You might think only the biggest names in show business make
decent money from merchandise sales. Merchandise — or
“merch,” as most musicians call it — can be an
important revenue source for any act, regardless of the size of
their following or whether they have signed with a major label. Of
course, the bigger the act, the more opportunities they have to
sell merchandise. Britney Spears has plastered her name and face on
everything from T-shirts to posters to bubble gum (no kidding). In
fact, some chart-topping artists make as much money from
merchandise sales as from CD sales.
As an up-and-coming artist, you obviously can't merchandise your
act at that level. You can, however, use merchandise to make some
extra money and promote your act, and the best place to do that is
at your live shows. Think about it: at gigs, you have a targeted
audience that is clearly interested in music. If they like your
show, they may want to bring home a souvenir. I have heard of
independent artists bringing in anywhere from an additional $100 to
$700 in one night through merch sales.
Many venues don't pay musicians much money, so selling merch at
gigs can add significantly to your profits. Consider the expenses
you incur for touring or even playing live locally — every
extra dollar helps. However, don't let those numbers send you
scrambling to spend thousands of dollars on baseball caps and
T-shirts right away. Because of the potential for making costly
mistakes, you should approach merchandising with some thought and
careful planning.
THE GOODS
First you need to figure out what types of merchandise your
audience would be most interested in buying.
Music matters. You might already have boxes full of
your most valuable offering: your CD. Major-label acts that sell
out stadiums rarely sell CDs at their shows — they don't have
to. You can hear their songs on commercial radio and find their CDs
in every record store and discount chain in the country. Unsigned
and independent artists don't have that kind of distribution, so
they need to make their music available to the people who attend
their gigs.
“At shows, sometimes CD sales bring in more cash than the
door or guarantee,” points out Bruce Kaplan, musical sidekick
and husband of acclaimed folk artist Claudia Russell. “CDs
are cheap to manufacture, take up little room, and are pretty easy
to sell — if your show doesn't suck. Also, if someone has an
extra 15 bucks and they don't already own your CD, they will always
buy the CD over a T-shirt.”
Deni Bonet, a New York-based singer/songwriter who has performed
with R.E.M., Robyn Hitchcock, and Sarah McLachlan, agrees with
Kaplan's assessment. Bonet often hires musicians for gigs, which
means she has to dole out a good chunk of the money she makes.
“You don't make money in New York from playing unless you're
a big-name performer,” she explains. “I might make a
couple of hundred dollars, but by the time I pay each player, I'm
not making much. I have to count on making some money back from CD
sales.”
Special editions. Even if you haven't produced enough
songs for a full-length CD, consider releasing an EP to sell at
shows. Bonet has sold thousands of her two EPs, most of them at
gigs. “I sell one EP for $7 and two for $12,” she says.
“People feel like they are getting a good deal.” At
press time, Bonet's first full-length CD was set for an April
release on Zip Records.
EPs are also a good option for artists who have had a CD out for
a while and want to release some new material. Says Brian Winters,
booking agent for Fez Under Time Cafe in New York City,
“We've had a couple of artists who have done a tour-only EP
or a live EP that you can only get at the shows. Their fans know
they do that kind of thing, so they come looking for it before the
show even starts.”
Brass Monkey, a New Orleans-style brass band based in San
Francisco, recently came up with an interesting idea for a limited
release of their CD, Live in Time and Space, for sale at their
shows. The band created the cover art for the regular edition of
the CD by covering the garage door of their rehearsal space with
300 CD jewel cases. They then hired a graffiti artist to paint a
large design that covered all the cases. They photographed it for
the CD cover, then took the 300 painted CD cases and used them for
the special-edition CDs. “It looks really cool, and fans can
get an actual piece of the album art,” says the band's
drummer, Kevin Stevens.
Clothing. The other item that sells well at shows is
clothing, mostly in the form of T-shirts and baseball caps. It's
best to start with T-shirts in just a couple of sizes to keep your
initial investment to a minimum. Clothing that sports a good,
interesting design sells far better than that bearing just a band's
name. If you or any of your bandmates are visual artists, you can
work on the design yourselves — but if your talent is
restricted to music, enlist the aid of a friend or acquaintance
skilled in graphic design. For T-shirts, one idea is to put a
design on the front, with the band name and perhaps the album title
on the back. That keeps the front from looking like a cluttered
billboard.
Companies that make custom T-shirts abound, and prices vary
widely, so shop around for the best deal. Make sure to see a sample
of the company's work before placing a sizable order. If you see
other musicians with T-shirts you like, you can always ask who made
them.
