Sound Effects Limited

07/06/2026

The next phase of growth in music and sport will not be won by the organisations with the longest content calendars, the busiest marketing teams, or the most colourful dashboards.

It will be won by those who understand what they mean to people.

That means understanding the why beneath the behaviour.

Read the latest Superfan Formula:

04/06/2026

Too many organisations in music and sport confuse activity with direction.

A content calendar is not a strategy.
A dashboard is not a strategy.
A fan app is not a strategy.
A TikTok moment is not a strategy.

They may all be useful tactics.

But real strategy starts with understanding why people care, what role you play in their lives, and how each action deepens that relationship over time.

Read the latest Superfan Formula here

Tactics are not strategy. Why music and sport must stop mistaking content calendars, dashboards and fan apps for real audience understanding.

01/06/2026

Superfans are not a pricing strategy.

They are not simply the people who will pay more.

They are the people who carry the story, create belief, bring others in and make the thing feel bigger than the transaction.

Music and sport both need to be careful here.

Premium tiers, VIP packages, dynamic pricing, exclusive drops and hospitality all have their place.

But if your best fans only mean “charge more”, you’ve missed the point.

The latest Superfan Formula is now live.

Link in bio.

31/05/2026

VIP should mean more than expensive access.

The best fan experiences recognise the people who carry meaning, create momentum and bring others into the story.

That is where fan experience becomes fan strategy.

Latest Superfan Formula is live.

29/05/2026

We’ve just published the latest edition of The Superfan Formula.

This one is about the way music and sport talk about “superfans”.

Too often, it seems to mean: how much more can we charge the people who already care the most?

Premium tiers. VIP packages. Dynamic pricing. Exclusive drops. Hospitality upgrades.

Some of that has a place, of course.

But superfans are not simply high-yield customers. They’re the people who carry the story, create belief, bring others in and make the thing feel bigger than the transaction.

If your best fans only mean “charge more”, you’ve missed the point.

20/05/2026

The latest edition of The Superfan Formula is now live.

This week: The End of the Campaign.

It explores why music and sport need to stop treating fan relationships as a sequence of campaign windows, and start building around continuity, participation, memory and meaning.

Because campaigns end. Fandom doesn’t.
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Fans don’t live in campaigns; they live in relationships. This article explores why music and sport need to move from campaign thinking to fan ecosystem thinking.

14/05/2026

Last Wednesday I was lucky enough to be invited to the David Bowie You Are Not Alone show at Lightroom.

Now…I should probably admit that: I’ve had the privilege of working with the Bowie Estate over the years. I’ve also been a massive Bowie fan for most of my life.

I mean, I loved Tin Machine and Never Let Me Down, so clearly I lost all objectivity decades ago.

So I can’t really pretend this is an impartial review. But in the most balanced and professional terms possible:

It was absolutely fu***ng amazing.

I laughed.
I cried.
At times it honestly felt spiritual.

No…religious.

It somehow captures not just Bowie’s music, but his humanity, imagination and sense of possibility. You leave remembering that Bowie wasn’t just an artist, he was a world people disappeared into.

I loved it so much I took the family back again on Sunday.

If you can go, go. And no…I can’t get you free tickets 😂

Huge thanks to the very special people who made it possible ❤️

13/05/2026

https://www.wearesoundeffects.com/insights/2026/4/23/ney4rhdqj4wy2cah9zf96tnwl00vfw

Most marketing operates in an open loop: activity is measured, but little is learned and nothing compounds. This article explores why tracking fan behaviour isn’t enough to drive growth, and why understanding motivation is the missing link. By shifting to a closed loop approach, rights holders can...

13/05/2026

Most marketing in music and sport isn’t designed to build fans. It’s designed to lose them...
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Over the past few weeks, we’ve explored a growing shift across both music and sport - More data.

29/04/2026

https://open.substack.com/pub/soundeffects/p/the-conversation-everyones-havingwithout?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

So as we are now well into conference season 2026, if you spend five minutes scanning the agendas of SXSW, Music Biz Conference, The Great Escape or ILMC and a pattern quickly emerges.