How Fan Creators Are Building Music Communities Online, With Haley Hart | Fangirl Forward #9
The @theconcertbesties creator discusses building digital fan communities, mobilizing concert audiences online, and why connection matters more than ever in music fandom.
Welcome to Fangirl Forward, a biweekly look at the people and ideas shaping the future of fandom, media and entertainment. Each edition bridges the worlds of fans and industry, exploring how community and creativity can shape what’s next.
In today’s edition, we’re looking at the growing role of fan creators in the music ecosystem. As social platforms reshape how fans interact with artists, some fan-run accounts are evolving beyond updates and concert clips into real-time information hubs during major pop culture moments.
Haley Hart is part of that shift. She co-runs @theconcertbesties, a fast-growing concert culture account that connects fans around the world through tour updates, concert footage, and community conversation.
Earlier this year, when Harry Styles announced his return and upcoming tour, the platform quickly became a gathering point for fans following the rollout in real time. As ticket demand surged, she helped launch a fan-led global ticket matchmaking system designed to connect fans buying and selling tickets across the tour.
Below, she shares how fan-run platforms build community, her journey building on social media and launching her matchmaking system, and what it looks like when fans start shaping the music industry from within.
Your platform sits at the intersection of fan, media outlet, and community organizer. How do you describe what you actually do?
I think the best way to describe it is that it’s by fans, for fans. I think it’s so important to not only have a platform where you post fun content and engaging things, but to really build community. As a fan myself, experiencing the same things that I’m pushing out to my followers firsthand is really important, so I always want to keep that fan-first perspective as the focus of the account.
I think it’s a special community-building space where we literally have fans from all over the world. A couple weeks ago I did a livestream and people were joining from the Netherlands, Portugal, and so many fun and cool locations. It made me realize that the community is not just something you can get at concerts or events. It’s something that’s digital, and it spans across the globe, which I think is so special.
When Harry Styles announced his tour, your account essentially became an information hub in real time. What were you seeing that made you realize fans needed structure along with their excitement?
I’ve been a Harry Styles fan for about 10 years, so I am very involved in his fandom. During the Love on Tour era a few years ago, I relied on so many update accounts so I honestly have learned so much seeing how those fun and also practical resources impact fans and the whole rollout period.
For me, I just started posting stories saying things like, “Oh my gosh, this is cryptic. I don’t know what this means.” But then it turned into more of a conversation. People were messaging me in DMs, commenting, and I started going live to talk through all these things that were happening.
It shifted from just posting updates to saying, “Let’s go through this together.” Like, “Oh my gosh, Harry has the clock moving to 9 p.m.—what does that mean? What is happening?”
I’ve also connected with a lot of larger accounts directly affiliated with his team on Twitter, so I was able to take information and directly push it out to my followers too.
That created a special connection between me and the people who were also hyped about everything happening, and it also became a resource where people trusted what I was saying. A lot of things were correct because of how the rollout was happening, and I had the resources to push that information out to other fans.
I was once relying on big accounts like HSD and HarryFlorals to push out information that I was sitting there waiting for. Seeing those resources made me say, “I want to be that for other fans too.”
You launched a global ticket matchmaking system within hours. What did building that reveal to you about the gaps fans experience — and what fan-led solutions can do differently?
Fans are ultimately the music industry. The music industry is genuinely made up of fans, and really the product of any artist—promotion, music, touring—is for the fans themselves.
So I think fans saw that there was a problem, and I saw that too. You’re saying this tour is coded with the word “together,” and you want fans to come together and have a special experience. But I saw that wasn’t accessible right now, and that’s really hard—not just in Harry’s fandom, but across fandoms. There are so many tours where music is becoming inaccessible. It’s stepping away from people and becoming more about profit, which is a bummer.
So I said, you know what, I’m going to step up. I connected with Ticketmaster, SeatGeek, StubHub, and Live Nation and asked, “How can we work together to get real fans tickets and make this more accessible again?”
But when those conversations kind of fell through, I said, well, let me take it into my own hands. I asked some friends, “Would this be crazy if I did this?” And they were like, “How can we help you?” It wasn’t, “No.” It was, “Let’s do it together.”
I have six of my amazing friends—many of them college students from all over the country—who came together to say: we’re the fans taking this into our own hands. We’re saying we want this, not just for ourselves. For me, I also wanted tickets to Harry’s tour, but I said honestly I care about so many other people getting tickets and being able to experience the music that was created for the fans.
Harry especially has talked about how he wants his album and his tour to feel like fans are all together in a concert pit, and I thought, well, let’s make that happen.
The ticket box has been such a cool community starter. Not only have my friends and I been on FaceTime for like six hours every night, going through and manually doing all these things, but it’s also become a community-building moment.
