Fan Song

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Synonyms: Fan Song
See also: AMV, Filk, Vid, Vidding
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Fan music is, definitionally, music produced by (and primarily) for fans of a given source work, much as fanfiction is prose written by and for fans of a particular creative work. This takes in a great deal of territory (as, indeed, does “fanfiction”), the boundaries of which are evolving in modern fannish culture.

Until relatively recently, the largest and best-known body of fan music was filk, broadly defined as the music of science fiction and fantasy (SFF) fandom. In the 21st century, however, the broadening of organized fandom and the emergence of a greater variety of fannish communities has produced types of fan music that arguably exist outside the filk umbrella.

Categories

Arrangement/Remix

This type of fanwork is common among gaming fans (for example, players of Touhou), who create remixes or new arrangements of a video game soundtrack.

Fandub

In Vocaloid or anime fandoms, fans often sing versions of existing songs, sometimes with the original lyrics, sometimes translated into other languages. These covers are particularly popular for anime OPs.

Fanmix/Playlist

As the name suggests, this is a listing or grouping of musical works whose creator dedicates to or associates with a particular source work. In particular, it’s becoming more common for authors of SFF and young adult fiction to circulate the playlists to which they listened while writing a given story or novel.

Song

Fan songs may consist exclusively of lyrics (in which case they’re usually though not always identified as being set to the tune of an existing song), or of both lyrics and original music. While the roots of filk are closely tied to folk music, and a significant proportion of filk continues that tradition, today’s fan songs and performers – both within the filk community and beyond it - draw on a broader range of musical genres, including rock, jazz, rap, and even classical music.

Vid

Also known as fanvids or songvids, these are one of the most recent forms of musical fanwork. In their earliest form, they were essentially slide shows – sequences of still images shown with a curated soundtrack as accompaniment. Today, fans use modern video editing software to merge filmed material with music to create works that amplify the themes and connections between the source material (for instance, a vid featuring images from Muppet Treasure Island and music from Pirates of the Caribbean).

Examples

Arrangement/remix

  • Bad Apple!!, the theme song from stage 3 of the 1998 Touhou game Lotus Land Story, has been remixed by fans myriad times.

Fandub

Original-Language Fandubs

Translated Fandubs

Fanmix/Playlist

Song

See also filk and Anime Rap.

Vid

See also vid, vidding.


References

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