Idol Manager Stats & Building Fanbase

Managing a successful idol group requires a keen eye for talent, an ear for music, and a knack for business. But how can you measure the success of your management efforts? That’s where Idol Manager Stats come in. By analyzing key metrics like album sales, social media engagement, and concert attendance, you can get a comprehensive view of your group’s performance and identify areas for improvement. In this article, we’ll dive into the world of Idol Manager Stats, exploring the most important metrics to track and how to use them to take your idol group to the next level.

What Idols’ stats mean, the demographics they appeal to, and the importance of building a targeted fanbase.

Idol Manager Idol Stats and Building Fanbase Guide

There have been a few guides posted here on steam and elsewhere about how to stay afloat financially, and many of them work, at least on default difficulty, but they are all focused on purely the financial aspects of the process, such as what contracts to take, and when and how to release singles and concerts. Here, I am going to explain an overlooked portion of the game that is vital for you to understand if you want to truly thrive, or if you want to have a chance of surviving the Unfair difficulty, where money, and especially fans, are much harder to come by.

(I will eventually be releasing a comprehensive guide to surviving Unfair difficulty sometime in the coming days as well.)

The TLDR of this guide is; Each idol stat corresponds to two specific demographics, which combines with your choices when making a single to determine your overall demographic appeal. Targeting a specific demographic and keeping it happy will yield greater fan gain from singles, sales, concert attendance, etc. Being inconsistent with your appeal will generate unhappiness and lower the opinions of demographic groups.

Idol and Group Stats

I’m sure most of you reading this have done at some point what I also did the first time I played Idol Manager;

You started an audition and the first thing you do is look at the Idols’ overall stat level, and then looked at the various stats and went “she seems well-rounded, not weak in anything, I’ll hire her.”

This is where you, and myself, started the long painful path of Idol Group Mediocrity. You try to appease everyone, so you appeal to no one. Guess what, that Idol you hired that is just as good at vocals as she is at dancing? Well, your male fans don’t really care that much about vocals, they just want to watch idols dancing. But hey, at least your female fans appreciate it. How good your Idols are at Dancing and Vocals isn’t just a generic stat that effects the quality of your songs and performances. Each stat appeals to two specific demographics. You’ve probably noticed that different genres, lyrics, and dances appeal to different demographics, it is conveniently shown to you when you are deciding on your next single. Stats work the same way.

(If you are wondering, the idol outfits are from Graphite’s Punk Rock Outfits)

The 8 stats of your idols combine in their formation, along with chemistry, for a group stat. Now the exact formula isn’t entirely clear, but it is basically an average of your group’s skills, weighted in favor of the skills of the girls closer to the front of your formation. That is why having a highly skilled girl in the front of your formation has a much higher impact on your group stats than putting her near the back of the formation. This is why you also don’t want to just grab as many idols as possible, because the stats are based on the ENTIRE group’s stats, not just on the selected idols.

See what happens when one of my weaker idols, Tanaka Maria, whose stats are below the group’s across the board, is removed from the formation;

As you can see, even though her weaker stats have been removed, the group stats have actually gone down, rather than up. This is important! This is why you don’t just hire any idol you see, but focus on quality audition candidates who are in line with your current group’s abilities. I know some people have stated that you should focus on having as many idols as your contract generation can handle, and while that does assist in a contract-focused game style, it will dilute the appeal of your performances and thus lower the success of your singles. Singles will start to outpace your contract income pretty drastically after a few months, especially on default difficulty, and failing to improve the stats of your idols will have long term repercussions.

Also remember, more idols in a group is not necessarily better! A small 5-girl group can perform as well as a full 15-member formation, but the stats of each individual girl have a much higher impact.

Individual Stats and Their Demographic Appeal

Alright, now to the meat of the issue; what each stat means for you.

Demographics

First, a quick reminder of what demographics there are, organized into mutually exclusive groups;

Fan Type

• Hardcore – What it says on the tin, the most hardcore of fans. The most enthusiastic, the most die-hard, the hardest to gain, but also the most rewarding on a per-capita basis. If you play your cards right, your hardcore fans can actually buy more CDs than there are people in this group. These fans are also important for concert attendance and the Theatre.
• Casual – These are fair-weather fans. Easy to get, easy to lose, they like trendy music, lyrics, and dances. They buy fewer singles per-capita, but their sheer numbers make up for it.

