Fund Your Music: Sell Some Merch

Turn your fans into walking billboards for your work by selling some good merchandise online and at your gigs. It’s all part of growing your brand awareness, so at the very least, you should have some T-shirts printed with your band logo. In fact, you can slap your logo on anything you want: badges, caps, sweatbands, beermats, iPhone cases – you name it.

From the Cradle to the Grave

Bands like Kiss accommodate their fans from the cradle to the grave, so even all of the head-banging newborns can deck themself out in an ‘I was made for lovin’ you, baby’ romper suit or an official Kiss bib. Once your milk teeth have come in, it’s high time to start destroying them with some Kiss M&Ms and, when you get bigger, you can start every day with a big bowl of Sugar Frosted Kiss Krunch cereal before ending it with a hot bath in the company of a Kiss rubber duck. Even when you’re busy preparing a romantic dinner for your loved one, you can do it with the help of a Kiss apron and a nice bottle of Kiss This wine. To keep things safe, you can even get Kiss ‘tongue lubricated’ condoms, which come in an optimistic pack of three, each matching the very specific hue of Kiss bassist Gene ‘The Demon’ Simmons’ infamous tongue. And finally, because everything must come to an end, you can lay to rest in a Kiss themed coffin (available in a standard or premium edition). Purchase this one off coffin before you kick the proverbial bucket and turn it into a mini-bar, or a quiet retreat where you can read your Kiss comics in peace while listening to Kiss on your very own pair of Kiss headphones so that, when the time does inevitably come, all your loved ones need to do is close the lid and put you in the ground. Not bad for $3,000, eh? Oh yeah, and if you’re opting for cremation, there’s always the officially licensed Kiss urn. The Kiss brand is a mega-industry that rakes in millions of dollars a year and is a prime example of just how far you can go (if you want to) when it comes to wringing every last drop out of the merchandise concept.

A Crate of Records

Now, to come crashing back down to reality, grassroots bands and artists are often laying out their merch on some sticky formica trestle table set up near the toilets or the drafty front doors of the venue they’ve just played but, you’ve got to start somewhere. When it comes to the merch they’re laying out on said table, you’re usually looking at a crate of records, no matter the format (vinyl, tapes, CDs, some kind of ‘object’ advertising the fact that your album is indeed on Spotify) but what’s just as usual, is bands and artists half-forgetting to advertise their wares during the show.

The obvious thing to do when you have something to sell is to let people know that you have something to sell. However, instead of actually telling their audience that they’re setting merch, the sales pitch comes out as a half-mumbled apology. No one wants to be a sell-out. It’s all about the music, right? Sure, but how are you going to front the cash for the next tour or recording session? Selling merchandise is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Any band that takes themselves seriously makes it openly clear how proud they are of their new album and how brilliant their T-shirts and bobble hats are and then, immediately after the show, you’ll find them standing at the ready behind the merch table, talking to fans and signing records and posters. The physical presence of the artist does wonders. In fact, because of the sharp decline in physical music sales, the previously seldom appearance of bigger bands and artists at the merch table is now fairly common, simply because (again), touring is expensive for anyone and actually being there taking photos with the fans and signing their newly acquired booty only boosts the sales. Where better to sell your product than at the venue? The place is already filled with your target audience.

Merchandise serves a couple of purposes. It’s a vehicle for the band’s name and music which, of course, is designed to make money, but also for marketing the band as a brand. Fans love nothing more than to be covered in the name of their idol. Merch helps increase your renown, helps grow your fanbase and, with a little luck, will also help increase your budget. If you get good at selling your merch, you might even find that it makes you more money than the ticket sales for the gig you just played.

Marlon Brando

The concept of merch first emerged in the 1950s when film star and sex symbol Marlon Brando was seen on the silver screen wearing a tight white T-shirt. At the time, this kind of T-shirt was an undershirt ,which in those days meant that the man was practically naked. No one had dared do such a thing before and as a result, tight white T-shirts started flying off the shelves. All of the cool kids identified with the likes of Brando and the other famous tight-white-T-shirt bearer, James Dean.

