How To Sell Merch & Music At Shows Without Being Sales-y

When it comes to selling merch and music at live shows, it’s not uncommon for musicians to feel uncomfortable and out-of-their-element. This unsettling feeling usually causes musicians to avoid sales altogether.

After all, we musicians are creatives. Deep down, we believe that the quality of our creative products should speak for themselves.

And yes, it should…

But only if people know about it.

That’s where marketing comes in.

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7 Tips To Improve Merchandise Sales

A big reason why fans purchase music merch is to connect with others that share a common interest, and to show off their musical tastes.

Merchandise is also a great way to advertise your artist. We find that items with the artist’s name included tend to sell better than items without it.

It doesn’t have to be splattered in huge letters across the front, but including the artist’s name visibly on the item helps.

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The Ultimate Guide To Selling Band Merch Online

Before you dive into ordering or creating your merch, there are a few steps to consider to ensure that your time and money spent on investing in merch is worth the effort.

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Band Merch: Breaking Away From T-Shirts And CDs

Recently, I jokingly tweeted that bands should capitalize on fingerboards as a form of merchandise. Surprisingly, some people from my fairly low amount of Twitter followers seemed to agree with the sentiment. Merchandise costs money of course, but it’s specifically how bands make money on the road. This is especially true in today’s internet age, but I’ve also learned that the more merch you have at your table, the more you’ll sell, as you appeal to different tastes. I’m not saying your DIY, independent band has to have six plus tee-shirt designs. I’m saying don’t be afraid to step outside of the box. Here’s some merch ideas I’ve seen artists - some platinum-selling, some who can’t sell more than 100 copies of their records - do before that struck me as particularly interesting.

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7 Basic Design Principles To Clean Up Your Band's Website Without Coding

This article originally appeared on the Sonicbids Blog

About once a month, a friend approaches me with the same question: “Will you help me with my website? I keep tinkering with it, but nothing I do looks good enough.” As a web designer by day, it breaks my heart when I hear that my friends are struggling with indie budgets and WISYWIG editors, trying to fit everything they possibly can into the predefined templates of create-your-own-website services.

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How To Pre-Plan & Manage Your Band's Tour Finances

When indie music duo Pomplamoose went on 28-day tour in fall 2014, they sold just under $100,000 in tickets. With merchandise sales and a sponsorship from Lenovo, they pulled in a total of $135,983. However, after paying for publicity, payroll, production, hotels, food, travel, commissions, merchandise manufacturing, and other costs, total tour expenses added up to $147,802. Pomplamoose ended up putting $11,819 on credit cards to cover the cost of their own tour.

Fortunately, Pomplamoose was expecting a loss

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"Break A Leg". Dave Grohl Creates A Limited Edition Of Merch

It seems like everybody heard about Dave Grohl’s accident in Sweden and how it created a massive buzz. First going on stage after the injury, than - an epic Iron Throne that saved the following gigs.

But the story has no ending and Foo Fighters’ team created a limited edition of merch dedicated to this accident.

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