Have you ever wished you could visit the home of your favorite band? That’s exactly what fans of the British band McFLY can do, sort of.
McFLY is a four member band from England. The members are: Tom Fletcher; singer and guitarist, Danny Jones; singer and guitarist, Harry Judd; drummer, and Dougie Poynter; bassist. The band released their first album in 2004, and has just released their fifth studio album, titled Above the Noise.
The band has just launched the Super City, their new official website. The Super City isn’t just a band website, but a super site that will change the way bands interact with their fans. The Super City was financed fully by the band themselves and was inspired by video games and graphic novels. The visitors to the Super City are called citizens, and the first 20,000 fans registered to the website are known as “Pioneers.”
Pioneers of this site are divided into three groups; Pioneers with a free membership, Pioneers who subscribe monthly, and Pioneers who subscribe annually. The monthly subscription costs $8 a month, and the annual subscription costs $60 a year.
All Pioneers get certain privileges, such as full access to all Super City content, the screening of McFLY’s new short film “Nowhere Left to Run,” and a free download of the band’s newest album Above the Noise two weeks before its release to the general public. There will also be weekly webchats with the band that all pioneers can watch and be involved in, all future McFLY music will be available for download, and each Pioneer gets access to each band member’s personalized room and all of its content, and ticket pre-sales.
The Pioneers will also get a profile to interact with the band and other fans, and will earn points by playing games, joining in webchats, and watching videos on the website. The points can be exchanged for money-can’t-buy rewards, such as personal phone calls or webchats with the band, access into television show performances, sound check, or access to a radio session.
Monthly Pioneers get a few added benefits, including a personalized band-signed certificate and welcome pack, and 100 immediate bonus points. Annual Pioneers get all of the above mentioned benefits and a special meet and greet with the band.
Within the website is the “hub” where all visitors, or “Tourists,” to the site will have access. In the hub is a virtual room with “hot spots” such as the recording booth which will lead to audio, a “vending machine” leading to the online store, a claw machine which will lead to the arcade, and an elevator that will take citizens to the band’s virtual bedrooms.
Only citizens will have access to the band’s rooms. Within each of the rooms, personalized and designed by the member’s themselves, are audio players, a photo gallery, videos recorded by that member, and games special to each member’s room, plus special content depending on the member, such as demos and guitar lessons.
The most intriguing thing about the website is that in the hub, the band members can be seen, sometimes reading books, playing their instruments, or just relaxing. When a citizen visits a member’s room, that member is seen somewhere in the room, playing an instrument, having a snack, or again, just relaxing.
“Super City doesn’t look or work like any other website,” says Tom in a quote from Stereoboard.com. “It took two years because we started from scratch with both the design and the concept. We created new ways of interacting with fans and supplying them with music. We ignored all the old rules about what bands can and can’t do. With Super City, our fans never have to buy a McFly album again. They get unrivalled access to us. They get a say in what we play at shows and which songs we release. They can talk to us through the site or, if they reach a certain status, come early to our concerts and meet us.”
The Super City can be found at www.McFLY.com
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