I get so many messages, and so many people have connected with me about how even just the effort and initiative has been really inspiring. It’s encouraged them to see how fans can take initiative to make change. I feel like that’s an incredible end goal for me, and I love it. It’s just been such a privilege to do it.
You’ve said fans understand the industry deeply. What role do you think fan creators are going to play in shaping the music industry over the next few years?
I think a lot of fans want to follow accounts they feel the most connected to. You can follow an HQ account, an artist account, or the big-name labels and larger accounts, but at the end of the day those don’t always feel as personal.
I think fans are much more focused on connection. It’s not just, “I’m following this to get information or be sold something.” It’s, “I want to connect. I want to build community. I want to see people in this space who care about the things I care about.”
I also think it’s a great perspective to bring into the industry. When you’re making those connections and working with brands and labels, you can bring that ideation and that flair into those spaces and say, “Hey, this is what works to directly reach fans. This is how you connect with fans.”
Honestly, it makes such a difference, because there are a lot of bigger labels that do care about fan focus and are moving more in that direction. You even see big artists at concerts bringing in fans to do interviews or bringing in fans to showcase the experience, and I think that’s such a cool perspective.
We need more of that. There are so many fans out there who bring really cool ideas to the table and are creative in so many different ways.
I think intertwining that with the professional industry is something I’m really hoping to see more of in the future. I’m really excited to see how things grow and change.
What are you a fan of right now?
Okay, I’m going to be very relevant to the last week. I’m a fan of Charli XCX’s Wuthering Heights album. I think it’s so well done. I’m a Brat truther until the day I die. But I think this new era of Charli stepping into this new musical genre—and the soundtrack—is just so beautiful. I think it’s one of her best eras. I know that’s a hot take, but I’m just so impressed by it, so that’s been on the aux recently. We’re about two weeks away from Harry’s album, so obviously I’m a fan of that too.
Editor’s note: This interview was conducted prior to the release of Harry Styles’ new album.
In the full conversation, Haley also talks about balancing fan advocacy with industry partnerships, why authenticity drives growth in fan spaces, and what running a platform has taught her about the future of fan culture. Read it here.
You can follow @theconcertbesties on Instagram here. Haley also recently launched a new fan-focused account, @fangirl.allthetime, celebrating everyday fandom moments, which you can explore here.
Fangirl Forward now has a brand new Instagram page! Be sure to follow @fangirlforwardhq for updates about the publication, community and more!
The dialogue between fans and the industry keeps entertainment alive. Here’s a look at what fans are saying, what the industry is doing and why both matter.
Fan Talk
What fans are saying, questioning, and celebrating across pop culture – and what the industry should be paying attention to.
Do people still care about ballet and opera? Fans say yes. A clip of Timothée Chalamet suggesting in a recent conversation that “no one cares” about ballet or opera anymore has gone viral. That comment quickly circulated across social media, prompting responses from ballet companies, opera houses, performers, and fans defending the art forms. Some organizations responded playfully — even inviting Chalamet to attend performances or offering discount codes in his name — while many fans used the moment to highlight the communities that still show up for these traditions and keep them alive, pushing back on the idea that audiences for the performing arts are disappearing.
Fans are revisiting conversations about celebrity boundaries. The topic resurfaced this week after Chappell Roan shared a video from Paris showing paparazzi and onlookers outside a restaurant as she filmed them and asked to be left alone, saying the group was “disregarding all of my boundaries.” The moment quickly circulated online, with some fans pointing to Roan’s past comments about the pressures of constant public access and how artists advocating for themselves can shift industry behavior. Around the same time, several stars of the wildly popular series Heated Rivalry shared a joint statement condemning hateful comments directed at cast members online, writing that people sharing racist, homophobic, or abusive messages shouldn’t call themselves fans. Together, the moments have sparked wider fan conversations about boundaries, especially as internet culture leans to a more toxic side of fandom, and how closely audiences are watching the way artists are treated both online and in public.
Broadway fans are debating stunt casting, again. The conversation reignited after Megan Thee Stallion was announced to appear as Harold Zidler in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. Celebrity casting has long been part of Broadway’s business model, often bringing new audiences into theatres while generating buzz around established shows. As news of Megan’s run spread, theatre fans once again debated how pop stars and public figures fit into Broadway productions. This time, early fan reaction online has leaned more positive than in some past stunt casting cycles, with many fans expressing curiosity about how the performance will land, and pointing out that casting choices that feel intentional or exciting can help shows reach new audiences as the industry continues to evolve.