If your T-shirts prove to be hot sellers, consider branching out
with items such as baseball caps, sweatshirts, and tank tops,
depending on what type of audience you draw. “The artists
that just sell an extra-large white T-shirt with a logo on it don't
do as well as those who sell something a little cooler and more
interesting,” notes Winters. “We've had people sell a
bowling-style shirt, or if the act has a big female audience, they
will sell tank tops. If you're going to spend the money to make
this merchandise, you should make sure it's something people are
really going to want. That extra bit of thought will sell a lot
more merchandise.”
Goodies. Smaller items such as magnets, stickers, and
key chains are other good merch ideas, although most musicians end
up giving these types of items to fans or including them as a bonus
when someone purchases a CD or T-shirt. Other good giveaway items
include CD singles, drink stirrers, matchbooks, and coasters. Bonet
saw a country act give away flyswatters at an outdoor festival; the
combination of good humor and usefulness endeared the band to its
audience.
In general, such freebies are inexpensive to produce and are
great promotional items. (To find companies that manufacture such
goods, search the Internet or the Yellow Pages under
“advertising specialty.”) Everyone loves getting free
stuff, and those items give your act's name wider circulation. If
you plan to give away stickers, however, check with the venue's
manager. At Fez Under Time Cafe, an intimate, cabaret-style seated
room, the management frowns on stickers. “We discourage them
because they get all over the furniture. People can't seem to
control themselves with stickers. They're animals!” says
Winters with a laugh.
Pricing. Merchandise sells well when it is reasonably
priced. At gigs, the artist is selling directly to the customer,
eliminating the middleman, which should lower the cost. For
example, full-length CDs usually sell at shows for $10 to $12, a
better deal than the $15 major chains often charge for discs. EPs
in the $5 to $7 range also do quite well.
For T-shirts, price depends on the product quality. You'll have
to figure out how much each shirt costs to produce, then add a
margin of profit. T-shirts usually range from $12 to $20;
sweatshirts are priced a bit higher. In short, sell your merch as
cheaply as possible to cover your costs and still make a profit.
People like to feel they are getting a deal while putting the money
right in the artists' pockets.
HAWKING YOUR WARES
Once you've decided what you are going to sell, you need to get
out there and sell it.
Club rules. When booking gigs, tell the booking agents
you want to sell merchandise at the show. Also let them know what
types and quantities of merch you plan to bring. Every venue has
its own rules about merch sales, so ask the agent to explain the
club's policies and get them in writing if possible.
Most venues have a predetermined spot where musicians can sell
their goods, although others allow you to sell directly from the
edge of the stage after the show. A good number of outdoor
festivals have large booths that are dedicated to selling
performers' merchandise.
Ramona Downey, owner of Bottom of the Hill, a nightclub in San
Francisco, says, “We're really flexible. We have a specific
spot where bands set up [for sales]. Usually they set up right
after their sound check, in that dead time between sound check and
when people actually start coming into the club. There are a few
bands — and this is really rare — who have so much
merchandise that we let them set up in the pool room.”
Winters says his club is pretty strict about when artists can
set up their merch. “If the person who is going to be setting
up and selling the merchandise isn't here before the doors open, we
won't let them sell until after the show is over,” he
explains. “It's distracting, and it gets messy when we are
trying to seat customers around someone setting up a bunch of
stuff.”
Taking a cut. Some venues take a percentage of
merchandise sales — an important point to clarify when you're
advancing your show. I have heard of clubs taking 10 to 20 percent
of a band's merch revenues. Many festivals take a percentage
because they handle all the merchandise sales for the artists. Fez
Under Time Cafe does not take a percentage, nor does Bottom of the
Hill. “I just can't conceive of [doing] that,” says
Downey. “Some clubs, like House of Blues in L.A., have their
own merchandise person on staff, so they're incurring an expense.
But otherwise, I just think making the bands give anything to the
club is wrong. It's such a small amount of space to give up for
merchandise sales, and it's such a part of the total experience of
going to a club — people can walk away with something
tangible that lets them always remember that show.”
Downey tells the story of a band that found a creative way
around paying a large percentage of their merch sales. “There
was one band that played around here recently, and they were told
they would have to give 20 percent of their merchandise sales. This
was an opening act that was only making about $100 flat
anyway,” she relates. “So they pulled up their van in
the white zone in front of the club and sold their merchandise
there — and they did really well.”
