Tag: Music Merchandise

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What Musicians Can Learn From Video Games and Popular IP

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At every level of the industry, musicians are leaving millions on the table because they won’t market to older listeners. Whether you’re scared or unsure where to start, we can help.

A popular sound on TikTok jokes about an entire generation of always-online, pop culture obsessed humans with disposable income. “Don’t get me wrong, being an adult and living on your own is pretty great,” goes the sound. “The only problem is, I now have access to adult money, which means I can buy whatever I want—which means I end up buying shit like THIS and having zero regrets about it. As the video plays, adults share their arguably ridiculous purchases. For example, someone might show off a full-size pinball machine inside a one-bedroom apartment, or perhaps they have several hundred Funko pops lining the walls of their home. 

Another sound asks people to share items they bought with adult money that they probably shouldn’t have purchased.

It’s easy to watch these videos and think these fans are making irrational purchasing decisions. Still, there’s another, more beneficial angle. 

There is a growing marketplace of childless adults with lifelong fandoms who will spend top dollar to support their favorite entertainment icons and IP regardless of cost as long as the product caters to their specific interest.

If you love Mario Kart, for example, go-karts adorned with Mario Kart branding. You can even visit an entire theme park dedicated to all things Mario that includes a Mario Kart ride.

Or, if you prefer single-player games, you can purchase meticulously crafted (and pricey) deluxe editions featuring everything from replica weapons to custom dice, maps, mini-figures, plushes, vinyl records, and beyond. Here are two examples from the upcoming God Of War: Ragnarok.

Movie fans have similar options to express their fandom. If you love horror films, you can purchase replica masks that look identical to those worn by villains on screen. Those who love the Marvel and DC cinematic universe, not to mention Star Wars or Star Trek or Harry Potter or the Minions, also have bountiful options to express their love of the IP well into adulthood. Products are made and specifically marketed to those with money to spare. 

Music fans, unfortunately, are often left behind.

Think about it for a moment. Despite ample evidence that people of all ages enjoy every style of music imaginable, most merchandise is still geared toward people under the age of twenty-five. That’s true for any modern pop act vying for that demographic’s adoration, but the same can be said for legacy acts. Go to any Target, Wal-Mart, or Meijer near you, and you’ll find classic rock and hip-hop shirts throughout the teen and young adult section. A few items may also exist for adults, generally men, but they are the same logos reprinted in the same style on larger fabric.

Point being: The adult market is an afterthought, and it’s leaving untold millions on the table.

It’s not hard to understand why this happens. As artists progress in their careers, they must make choices that align with their target demographic. Though exceptions exist, most artists have to choose whether to market to young people or grow with their audience. The reason is simple:

Adults are notoriously hard to reach. 

After all, it’s easier to know what adults dislike than what they want. 

  • Your adult demo doesn’t want an all-over print
  • Your adult demo doesn’t want a giant logo tee
  • Your adult demo doesn’t want another t-shirt unless it’s game-changing.
  • Your adult demo has no use for stickers or patches and only minimal use for pins
  • Your adult demo doesn’t want digital downloads. They don’t want digital content, period.
  • Your adult demo doesn’t buy many hoodies, especially those adorned with giant logos.
  • Your adult doesn’t want an NFT.
  • Your adult fans don’t need merch with your face on it.

But it is possible to reach your adult fans without alienating the youth. They’re people, after all, and identifying their needs is as simple as starting a conversation. 

If you’ve been making music for any time, you likely have fans older than your target demographic. These fans have the most buying power, and you can capitalize on that by catering to their grown-up needs. 

For specific answers, you will have to communicate with your fans (duh), but here are some ideas to get you started:

  • Your adult demo will buy limited-time and date-specific merchandise. Show posters unique to each tour—or better yet, each date—create a sense of “buy now or forever miss out” that people find hard to resist. That poster may go on to live in a home office or cubicle, reminding that individual of a special night.
  • Your adult demo will buy minimal merchandise, such as socks or clothing featuring one-to-color designs.
  • Your adult demo will buy alcohol and alcohol-related products (koozies, bottle openers).
  • Your adult demo will buy coffee and coffee-related products.
  • Your adult demo will buy lifestyle items, including grinders, mugs, candles, DND sets, concert prints, commemorative lanyards, etc.
  • Your adult demo will buy experiences, including VIP upgrades, meet-and-greets, photos, coffee with the band, etc.
  • Your adult demo will commit to a fan club as long as they receive quality content (presale access, exclusive merch, early music, etc.).

