The Modern Groupie: A Music Feeds Study

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Unless you’ve been living on Mars the past decade, you would have noticed that there’s been a shift in power dynamics throughout the world of music. Social media and the universally growing desire for immediacy have totally changed the layout of the battlefield and equipped all involved with proverbial WMDs – musicians can sustain their entire careers with their internet savvy, but it can also be their undoing.

We aren’t saying there haven’t always been crazy groupies but, with the smoke, mirrors and mystery that once surrounded musicians now removed thanks to their presence on social media, devoted followers have been instilled with a sense of entitlement that they, above all the others, deserve special treatment. Sure, every so often the direct contact results in some rare moments of special treatment, and the sense of connection to musicians alone can be special enough for fans, but more often than not artists will have to take a healthy serve of the bad along with the good.

The following is a categorised list of the new breeds of groupie, those just as likely to lend a hand to their favourite musician as they are to XTL when their need to connect pushes them to new lows.

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