Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigtop
I have to agree. It's somewhat useless that I decided to quit TeamAyu. I'm part of Room Ayaka fanclub only for the exclusive blog pictures, special photos and wallpapers, and the occasional Room Ayaka magazine sent out by mail (via Tenso for me, but right now Tenso hasn't got it yet...), and I'm part of Room Ayaka just to support Ayaka herself (despite the fact she's married and she has a baby that is slowing her music operations down).
TeamAyu, on the other hand...come out empty other than the blog pictures. Surprised about what someone said - hyping things that are to come, only to find out it's still not there yet.
Seeing more 'mobile fanclubs' though - although the one I wanted (Sayuri Sugawara/THE SxPLAY) is off-limits to those outside of Japan because it required a Japanese phone, and I don't have one...
So, yeah, in general - I'm not too fond of these so-called 'paid' fanclubs recently.
|
I feel like these days, thanks to social media, these fan clubs need to redefine themselves. What was a fan club FOR back in the day? Bridging the gap between artist & fan. That was WHY they existed. Social media has kinda taken that responsibility though.
I think fan clubs nowadays need to go back to being "clubs." I'd love for the TeamAyu BBS to reopen, for example, in part because I think there needs to be more unity between Ayu's Japanese fans and her global fans. I think we each feel threatened by the other because of the perception that one side steals Ayu's attention at the cost of the other (which is really unfair to her). I read old TeamAyu BBS posts by ayu (the precursor to her messages) and she talks about stuff that all the other TA members seem to be talking about often, and I just feel so... I feel SO left out that I couldn't be a part of TA back then.
In Ayu's case, also, since she has such a long career, I think there are a lot of opportunities to make TA members feel special by going back and reviving old stuff. Music that never got released could be put on a TA exclusive digital music store. Old behind the scenes photos that used to be on TA could come back. You know? Stuff like that, which would help bridge the gap between Ayu and her fans, but that more casual fans really wouldn't care about. That's the kind of thing that would give the club some sense of unity, and some sense of being separate or more elite compared to casual fans.