Gender

• Male
• Female

Age

• Teen
• Young Adult
• Adult

There are some genres, lyrics, etc that will appeal to mutually exclusive groups, such as both to Hardcore and Casual fans, but most will appeal to one or the other, or will appeal to one more than the other.

Please note when it says that something appeals to “Hardcore Male” this means it appeals to Hardcore fans and Male fans not just Hardcore Male fans. Something that appeals to Hardcore, means it appeals to both Hardcore males and females. When it appeals to Males, it appeals to both hardcore Males and casual Males. Thus stats appeal to all four non-age demographics, but to very different degrees. Thus, no stat is “useless”, but some are far more important than others depending on your target audience.

Idol Stats

Ability

Using Stats to Build a Fanbase

Now that we know what demographics each stat appeals to, we can use that knowledge to build a specific fanbase that will maximize the effect of our total fan count. On default difficulty, the majority of your fan count will probably come from your daily promotion activity. On Unfair difficulty, you will find that is not going to be the case. On normal difficulty, the 4th level of promotion, which is easily attainable early on, gives 350 fans per use. On Unfair, it is only 200 fans, almost half the amount. Furthermore, due to the increased financial difficulty, you will have to squeeze ever more money-making activities out of your idols, through contracts and performances, and often find that you simply don’t have the time and stamina to spend on promotion. As such, squeezing every bit of efficiency out of the fanbase you do have, and growing your fans via singles is vital.

You can choose your genres, lyrics, and choreography to appeal to a specific group, but if your idols don’t match that demographic appeal, its not going to be as effective. Essentially, your singles choices add to the stats of your idols for a combined total. This means, at the start of the game you have two options available to you. Either you choose a style you want and find idols that fit that style, or you start auditions and build your style around the stats of your first good choices. Neither is inherently better than the other.

If your idols’ stats conflict with your group style (primary genre, lyrics, and choreography), your fanbase will be unfocused and spread amongst the various demographics, as your idols will appeal to one set of demographics, and your style another. You might be thinking, that doesn’t really matter, a fan is a fan, as long as the totals are the same, does it matter? Yes. Your appeal might be spread out, but it will effect the opinions of your fanbase. Your smaller demographics will be happier, but your larger demographics will be less happy. Trading happiness in a larger demographic for a smaller one is counterproductive.

Note: This is not entirely true if you are going for a casual trend-chasing style. If you are swapping your genre, lyrics, and choreography to always appeal to the latest trend, and thus getting the extra new casual fans and sales bonus that comes with that, you cannot afford to be tied to a specific style, and thus it becomes beneficial for you to have a more spread out fanbase demographic.

Lets use an example;

I hired a 13 year old with low stats in everything but cute (72), cool (40), and dance (42). With those stats she appeals to hardcore & males, hardcore & females, and casual & males. So her primary appeal is Hardcore fans and Male fans.

We started with 140 fans (20 level 1 promotions) and then we produced and released 2 singles. The first was primarily appealing to hardcore (40%) and about even on everything else (0-10%). The second appealed to females (50%) and casual (30%), rest (0-10%).

As you can see, teenagers have a really high opinion across the board, probably on account of her being a 13 year old herself. What is more illustrative is the hardcore male demographic. You’ll notice that hardcore males are actually her highest appeal group, at over 30% across all 3, and the highest number of fans. However, outside of teenagers, she is well under water in terms of the happiness of her hardcore male fanbase. Her casual male and hardcore female groups are also unhappy with us. So this tells us that her hardcore fans are unhappy, and her male fans are unhappy, which combines to make her hardcore male fans really unhappy.

We can deduce why this is. Our first single and the idol herself appeal to hardcore fans, so they are interested. Then we turn around and release a single specifically appealing to casual fans and female fans. the Idol’s hardcore fans, male fans, and especially hardcore male fans are upset by this. We see the direct result of that; Her fanbase is upset. Meanwhile, casual female fans, whom we specifically appealed to, do have a positive opinion, but not by much, only 57%. Obviously, making our smallest demographic slightly happy at the expense of the larger 3 demographics becoming upset with us is not a sound business strategy.

