ByShaad D’Souza
Photographed byBrian KarlssonJeff WeberMatt Weinberger
<a href="https://comicvibe.com/ragdoll-boxing-3d-codes-november-2026-ragdoll-boxing-3d-roblox-guide/” title=”Ragdoll Boxing 3D Codes (November 2026) – Ragdoll Boxing 3D [Roblox] Guide”>November 6, 2026
Welcome to fan/zine, a paid partnership between Interview and Spotify where we investigate the depths of modern day fan culture.Our opening segment features an introduction from Shaad D’Souza.
Music probably wouldn’t exist without fans. Or, at least, a lot of history’s greatest, most culture-shifting music wouldn’t, because the greatest musicians of all time were, fundamentally, fans first. Oasis wouldn’t be Oasis if they hadn’t been massive Beatles heads; Tyler, the Creator is still Pharrell’s number one fan; Addison Rae’s record is basically one long, brilliant love letter to Madonna. Next time you roll your eyes at someone waiting in line for a merch pop-up, or spit out the word “fan” as an invective, take a beat and consider: where would I be without fans? Fans have been central to pop music as long as pop music has existed. Elvis and The Beatles endure because of their music, sure, but also because hundreds of thousands of people chose to make them their own personal religion. Elvis conventions are still thriving because fandom tends to get passed down generationally: a grandmother gives her daughter an old pin or doll, who gives it to her daughter, until you get to today, and go on TikTok, and see girls from the Midwest and Austria and Australia making Elvis fancams because it’s part of their family legacy. That cool kid in middle school who introduced you to Pavement and Nirvana probably didn’t just stumble onto that music; they probably had a parent thrilled to have a young mind to induct into the community. You’d think that, with the death of monoculture and the hyper-individual focus of social media, fandom would have died out around 2019. But it’s more important than ever: online fandoms are homes for every outcast in a rural town, every cubicle worker waiting for the clock to hit 6pm at their sales job. Spotify’s Fan Life campaign celebrates the extraordinary, multifaceted, endlessly explorable world of contemporary fandom, which most of us are part of, whether we know it or not. Fans right now are some of the best reporters, artists, coders, archivists, designers; a lot of what you think is cool is probably downstream of fan culture in some way, shape, or form. But fans are still undersung heroes a lot of the time, hence Fan Life’s unabashedly loud celebration of them. In 2026, fans make the world go round. They help boost singles and spread low-level conspiracy theories, sure, but they also act as community wardens, making sure solo concertgoers stay safe, advocating for each other in times of crisis, and keeping music feeling fun, special, and accessible for everyone. This zine is a celebration of that true community spirit, the one you’ll find at the heart of so many fandoms, as well as the ridiculousness, the tears, the glitter, the fond bickering, and, of course, the mild shared psychosis. It’s all part of the fun.
