all continents.
Weverse has attracted major international artists including Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, Megan Thee Stallion, and Conan Gray, alongside its established K-pop roster. The platform reported that artists shared approximately 206,000 posts in 2024, while fans created 370 million posts.
In December 2024, Weverse launched higher-priced membership tiers, with prices ranging from $2 to $4 per month for additional benefits such as offline access to music and ad-free video streaming.
The competition is intensifying as Kakao Entertainment, a major player in the Korean entertainment industry and rival to HYBE, launched its own platform called Berriz last month.
Kakao, which holds a 40.28% stake in SM Entertainment, described Berriz as “a cutting-edge global fan platform designed to revolutionize the user experience.”
Universal Music Group has also signaled its focus on superfans.
In September 2024, UMG’s Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and President of Operations, Boyd Muir, noted that “Superfans, the most avid 20% to 30% of all music listeners, once drove more than 70% of recorded music spending.”
During the January 2024 earnings call, UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge announced the company’s strategy would be centered on “strengthening the artist-fan relationship,” specifically through “superfan experiences and products.”
Spotify is also planning to launch a “deluxe” tier that could include access to “superfan clubs,” according to its CEO, Daniel Ek.
Earlier this year, Live Nation President and CEO Michael Rapino confirmed that his company is in talks with Spotify, Apple, and Amazon regarding presale ticket access for super-premium tier subscribers.
The growing superfan economy
The market opportunity for superfan monetization in recorded music was estimated by Goldman Sachs at USD $4.5 billion in 2024.
Kyncl has emphasized the importance of creating a cross-platform solution for artists to connect with their most dedicated fans, stating at last year’s Web Summit: “Music is omnipresent, it’s everywhere. Artists want to work with every single platform… they don’t want to optimize just for one platform over another. So a solution like this for superfans has to be a cross-platform solution. We, as a record label, are in a perfect position to do that.”
Speaking to the WSJ on additional matters, Elliot Grainge expressed his desire to secure higher pay for Atlantic Records artists from streaming services. He noted that music consumers previously spent more money on physical formats like vinyl, CDs, and cassettes, while today fans pay less than $15 per month for access to nearly all music.
“I find it nonsensical that AI spa music or sleep tranquility music gets the same payout as Bruno Mars,” Grainge told the WSJ. “That’s the equivalent to me of being given a penthouse in New York City for the same price as getting a terrible shoebox in North Korea.”
Grainge, who took over Atlantic Records on October 1, 2024, previously founded independent label 10K Projects, which he sold a 51% stake in to Warner for $102 million.
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