Sylvian Fan Club?

by **japanfan** on Mon Sep 17, 2007 2:20 pm

Im surprised Samadhisound havent created a Sylvian fan club with a monthly magazine, exclusive gigs, exclusive CD's/downloads and meet and greet David sessions etc. With so many really loyal fans i think Samadhisound could make a bit of money while keeping fans interested and informed. What do you guys think?

by **baht habit** on Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:39 pm

I hate to seem rude but, in all honesty, I think such ideas are so absolutely 80's pop and something that would only be relative to these bumblegum acts nowadays manufactured for Disney kids or these teenybopper mallrat boy and girl musical acts. I know that there is a Sting Fan Club and the whole thing is done by fans, so it is absolutely pathetic in how they pay attention to 'all things Sting'.
And though I know this sounds megapretentious, but Fan Clubs should not apply to musical artists such as Sylvian....poppy teenage musical acts, perhaps that is right up their alley....mature and sophisticated musical artists, I'd like to think not.
Why would any fan want Sylvian to have to put up with that sort of thing anyway? Don't you think the poor guy has posed for enough cheesy pinups in his career already.
The vast information easily accessible on the internet should be more than sufficient to satisfy those who clamor for more info about the guy. So basically, isn't the Samadhi Sound website enough?

by **japanfan** on Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:46 pm

I think David Sylvian.com and Samadhisound could be improved by features such as a David diary and a forum for fans where on the odd occasion David, Steve and other acts signed to the label post topics and replys to existing topics. A yearly webchat would be cool too. One of my favourite bands Ocean Colour Scene added these features to there website and it improved it ten fold.

by **godisinthesilences** on Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:57 pm

I think those are great ideas for your typical group who enjoys promotion. David I fear merely tolerates it as a means to an end. I think he rather feels once the music is out there he's out of the circle of its creation. He doesn't seem very interested in making loads of money or supplying fans with things they would very much enjoy being a part of (such as a fan club and that sort).
Sure I'd enjoy having more frequently updated information on his site and a bit more of a personal less cold touch to the site but I think David put his photography and writings up to aid us as fans get abit closer to what he's working on.

Baht I don't think it was necessary to insult someone to make your point. Certain bands enjoy more promotion and closer contact with their fans ... I don't see how this makes them cheesey or entirely pop oriented. David just isn't that type of person plain and simple. And, as for having his photo taken for "pin ups" etc... well it is part of being in the public eye and part of promotion of the work. To that end I feel he needs to do some image work, but as for a listing of the ten hottest men award I don't feel he is in that genre any longer (not that i don't think he's hot but you understand my point). David is not Japan and has not been in that state for over 20 years now. However, I don't see any harm in emailing ideas for site improvements to the powers that be at samadhisound. In the end, it is a business and to exist they have to make money. Offering some more ways to do that is not a bad thing.

by **japanfan** on Mon Sep 17, 2007 6:07 pm

If anybody on here thinks my ideas to improve DS.com could work i.e. diary, forum, webchat. Or if you guys have any ideas on improving DS.com post em up, i dont mind slipping Samadhisound a email. You never know we might get some cool new features out of it. :-D

by **baht habit** on Mon Sep 17, 2007 6:58 pm

I didn't want to insult anyone yet I felt compelled to give an honest answer to the question at hand. I probably should have kept it to myself and rather not answered at all. I should know by now that certain threads are not applicable to the typical ways of my thinking and the usual assessments I make.

by **godisinthesilences** on Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:30 pm

its cool to give an opinion... nothing wrong with that. But that is all it is... just like what i said was my opinion. It's a matter of viewing things in that light and not saying this is exactly how it is.

it's all good

by **Silver Moon** on Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:30 pm

Hey I think it's fine here for everyone to post their opinion!

It would be really cool if the fans could be a little more in touch with David Sylvian et al... But After 20+ years of being in the music business and surrounded by fans (Which he never seemed too hot on being in touch with in the first place anyway) I don't blame him for being reclusive. I admit that I'm also quite a reclusive person myself and would go crazy if I had to interact with crowds and people all the time!

I think he's doing quite enough by still creating his lovely music

... Plus the David Sylvian we all know and love has always been Mr. Mysterious!

-K-

by **godisinthesilences** on Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:39 pm

Silver Moon wrote:Hey I think it's fine here for everyone to post their opinion!

It would be really cool if the fans could be a little more in touch with David Sylvian et al... But After 20+ years of being in the music business and surrounded by fans (Which he never seemed too hot on being in touch with in the first place anyway) I don't blame him for being reclusive. I admit that I'm also quite a reclusive person myself and would go crazy if I had to interact with crowds and people all the time!

I think he's doing quite enough by still creating his lovely music ... Plus the David Sylvian we all know and love has always been Mr. Mysterious!

