Robert Kyncl says Warner Music is building a Superfan platform

The buzz from music company CEOs so far in 2024? Super fans.

Already this year, the heads of Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, Spotify and Live Nation have announced their intention to shift to better serve artists' superfans, with new initiatives and an investment deal already on the table. And today (February 27), at the Web Summit in Doha, Qatar, WMG CEO Robert Kyncl announced that Warner will build a new platform aimed at better connecting its artists with their biggest fans.

“Something we're working on at Warner is these direct experiences for superfans,” Kyncl said, speaking onstage alongside newly signed Warner artist Nora Fatehi. “I've assembled a team of incredible tech talent working on an app where artists can connect directly with their super fans, who are generally the people who consume the most and spend the most… and we're focused on making sure artists get data for these superfans.”

Kyncl hinted at the new platform, which is still early in development, in his New Year's note to staff in January, where he said, “We need to develop our direct products and experiences for superfan artists,” adding that some things were already in the works. “Both artists and super fans want deeper relationships and it's an area that's relatively untapped and under-earned,” he said.

Details of Warner's app are still unclear, though a source said more information is coming in the coming weeks, and Kyncl mentioned something coming later this year. However, there are already apps and platforms like WeVerse and Stationhead that have done significant work to tap into the superfan community, connecting artists — including some of Warner's biggest artists — directly with their biggest fans.

Other companies hinted at the beginnings of their own strategies. Last week, Universal announced an investment in Complex and NTWRK, following Buzzfeed's acquisition of the former, aimed at connecting artists with an online shopping option for fans. which came a month after the President/CEO of UMG Lucian Graingehis own New Year's note to staff, in which he said, “The next focus of our strategy will be to grow the pie for all artists by strengthening the artist-fan relationship through superfan experiences and products,” highlighting discussions with the platform partners and internal partnerships. In January, CEO of Spotify Daniel Ek hinted at creation of “superfan clubs” when reporting new products. And last week, Live Nation executives talked about revamping the superfan experience for concerts, in a bet that it will bring in more revenue.

While Kyncl didn't elaborate on what Warner has in the works or how it will connect artists with fans, he emphasized the need for the app to be available on all platforms. “Artists want to work with every platform … they don't want to optimize for just one platform over another,” he said. “So a solution like this for superfans has to be a cross-platform solution. We, as a label, are in a perfect position to do this because we work with all platforms. Historically, we haven't had the technology talent to do this, but now we do… it's an exciting project that will be released later this year.”