Melissa did a lot for research on this for her book. She is not saying that one fandom is better than the other. She is just saying that they both paved different paths in the world of fandom.

The process by which filk is written is much different from that by which wizard rock is written. Much of wizard rock is original music, original lyrics, and just happens to be based upon a pre-existing plot line or universe. It falls under the larger heading of Book Rock, has spawned parallel genres (Twilight Rock, Princess Rock, etc), and Wizard Rock actually has its own heading in the Library of Congress. Filk, on the other hand, usually deals with some amount of pre-existing melody set with different text, and is a form of contrafactum rather than original composition. Filk is rather undefined depending on which sources you claim, but the process of ‘filking’ a song involves putting new lyrics or a new spin to an existing song. Some filkers write their own songs, but I would argue that those original compositions are not actually filk by definition.

Some wizard rock bands DO write the occasional filk song, but by and large, the genres are separate. The wizard rock phenomenon is pretty unique at its origins as far as its development is concerned. It started with a ‘real’ band called Switchblade Kittens back in 2000, who wrote a song called “Ode to Harry,” which is not filk, and later Harry and the Potters formed a full band with original compositions (not filk). I know that when I write MY music, I write it completely. My words, my melodies. I am a songwriter who happens to write on Harry Potter themes. My friends in wizard rock are the same way. They write songs that happen to include a little Harry Potter. Those of us within the fandom and HP music communities consider Potter-filk and Wizard Rock to be two different and separate entities…and some people will actually get quite insulted if you get it wrong.

I think there’s a need to be careful to not discredit Wizard Rock musicians by saying it’s been done before, because it really hasn’t…not to this extent. Filk has been done, yes, but again, Wizard Rock is not filk. Not in practice, and not by definition.

And in response to another comment – yes, Charities were cool before we were born, but the Harry Potter Alliance is a very easy way for people who may not have otherwise become involved to do something to better the world and to help those in need. The HPA works in partnership with other charities across the globe….and it makes a SIGNIFICANT contribution in Harry’s name. A short conversation with Mr. Andrew Slack could fill you in on some of that. Maybe I’m ignorant to other fandom-sponsored charity organizations, and if I am, I’d love to be enlightened…but it seems like the Harry Potter fandom DOES deserve some credit for some amazing things that it seems you are reluctant to give.

I don’t want to take glory from any other fanbase and give it to Harry Potter, but the HP Fandom does have some incredible and unique things going on that deserve recognition.

Fanfic is definitely not exclusive to Potter fandom! It actually goes all the way back to Star Trek fandom in the 70s/80s (which is where the term “slash” came from), though many sources track fanfiction back even further – Star Trek just popularized it across a “fandom” network. The next big fandom to tackle fanfic (as far as I know), and start the trend online, was X-Files, then Buffy and then HP fandom is the one that made the trend explode. Name a fandom, and they have a huge amount of fanfic/pairings, particularly on social networking sites like LiveJournal.

b) i am no expert on this, but isn’t fanic something that is in this enormous extend unique to potter-fandom?