From the tight white T-shirt, you don’t have to go too far to get to the black printed T-shirts of the music world. A black shirt stamped with a band name is still one of the most common forms of merch going and makes up around 80% of band-related sales. Of course, to make sure that your printed shirt sells, the logo has to be good. Your logo needs to be artistic yet simple (or at least immediately recognisable) and it needs to be everywhere, so not just on your shirts and merch, but on your social media channels, on your website, on photos and wherever you can stick it during gigs. According to prominent booking agent, Bianca Wijnsma: “During every gig, your name needs to be visible somewhere on stage, whether it’s on a backdrop or a bass drum. This is especially important if you’re playing a big festival where people haven’t necessarily come to see you specifically, so you need to clearly let them know who you are.”

The name, or more specifically, the logo, is a promotional and merchandising tool. Fans buy merchandise stamped with the band name because they want to belong to something. When it comes to clothing, this emotional adage brings the most value. Admit it: if you’re reading this as a musician then you’ve done it too – you’re happy to pay money to function as a sandwich board for the bands you love. Maybe get a couple of mates to don your shirts during a show, or pick out some friendly looking people from the crowd and give them a free shirt each. It can really help stimulate sales. It’s also not a bad idea to keep a few shirts back so you can hand them out to some of the stage crew that helped you out during the show. Gift a shirt to the festival organiser, the venue booker, the pub landlord – everyone and anyone. The thing is, merch is not just about commercialism but has a promotional goal too, so it’s actually better if you don’t always ask for cash in return. A sticker, a badge, a keyring, a USB stick, a kazoo, all printed with your logo can maybe be given away for free. Another great promo tool is a printed beermat: “You can lay them out on every table in the pub or venue you’re playing at. It’s really effective and inexpensive.” You can order all sorts and get it custom printed online so you can upload your logo or image and get your new merch delivered within the week.

Keep it Quality

The kind of promo and merchandise you opt for depends, of course, on the band’s budget. “At the grassroots level, music is a side-job so most bands have a really small budget, but the trick is to still remain quality conscious,” advises Bianca. And she’s speaking from experience: “There was one band who had the idea of putting their logo on some underpants. Hilarious as it was, it didn’t become a reality. They wanted the logo to be embroidered which got really pricey. But the idea was good. I mean, you would want it to be embroidered because, if the band logo faded away after one or two washes, you wouldn’t be too pleased would you?”

The more diverse your merchandise, the better, according to Bianca. And while she says she does yawn at the sight of yet another black band T-shirt, they’re still the best selling merch out there. However, there are plenty of other options if you want to diversify: longsleeve shirts, body-warmers, sweatbands, patches, drumsticks and caps. If you take a few cues from Kiss, you quickly realise that there are no limits and what you do go for doesn’t even have to be expensive. Because we live in a time of nostalgia for all things analogue, a lot of bands are selling their new releases on cassettes, which are relatively cheap to get. The other option is to go modern and give away some kind of artfully printed postcard with a download code on it so that fans can listen to your new release for free. Bands at the professional level sell their merch online via their websites, but these days, you can also set up a little shop for your merch on sites like Bandcamp. Bianca has some advice on this though: “You need to ask yourselves if it’s worth setting up a webstore and doing everything involved when you only make £2 on each T-shirt.”

The Pitfalls

Bianca Wijnsma leaves us with a final promo and merch warning: “Make sure that your logo is unique.” She has a whole list of tribute bands on her booking roster (including the Kiss tribute band ‘Kiss on the Rocks’) who have to prevent all of their advertising and promo material from looking too similar to that of the band they cover. If your logo looks too much like the original band’s, then you risk legal problems. It also doesn’t hurt if you legally protect your own band name as well: “This is definitely necessary if that final break is coming and success is within reach. Then you need to protect your logo, so that you can stop others from using it commercially.”

In conclusion: the world of merchandise is diverse, but the principle remains simple. Bianca: “Look for something that suits what you’re about. If you’re a farm-rock band, then you might want to start selling cowbells. If you’re a Metallica tribute band, then don’t try selling cuddly toys (or do) but try something like… well, like a black band shirt. Sigh.”

See also

» Bax Music Merchandise
» All Merchandise

» Gig Fishing Do’s and Don’ts
» Band Photos: Tips for a Successful Photoshoot
» Ten Ways to Make Money from Music
» Cover Band Not Copy Band: How to Gain a Following
» Musicians and Artists: Build Your Fanbase!
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» How to Make a Breakthrough as a Producer

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