There is no reason any artist with a sizable fan base should leave their adult fans behind. 

Virtually every album now comes with multiple pre-order bundles featuring any number of items, so why not make one for the grown-ups among your audience? 

Start simple. Ask your fans what merch they want and experiment with their responses until you find something that works. There is no penalty for trying. 

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The Importance of Merch Sales in Music Today [VIDEO]

With streaming music replacing physical media sales more and more, artists are increasingly dependant on merch sales to stay afloat.

It is no secret that streaming royalties pay artists far less than traditional album sales. The top-paying music services give artists about $0.006 per song stream. Spotify, which is the most popular subscription service, pays roughly half that amount.

Last week, UK metalcore group While She Sleeps made headlines around the world by releasing merchandise that explicitly aired their frustrations with streaming royalties. The shirt in question reads, “One t-shirt is the equivalent to 5000 streams on Spotify. 76% of all music in 2019 is streamed and not bought physically or digitally. Band merchandise is the most direct way of supporting an artist.”

While She Sleeps is not wrong. In today’s music business, merchandise sales matter more than ever. An artist who is capable of moving huge volumes of merch can turn industry heads faster than an artist with a viral single because executives know merchandise sales are where the most money is being made in 2019.

But how does an artist sell merchandise? There is more competition than ever for listeners’ attention, which means there is increased competition for their financial support. There are also no shortcuts to selling large amounts of merchandise. That said, there are ways artists can position themselves for success, which is what we’re going to discuss today.

In this episode of Music Biz 101, host James Shotwell details the increasing importance of merchandising in artists’ careers. He also offers advice for creating merch your fans will want to buy, complete with examples from artists with immensely dedicated followers.

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Why Merch Sales Matter More Than Song Streams

The streaming age has given virtually everyone immediate access to music, but at what cost to creators?

Streaming is the new normal. Just last month, Spotify revealed it now has 232 million monthly listeners, including 108 monthly subscribers. Apple Music, the company’s closest competitor, now boasts 60 million monthly subscribers. Those two platforms alone help more than a quarter of a billion humans access music every month. That results in a lot of streams generating a wealth of cash, but for who?

Most artists love the amount of access streaming allows consumers, but hate the pay structure. That is due to the fact the majority of musicians make $0.006 per stream or less depending on the platform. With a high enough volume of streams, anyone can make a comfortable living but reaching that many streams (millions of plays per month) is difficult unless an artist has a celebrated catalog or a consistent presence in top songs charts.

While She Sleeps, a British metalcore band that releases music through their own label (Sleep Brothers) in collaboration with UNFD and Spinefarm Records, is tired of relying on streams to make a living. The band tours heavily, and through their accounting have discovered that music is no longer the primary way they support themselves. Creating and performing music is what they do, but at the end of the day, selling merchandise is how the members of While She Sleeps support themselves.

The band is responding to this discovery by releasing a new t-shirt design that makes it clear how fans can support the artists they love. Check it out:

You can order the shirt on the band’s official website. The group is also making the design available for other musicians to use, for free, on their own merchandise. Click here to grab the file.

In a letter released with the design, While She Sleeps wrote “The majority (76% in fact) of music in 2019 is streamed. Probably by you, definitely by us, and there is nothing bad about that. But if bands and artists are to survive and win the battle of art vs money, we need to find new income to keep afloat.”

You can read the full message below:

While She Sleep’s latest release, So What?, is available now. 

