I nominate Setlist Scotty as #1 full time DT paid fan club president...
I agree. Metallica have showed that these things are possible. One of the biggest draws to the fan clubs was the yearly exclusive CD or DVD. If the band provides a soundboard audio or some behind the scenes DVD the fans would continue to renew their membership. Metallica even have their official bootleg releases that do well for them.
Ha! I had a funny feeling someone was going to post something to that effect, and while I appreciate the thought, I would pass even if the band were to approach me to do it. I've got too much going on with my life to take that on. However, there is someone else I know personally that is a well-known DT fan that I think would be perfect to take on the role if the band were to consider it. I'm sure the vast majority of you know who he is too (hint: it ain't bosk).
So apparently the Voices.UK fanclub is dissolving into a free forum with a section exclusive to those who donate. Fanzines are dead. I'm kinda annoyed that I paid the fee to join (which is good for 4 publications worth) and only got one before they said fuck it.
Sorry to hear that - this is exactly the kind of "fault" I was making reference to. Not sure if you can, but personally I'd ask for a refund if you're not happy with what happened.
@ the comparison with Metallica: They are a different ballpark than DT. They can afford to have a full-time fanzine editor.
You do have a point, but I think if you were to pare down the scale of what Metallica does to something more appropriate for the scale of DT's fanbase, I'm sure the band could still afford to have someone do it for them. If nothing else, bump up the price of the meet 'n' greets by a little, include it in the contract with the record label or in some other way make it so that the band isn't paying that much. And make sure the price of membership is enough to cover all the costs so that it can be self-sufficient.
Also don't forget the possibility of it being an international fan club instead of a regional one, which would open it up to a wider fanbase too (tho likely English-speaking, since it would be difficult to provide content like fanzines, websites, etc. in multiple languages).
Not actually meaning this disparagingly, but MP also pretty much killed fan clubs. He *was* essentially a fan club, with the YJR releases, the Christmas presents, why would you want a fanzine when you can get it straight from the Man himself?
With MP being as active as he is on Twitter these days (including his spontaneous Twitter Q&As), you might have a point. But considering the fact that MP is no longer in the band, I fail to see what your point is. Even when he was in the band, the interviews he did for the fanzines were typically far more in depth than you'd read in most magazines or websites, and there was still plenty to talk about that he didn't respond to online or at least in depth. And with the rest of the guys in the band, aside from the initial burst of press that they all did around the time that ADToE was released, there aren't that many new interviews that they've done, and certainly not including the details diehard fans would want to know. Don't forget too that not every fan is online reading every little DT tidbit that most of us on here do. So I still think there's plenty of potential for there to be a fan club, complete with a fanzine (as long as it's put out in a timely manner; not a year after said interviews were done), contests, maybe some sort of exclusive releases (look at Neal Morse and all the exclusive releases he puts out for his fan club, as another example), etc.