Rockitt Rant – Are Fan Clubs Really Worth the Money?
The other day I received an email from Motley Crue, or whoever runs the Crue website. The email told me that my Membership in the Motley Crue fan club was about to expire and that I needed to do nothing. It would automatically be renewed, and the credit card I used the first time around would be charged $40.00. I immediately said HELL NO, and canceled what was left of my fan club membership. It made me ask the question, are fan club memberships really worth it? What did I get for my $40.00 that I spent in 2008 for the Motley Crue S.I.N. club? I was able to get really good seats for Cruefest 2008, and that was about it. I got a pre-sale password for tickets and was able to order my tickets before most folks….was that worth the money? Probably not. When I ordered tickets for Cruefest 2009, it didn’t really help at all. My seats this year are far worse than they wore in 2008. That is pretty disappointing in my opinion. I won’t even mention the lineup for Cruefest 2009, that is a subject for another discussion.
Ok, so I could get access to their password protected forum. Big Deal! No meet & greet, or any other benefits except a discount to purchase the bands’ overpriced merchandise online. Oh, if I were to renew, I would get a the following:
This year's member gift is an EXCLUSIVE, S.I.N. Club only
Live EP from Cruefest 2008, and a S.I.N. patch!
An EP and patch? Seriously?! I am not seeing a whole lot of bang for my buck, at least not with Motley Crue anyway. If it gave me the ability to get a backstage pass, meet the band or some other cool benefits, then I could totally see the value.
Fan Club Memberships are nothing new of course. AC/DC has one, so does Def Leppard, Aerosmith, Tesla, Buckcherry, Nickelback and a slew of other rock bands. The average fan club rate is typically $40.00, some are less but that is about the normal price. I probably wont be joining any more of these clubs anytime in the near future, however it does make me wonder which band is taking care of their fans the best.
Do you have a good experience with your fan club membership? Do you have a bad experience? Tell us about it!
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The way I look at it, I pay for the Cd’s, concert tickets and T-shirts. I’m not paying extra for a fan club forum.
Aging Rock stars gotta eat too…..
Your $40 will buy them a lot of caviar….
I joined the AC/DC fan club to get presale tickets this year. They were pretty decent seats. I figured the tickets were 95 dollars a piece, so another 20 per ticket was no big deal. The exclusive fan club gift was a bag that had a few platic guitar picks, a couple of jacket buttons and a picture. Not very much bang for the buck. I canceled the membership so it wouldn’t automatically renew.
That is exactly why I have never joined a fan club no bang for the $40.00 bucks