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Merchandise Tip: Here Comes Halloween

I’m not ashamed to admit that, at 28, there are times I get jealous of today’s young music fans. As someone who lived the majority of their teens and 20s wearing band, record label, and/or music-related shirts almost everywhere I went it’s hard to realize such behavior is frowned upon the older you get. Once you leave college and begin waking most days out of the week with the purpose of working to pay off the enormous debt you accrued becoming an adult the world demands you put a little more effort into your wardrobe than promoting whatever music you’re currently enjoy at that moment in time. It’s a hard realization, but one that must be faced nine times out of ten if you hope to get ahead in life. You don’t see many executives rocking t-shirts these days, and if they are they probably started their company at a young age and used their drive to become so successful no one would dare complain about they dress on any particular day. That is not the case for my life, and I’m willing to bet it’s not the case for  many of you reading this, so please remember everything that follows is intended for those hoping to target younger demographics of music fans.

October is here, and with it comes the celebration of Halloween. Some people claim Christmas to be the best holiday, but they are wrong. Anyone who lives for the unforgettable experiences that make life great knows Halloween, as well as the various traditions associated with it, offer more potential for fun and excitement than practically any other global tradition. Kids love it because they get to dress up and receive candy while pretending to be the people they see on TV or in movies, and older folks love it because they get to escape the realties of adulthood while drinking in a disguise. Everyone wins.

You know who else wins on Halloween? Brands who are smart enough to capitalize on our culture’s obsession with all things kooky and spooky during the month of October. It doesn’t take more than five minutes in your local Target or Wal-Mart to understand what I’m talking about either, as every department store spends six weeks or more leading up to Halloween marketing everything from candy and costumes, to home furnishings with some kind of ghost or spirit themed sale. They may have ‘Terrifyingly low prices,’ or ‘Ghoulish Offers,’ but varying puns aside the idea is always the same. The products being sold are changed for the holiday as well, with everyone from Yankee Candles to the makers of Twix trying to cater to seasonal shoppers. In fact, it’s hard to think of a single product outside cleaning supplies and bathroom necessities that doesn’t have at least one brand with a Halloween themed item on sale this year.

As an artist, you too can cash in on the international obsession with Halloween by creating your own, limited run merchandise based on the holiday. Create a shirt that is only available a limited time, or perhaps a print featuring a seasonal design or image. Sell stickers and buttons with your logo slapped on jack-o-lanterns and ghosts, or perhaps record and release a cover of something from ’The Nightmare Before Christmas.’ These items won’t appeal to everyone, but they will give your core fans an opportunity to buy an exclusive, limited edition item that will serve to further their connection to your brand.

Here are a few examples of Halloween merch being marketed this year:

As with any item being sold, the key to getting a strong response from seasonal merchandise is executing a great idea people will be unable to overlook. As you see in the example above, the possibilities are seemingly endless as far as approaches to Halloween merch as concerned, so take that as a sign that creativity is encouraged. Find something you love about this season, or something about this season you feel reflects your music, and use it to create something unique your fans can cherish forever.

A few key things to remember:

1. Do not steal anyone’s design/copyrighted materials. Doing so could result in legal troubles whose costs far outweigh any benefit associated with seasonal merchandise.

2. Order your product in time to ship it before Halloween. Receiving a Halloween themed shirt in the middle of November or December doesn’t really do anyone any good. Fans won’t wear it, and worse – they probably won’t order seasonal merch from you again. Think and plan ahead.

3. Targeted marketing helps. No one likes paying Facebook to reach their fans, but doing so can help sell new/limited merch items. Even as little as $5 can double, if not triple the reach of your average post. As the saying goes, “You have to spend money to make money.”

4. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Want to make seasonal merch, but don’t know what to offer? Ask your fans. They’re the ones who will ideally be buying whatever you create, so you might as well ask them what they want and do your best to meet their demands.

5. Turkey merch is not a thing. While you might be able to leverage Halloween, Christmas, and even Valentine’s Day for merch sales, Thanksgiving doesn’t create the same market. You can try, but you will more than likely fail.

James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also a professional entertainment critic, covering both film and music, as well as the co-founder of Antique Records. Feel free to tell him you love or hate the article above by connecting with him onTwitter. Bonus points if you introduce yourself by sharing your favorite Simpsons character.

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