The Importance of World Building and Fan connection

How audiences engage with and interact with artists is an ever-changing paradigm. These changes in connection between audiences and artists can be signifiers of major cultural and technological shifts. The era of mass consumption of content brought on by the onset of streaming services, social media platforms and short-form content saw the need for artists to lean into adopting an always-on approach to building awareness from an expansive yet fickle audience base. To sustain attention in a time where audiences are promised endless streams of stimuli it becomes difficult to establish a sense of world-building where creatives are given the time to craft narratives that encapsulate their character, community and artistic essence. 

As we move away from this space of fast consumption and the rise of digital detoxing and dopamine breaks become more prevalent and tech companies pivot into VR, AR and AI. We are seeing a generation become aware of the consequences of this hyper-attention economy, crafted in the tech space, and are searching for deeper and more meaningful connections. This is where I believe the creative industries and artists can lead in introducing audiences to interactive worlds that offer more space for slower consumption and substantive experiences. 

An artist who embodies this idea of world-building is Tierra Whack. The North Philly artist has quickly established herself as one of the most engaging and enigmatic artists through her music. Yet it's the creativity in crafting a world outside of her music that showcases the power of multi-medium storytelling that adds dimension to a narrative and character. Tierra’s focus on the abstract in her music, fashion and visuals makes it so you feel you are entering her own personal creative world when consuming any of her work. We see this embodiment of creativity go beyond her creations and expand into her brand partnerships with Lego and Adobe. “Cypher'' the Hulu pseudo-documentary based on Tierra’s life is an excellent example of the artists utilising different mediums to establish an interconnected motif that builds on the world her fans can interact and engage with.

Tyler the creator may epitomise this idea of developing a multi-faceted world more than any other contemporary artist. With his first recording debuting in 2007, it would take 10 years before he would begin his ascent into the mainstream zeitgeist, as 2017 saw the release of his highly successful album ‘Flower Boy’ and his first premier radio play of the song ‘See You Again’. Despite it taking a decade for his music and brand to expand outside of the niche misfit culture he had been cultivating, this time was spent building a world in which fans could interact in a multitude of ways. 

His Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival, is a prime example of cultivating a culture and community that connects artists and fans. Despite the commercial success Tyler has seen, this festival remains true to the indie and alt scene he started in and his hardcore fans align with most.

His fashion brand goes a step further than the typical artist brand partnership and instead is a clear extension of Tyler's brand image. Whether it’s the shared aesthetic of his Louis Vuitton collaboration and the themes of his last Album ‘Call Me if You Get Lost’ or limited edition Golf Le Fluer designs being sold at his own festival, there is a deliberate cohesiveness that ties all these projects under one world that fans can pick and choose how they engage.

For world-building to be effective, audiences must feel a sense of connectivity and a relationship must be formed with the artist. This creates a culture and accessibility to the artist that feels more substantive. Artists who have done this by utilising digital spaces and the illusion of exclusivity/scarcity are Billie Eilish and Clint of ‘Cortiez’. 

The illusion of scarcity is nothing new and has been used by brands and artists to generate an artificial sense of rarity or exclusivity. However, when teasing her upcoming project Billie Eilish took this concept and applied it to the social connection with her fans. By simply adding her fans to her close friends, a sense of exclusive insight and connection into her world was created and fans rushed to be a part of this, allowing Billie to gain over 7 million new followers.

Clint, the founder of the clothing brand Cortiez has mastered this tactic, despite having one of the most recognizable clothing brands, he remains steadfast in creating an air of exclusivity through his password-protected website and invite-only drops. This method rewards superfans who are hyper-engaged with the brand and creates an incentive to keep a brand in mind despite not always being on. 

This rise of leveraging artist-fan connection through exclusive clubs and rewarding the superfan can be seen with more artists adopting platforms like WhatsApp, discord and private servers as ways to connect with smaller, more engaged audiences. 

World-building takes time and is developed through an understanding of an artist's brand and fan relationship. This can be useful in cultivating deeper connections and forming culture. It leverages the fan connection and widens the scope of fan interaction.