-K-

TOTALLY agree. I am the same exact way... a bit of a recluse. Thanks :-)

Website · by **heartofdavid** on Mon Sep 17, 2007 8:10 pm

I think it's a combination of being a private person (rather than a recluse) and not having interest in that level of contact. I think he uses the media as much as he wants to and beyond that I don't think he much cares. I do think he cares about his audience (in his own weird way, lol) - the photographs and the writings he shares on the site - he must have some reason for doing that or why bother. And from the encounters mentioned by fans, he seems to enjoy meeting and talking with them. As for having his own forum, the time and effort to moderate that doesn't seem to me to be something he would want to bother with, getting someone to do that job, etc.

I'd love to see more photos, and an occassional blog would be nice, but I don't expect the latter will happen.

What would be great is something like what Peter Gabriel does on his site, which is allow fans to order cds of live performances that are recorded right off the sound board during his tours - these aren't commercial releases, just something for the fans if they want it - I don't know if any other artists do this.

Perhaps one day he'll do what Steve did, have an imageshop - David mentioned something like that years ago (back in the DBOAC and E&N days) about making limited edition prints available but nothing came of it.

*ramble*

by **krausy** on Mon Sep 17, 2007 10:12 pm

I agree that the fan club idea is not David's style.

I have joined fan clubs for bands in the past, and currently I am a member of three. For those particular artists and fans it works, as we are offered anything from ticket presales to limited edition cds, etc.

Two of the clubs I belong to have been going since the 80's and are run either by management or PR reps. One club in particular has managed to keep alot of it's original fan base, as I have seen particular people's names in club publicaions from the 80's to the present day, which tells you alot about the relationship the band has with the fans. If it were not good, they would not stick around.

by **Simonp** on Tue Sep 18, 2007 1:07 am

I happen to think its a wonderful idea. It needn't be tacky. Lisa Gerrard has a subscription service set up on her site where paying fans ahve access to exclusive tracks, updates, promo material etc.

by **Lady Arcadia** on Tue Sep 18, 2007 2:04 am

This is an interesting thread.

Normally I would say more fan-interaction on musicians/group websites is a good thing. But probably not in this case.

Fan Forums can be great things, provided they are moderated well. The forum that used to be on DD.com got a bit out of hand in the end, hence it got pulled by the band. It became more hassle than it was worth.

The live CDs sold through the site, a couple of bands that I follow do this!! I have the whole tour of Wet Wet Wet's reunion gigs. Absolutely wonderful!! (Especially for someone like me who had as much chances as Hades of getting the UK to see any of them.) They would be a good idea for most acts, but somehow don't think we will see this on DS.com in the future.

In the end, like I said on a DD site and got flamed for, it is a business. And will be run as the management see fit, even if we all don't agree with it.

by **Burnsjed** on Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:21 am

heartofdavid wrote:What would be great is something like what Peter Gabriel does on his site, which is allow fans to order cds of live performances that are recorded right off the sound board during his tours - these aren't commercial releases, just something for the fans if they want it - I don't know if any other artists do this.

I think Fish does (or use to if they are still not going) this.
But unlike the Gabriel version, the recordings were made available in the foyer immediately after the concert, that seems like a headache to get that together, but I remember reading that some years ago.

I did write to the website regarding the Tour, and lack of it in the U.S with some suggestions in make it a viable option, but didn't get a reply.

by **Melaszka** on Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:05 am

I agree that a fan club needn't be bubblegum kitsch - after all, isn't this forum a kind of fan club?

However, I don't imagine David going down that route, particularly not to "make a bit of extra money" for Samadhi - I may be naive, but I really don't think he's at all motivated by money (beyond the basic need to support his family, of course).

I remember he sent an e-Christmas card to everyone on the Samadhi mailing list a few years ago - that could have been construed as just as cheesy as the 80s pin-up bands' fan clubs, and far more cheesy than the kinds of things japanfan is suggesting, but I thought it was rather sweet.

As I understand it, his position on live material is that he reluctantly tolerates fans clandestinely recording gigs and then sharing it with each other on the internet, but doesn't release it himself because he doesn't think his live work meets his insane standards of perfectionism, and he gets furious and extremely litigious about people bootlegging his work for commercial profit.

I kind of understand his thinking here, but it does seem to discriminate unfairly against fans who live in certain parts of the world, who through mere financial or geographical accident will never have access to the same amount of his material as those who find it relatively easy to see him live (particularly given his habit of showcasing new material when touring which never makes it into recorded format). For this reason, I wish he would release limited amount fo live footage (perhaps only tracks which he never plans to do in a studio version and/or perhaps, as in the "fan club" suggestion, just to hardcore fans). But i don't see it happenign any time between now and hell freezing over.

Sylvian Fan Club?

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