This is why it is vital to identify and cultivate a specific fanbase, and then keep that fanbase happy not only through a fitting group style, but also through individual idols matching their preferences. A casual female adult is not likely to find a 13 year old cute teenager appealing, she will want a smart girl in her 20s who can sing. That same girl would be less attractive to a hardcore teenage male fan. Meanwhile an adult male would likely find both unappealing and prefer a cute & sexy 20 year old who can dance well.

Trying to appeal to every demographic, or demographics which do not correspond to your idol’s stats will lower your fan gain, sales, and concert attendance.

Policies

There are some policies that also affect your demographic appeal directly, and some that don’t but are indirectly relevant to some strategies involved in target certain demographics. Here is a quick rundown of fanbase-relevant policies and their effects;

Vibe

Vibe doesn’t have a direct impact on demographic appeal but it does effect your success. Choosing a vibe that matches your group’s primary stat makes that stat have more impact, as well as increase your contract income by having more offers that match that stat.
Cute/Sexy – These two options are tied to Hardcore Male fanbases.
Cool/Pretty – These two options are tied to Hardcore Female fanbases.
Smart/Funny – Smart is tied to Casual Female fanbases, and Funny is tied to Casual Male fanbases.

Image

While image does increase appeals to certain demographics, options outside neutral do come with other drawbacks. Personally I prefer to keep this neutral, though it is a good policy to use to rid yourself of scandal points.

• Orthodox: This option increases your appeal to hardcore and adult/young adult demographics.
• Neutral: No effect, and no drawbacks.
• Rebellious: Female and Younger demographics. The contract penalty can be painful if playing on Unfair difficulty. On normal difficulty it is a good choice if appealing to those demographics.

Dating

This is more than a policy aimed at preventing your idols’ personal lives from interfering with work. Hardcore fans don’t like their idols dating, while female fans find the idea of restricting a young woman’s personal life in exchange for the company’s success (justifiably) objectionable.

• Forbidden: This will increase your appeal to hardcore fans, but really upsets casual fans. Scandals are rare, but they hurt. You will get scandal points and pay out liabilities at some point with this policy, especially if you are primarily using idols over the age of 16. In my opinion, the demographic appeal to hardcore fans isn’t worth the scandal and liability danger. I’ve had unfair runs brought to the brink of bankruptcy due to harsh dating scandals.
• Ambiguous: You don’t upset anyone, but also don’t increase your appeal. You will get scandals, but they won’t hurt as much and many can be mitigated to not trigger liabilities. This is the safer option, and honestly better early on, especially on unfair difficulty.
• No restrictions: Appeals to female and casual fans, but makes scandals more common, however less damaging. I don’t have much personal experience with this policy, so I cannot comment on the impact the scandals may have on contract liabilities.

Skirts

• Short Skirts, No Safety: Hardcore fans really like this. Casual fans dislike it. Overall, a pretty good choice if you aren’t targeting casual fans.
• Short Skirts with Safety: Hardcore fans like this, no one dislikes it. This may seem like a good choice, but honestly you’re just trying to appease everyone rather than building a specific fanbase. Personally I view this as the worst choice.
• Long Skirts: Good for targeting Female fans, ignore it if not.
• Pants: Good for targeting casual fans, or if you are targeting male fans but not specifically hardcore male fans. Most importantly though, this is one of the few ways you can directly target the male demographic through choices. Many policies and choices in creating singles that you would think target the male demographic actually target just the hardcore demographic, both male and female. There are a huge number of ways to target the hardcore demographic, many of which add huge percentages to your appeal. Meanwhile, using sexy choreography is one of the few ways to do that for the male demographic. As such, if you are specifically looking for male hardcore fans and not just hardcore fans in general, this is actually a very solid choice over short skirts.

Performances

If you are playing on unfair difficulty, never change this policy. Both non-neutral options increase the stamina use of certain activities, and you never have enough stamina. Pretend this option doesn’t exist.

• Energy and Enthusiasm: Hardcore fans like this. Your idols’ stamina hate it.
• Balance and Moderation: I like this. You should like this too. Your idols’ stamina will go on strike if you don’t use this policy.
• Quality and Polish: Casual fans like it. Idols’ stamina hates it. Stamina for training is a precious commodity.