Who sells? Regardless of whether they take a percentage
of sales, most clubs require that the musician or someone
associated with the band do the selling. Your decision on who sells
obviously depends on whether you can bring someone along to do it.
If you're playing locally, you can probably get a friend to help
out, but if you're touring, you may not be able to afford an extra
person just for merch sales. When no help is available, you'll have
to set up your merch and sell it yourself after the show. In some
cases the venue might help out if you ask in advance, but you can't
count on that.
“We've only done the selling for an act two or three times
in the four years I've been here,” says Winters. “I
prefer not to have the risk of handling someone else's money. The
times we have done it, one of our bartenders or a host helped out,
and the band gave them some money. It was very informal.”
“Our deal is that the artist sells,” Downey says.
“Sometimes we have bands touring through who don't have
anyone to sell and ask if we can get someone to do it. I tell them
it costs $65 to hire someone to be here from the time the doors
open until they close. If they're willing to carry that expense, I
can find someone for them.”
If you end up selling your merchandise yourself, be prepared for
how hard it is to switch gears from performer to retailer. “I
have a very high-energy show,” says Bonet, “and the
hardest thing to do is to finish a show and immediately jump down
and start selling CDs — and get your brain working to make
change. I have had more people help sell recently, which is nice,
but a lot of people would rather buy the CDs right from me. They
want to say hello or give me some feedback.”
Bonet's point about the fans wanting to chat is well taken. Even
if you have someone else selling your merchandise, you should hang
out in the area where it is sold. Audience members tend to
gravitate toward the performer after the show, and if they meet you
and like you, they might be more inclined to buy something.
Gig inventory. You should determine how much
merchandise to bring to the show based on the size of the venue.
Once you've set up and sold your merchandise a few times, you'll
start to get a feel for your audience's willingness to part with
their money. “Our rule of thumb is that we hope to sell one
CD for every ten people in the audience,” says Kaplan. Bonet
says she brings about 100 CDs to festivals. “CDs are small
and easy to pack,” she explains. “I always keep a stash
in the van so I can easily run back and get more if they're selling
really well.” Bonet says she sold about 80 CDs at a Friday
night community concert in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and about 50
after opening for Lisa Loeb.
It can be tough to figure out why some audiences are more eager
to purchase merch than others. It depends on the venue, the time of
day, and the average age of the audience. Many artists sell the
most merchandise at outdoor festivals and street fairs. Perhaps the
people attending these concerts look at them as entertainment
events, akin to going to an amusement park, and therefore plan to
spend money on food and souvenirs while they are there. Or maybe
they're all in a good mood from being outside on a nice day.
Downey says bands that sell the most merch at Bottom of the Hill
are pop-punk bands that play all-ages shows: “The kids that
attend those shows come with money in their pockets, and they
aren't spending any of it on alcohol. They want something to
remember the show by.”
Push it. Nothing tops a great performance for
encouraging folks to buy your merch, especially when it comes to
CDs. If you put on a stellar show, people will be eager to take
your music home. During your set, don't be embarrassed about
mentioning you have CDs or other merchandise for sale. “I
don't know why people are shy about selling their CDs — that
is really foolish,” says Bonet. “It's your baby —
brag! It doesn't make sense to spend all the time and money to make
a CD and then feel silly about mentioning it.”
Dave Foster, of the New York-based band Bubble, echoes Bonet's
sentiments. “You have to mention your merchandise —
that is an absolute must,” he advises. “You should
flash the CD when you mention it, or at the very least gesture to
where they are being sold, or tell the audience you'll be selling
them after the show.”
THANK YOU, GOOD NIGHT
The benefits of selling merchandise at gigs are many. You can
make money to offset touring costs or pay for your next recording
session. Furthermore, having people playing your CD and wearing
your T-shirt is great advertising that can reap future benefits. In
short, ism if you just break even moneywise, merchandise is a good
investment in your band's future.
Mary Cosola is a contributing editor of Onstage.
Five Steps to Successful Merchandising
Start small, with CDs and T-shirts, before diversifying
your inventory.
Create a good-looking, high-quality product.
Price merchandise reasonably.
Understand the venue's merch rules when booking your
show.
Announce during your set that you are selling
merch.
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www.brassmonkeybrassband.com
Brass Monkey's official site.
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Official site of Dave Foster's band, Bubble.
www.claudiarussell.com
Claudia Russell's official site.
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Deni Bonet's official site.
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