Harry Styles’ latest concert is reviving the “phones vs. living in the moment” conversation. Fans attending his “One Night Only” show in Manchester, which was taped for Netflix, were required to place their phones in locked pouches during the performance. Instead, attendees were given disposable cameras to document the night, a creative twist that quickly caught fans’ attention online and led to some pretty cool photos circulating afterward. The move sparked familiar conversation among fans about recording concerts versus experiencing them in the moment. While phone restrictions at shows often divide audiences, many fans said the disposable cameras felt like a thoughtful compromise, letting people capture memories without turning the entire show into a sea of screens.
Industry Moves
From awards to new releases and announcements, these are the entertainment world’s biggest updates fans should know about.
The Live Nation antitrust case is still unfolding. Even after the U.S. Department of Justice reached a tentative settlement with Live Nation earlier this week, more than two dozen states are continuing to pursue their claims that the company has too much control over the live events industry. The proposed agreement would require Live Nation to sell several amphitheaters, cap certain ticketing fees, and allow more tickets to be sold through competing platforms. A federal judge has now ordered both sides to spend the week negotiating a potential deal. If no agreement is reached, the trial is expected to resume next week. If you’re trying to understand why this trial matters for concert fans and ticketing, you can read our full breakdown here.
Paramount wins the Warner Bros. bidding war. Paramount Skydance has reached a deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery after Netflix stepped away from negotiations. The proposed merger, worth about $77 billion, would bring together major brands and franchises across both companies — including Warner Bros., HBO Max, Paramount Pictures, and Paramount+. Paramount has already hinted at one major change fans may notice down the line — plans to combine Paramount+ and HBO Max into a single streaming platform, while keeping HBO’s programming team operating independently. The deal still needs regulatory approval before it’s official.
The WNBA’s labor negotiations stretch past the league’s target deadline. The league and players’ union did not reach a new collective bargaining agreement during an overnight bargaining session that stretched into early Wednesday morning. The March 10 target date the league had set for reaching a preliminary agreement — which officials said would help keep the 2026 season on schedule — has now passed, though negotiations are ongoing. Both sides described the talks as productive but acknowledged major issues remain, including revenue sharing and salary structure. With training camps, the draft, and expansion logistics all scheduled in the coming weeks, the timing of a final deal could determine whether the league’s May 8 season opener stays on track. As interest in the WNBA reaches new highs, sports fans should be closely watching how the league balances its rapid growth with players’ push for long-term financial change.
A new awards show is putting the Broadway ensemble in the spotlight. Nominations have been announced for the inaugural Broadway Ensemble Awards, a new initiative created to recognize the chorus performers who help power Broadway musicals but rarely receive individual recognition during awards season. The first ceremony will take place April 6 in New York, honoring standout ensemble performers from the 2025–2026 Broadway season. For fans who know the magic of a musical often comes from the full company onstage, the awards aim to finally give those performers their moment.
The Oscars are this weekend. The 98th annual Academy Awards will air Sunday, March 15 at 7 p.m. ET live on ABC and Hulu, with Conan O’Brien set to host the ceremony. As awards season wraps up, fans will finally see which films and performances take home Hollywood’s biggest honors. If you’re wondering how the Oscars voting process actually works — from nominations to how Best Picture is decided — you can read our breakdown here before tuning in.
Forward Motion
Keep your pop culture career momentum moving forward with jobs, opportunities, events, and practical tips.
📱PEOPLE is hiring an Associate Social Media Editor to help build and grow a new social-first product. The role involves pitching, scripting, filming, and editing short-form video for Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook while tracking platform trends, engaging with audiences, and helping shape the brand’s social strategy. For fans who instinctively understand what makes a pop culture moment go viral, or who are already creating content breaking down celebrity news and internet trends, this kind of role turns that digital intuition into work inside a major entertainment newsroom. Apply here.
🎶 Rolling Stone is hiring a Social Video Producer/Editor to create short-form content across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and more. The role involves shooting, editing, and producing videos translating Rolling Stone’s music and culture reporting for social audiences. Apply here.
🎭 Playbill is hiring a Spring Editorial Intern for journalism students interested in covering Broadway and the theatre industry. The hybrid role includes reporting, writing, research, fact-checking, copy editing, assisting on video shoots and photoshoots, and contributing to social media as the newsroom covers one of Broadway’s busiest seasons. If you’ve ever scrolled through reviews before buying tickets or walked out of a show immediately wanting to talk about it, this is the kind of role where that fandom curiosity can turn into real reporting. Apply here.
🎬 Disney Branded Television is hiring for a Creative Marketing Internship supporting campaigns for Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, and Disney+. Interns help edit marketing assets and assist creative teams developing trailers, promos, and social content. Apply here.
Thanks for reading Fangirl Forward, your inside look at the cultural currents connecting fans and the entertainment industry. New editions publish every other Wednesday.
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