Idol Manager Tips and Tricks

Sure, here are some tips and tricks to help you succeed in Idol Manager:

1. Start with a well-rounded idol group: When creating your idol group, try to choose idols with a variety of strengths and weaknesses. This will help ensure that your group is well-rounded and can excel in multiple areas.
2. Manage your resources carefully: In Idol Manager, you’ll need to carefully manage your resources, including your budget, staff, and training facilities. Make sure you’re allocating resources in a way that will help your idol group succeed.
3. Focus on building relationships with fans: Your fans are crucial to the success of your idol group. Make sure you’re engaging with them through social media, fan events, and other activities to build a strong relationship and increase your group’s popularity.
4. Keep your idols happy: Happy idols are more productive and successful. Make sure you’re meeting their needs and providing them with opportunities to improve their skills and pursue their passions.
5. Stay on top of industry trends: The music industry is constantly changing, so it’s important to stay on top of trends and adapt your strategy accordingly. Keep an eye on your competitors and be willing to make changes to stay ahead.
6. Take advantage of training opportunities: Training is crucial for improving your idol group’s skills and preparing them for performances. Make sure you’re taking advantage of all training opportunities, including vocal and dance lessons, language classes, and cultural experiences.
7. Pay attention to your idols’ health: Your idols’ health is important for their well-being and their ability to perform. Make sure you’re monitoring their physical and mental health and providing them with support as needed.
8. Stay organized: With so many aspects to manage, it’s important to stay organized. Keep track of important dates, deadlines, and tasks using a calendar or task management tool.
9. Be prepared for unexpected events: Scandals, injuries, and other unexpected events can happen in Idol Manager. Be prepared to respond quickly and effectively to minimize their impact on your idol group’s success.

By following these tips and tricks, you can become a successful idol manager in Idol Manager. Good luck!

What are the difficulty levels in Idol Manager?

In the Idol Manager game, there are three difficulty levels to choose from: Easy, Normal, and Hard. The difficulty level you choose will affect the overall challenge of the game and how much control you have over various aspects of managing your idol group.

In Easy mode, the game is less challenging and allows for more freedom in managing your idol group. You’ll have more money to work with and fewer obstacles to overcome.

In Normal mode, the game is balanced and offers a moderate level of challenge. You’ll need to carefully manage your resources and make strategic decisions to ensure your idol group’s success.

In Hard mode, the game is more challenging and presents more obstacles to overcome. You’ll have less money to work with and will need to make difficult decisions to keep your idol group on track.

Overall, the difficulty level you choose depends on your experience with simulation games and how much of a challenge you’re looking for. Whether you choose Easy, Normal, or Hard, the goal of the game remains the same: to become the best idol manager you can be and lead your idol group to success.

We can date with idols in Idol Manager?

In the Idol Manager game, romantic relationships between the player (the idol manager) and the idols are not typically included. The focus of the game is on managing the success of the idol group, rather than on romantic relationships.

However, some players have created mods or fan-made content that include romantic options with the idols. It’s important to note that these mods are not part of the official game and may not be endorsed by the game’s developers. Additionally, the inclusion of romantic relationships in the game is not the main focus of Idol Manager, and players should be aware that such mods may impact the overall gameplay experience.

How do I reduce my scandal points in Idol Manager?

In Idol Manager, Scandal Points are a measure of how much negative publicity your idol group has received due to scandals. Scandals can have a negative impact on your idol group’s popularity and success, so it’s important to reduce your Scandal Points as much as possible. Here are some tips on how to reduce your Scandal Points in Idol Manager:

1. Take responsibility for the scandal: If your idol group is involved in a scandal, it’s important to take responsibility and apologize to your fans. This can help show that your group is taking the situation seriously and is committed to improving.
2. Manage your social media accounts: Scandals can spread quickly on social media, so it’s important to monitor and manage your idol group’s social media accounts. Be sure to respond to any negative comments or feedback in a professional and respectful manner.
3. Be careful with your actions: Avoid actions or behaviors that could lead to scandals, such as drinking and driving, inappropriate relationships, or insensitive comments. Make sure your idol group is aware of what is acceptable and what is not.
4. Address the root cause: If a scandal is related to a specific issue or problem within your idol group, such as mistreatment of idols or lack of communication, take steps to address the root cause and prevent it from happening again in the future.
5. Use PR activities: Finally, consider using PR activities to improve your idol group’s image and reduce your Scandal Points. This can include things like charity work, public appearances, or positive press coverage.

By taking these steps, you can help reduce your Scandal Points and improve your idol group’s success in Idol Manager.