On Discord Music Fans Become Artists Besties Collaborators And Even Unpaid Interns

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Moderation is made a little easier on Discord with bots, which can automatically flag suspicious and harmful content. But the platform is subject to the same conflagrations that erupt in other online spaces. Warring factions of a fandom could see Discord as yet another battleground; longtime listeners of an artist might try to “gatekeep” and establish rank over newer ones. Sometimes, friends just have (very public) falling-outs. In addition to navigating these disputes, which require more delicate responses than simply banning people, moderators have more basic roles like stoking conversation. Without regular prompting, you can have an idle server-a fate that befalls even big-time artists.



A recent Billboard report notes that “community manager” has become the music industry’s “hot new job.” As more artists interact with fans in semi-private forums like Discord, the more they need official personnel to help regulate those relationships, acting as both customer service rep and social media manager. On select occasions, Discord may offer members of their team for support. During the weekend of Coachella, I laughed as I watched as an adult staffer named Edward weigh in on whether it was okay for someone to say “daddy” in the Harry Styles Discord, where there are minors.



Still, official help isn’t regularly guaranteed, and the presence of professionals can jeopardize a server’s casual atmosphere. I asked Discord’s Kenny Layton whether the company has had conversations about compensating volunteer moderators, who are often superfans, for their labor. “Oh definitely-something that we preach is that, while it’s nice for fans to come in and support artists, it’s turning into a full-time job, especially if they’re on the community management side,” Layton says. On occasion, if Discord officially partners with an artist, it might pull from a pool of trained moderators and pay the recruits to help out in their server. But most of the time, it’s on the artist to handle compensation. Figuring out the right form of payment is likely to be challenging, though. Many fan servers technically run independently from the artists they represent, and their founders may in fact want to keep it that way-money may only complicate a hobby.



Discord is still a relatively new platform. As its user base expands, and it scales up in financial ambition, it will endure more challenges. Once-intimate servers might grow large and unruly, leading artists to speak more guardedly and pop by less frequently. The growing presence of corporations seeking to cash in could lead relationships to feel transactional. The end of the pandemic might mean people lose time and interest in keeping up so obsessively. Discord servers Discord is a wildly useful tool, but it’s just a tool-another addition to an ever-expanding number of social media apps artists seem required to be on.



Even Discord’s more enthusiastic users acknowledge that they might leave it behind one day. “I’ve seen platforms come up and they’re huge, they go away and nobody remembers them,” observes Rivers Cuomo, who once kept up with fans via Weezer message boards and Myspace blogs. “I don’t expect that the neighborhood will be on Discord forever. Something else may come along.”



This week, we’re exploring how music and technology intersect, and what today’s trends and innovations might mean for the future. Read more here.