Merchandising for Musicians

Sound and Recording
B. Thomas Cooper
Editor

Listen up kiddies, this one is real important. I want you to step away from your TV remote, turn off your Ipods and cell-phones and pay close attention to what you are about to read. It’s about your money.

Being a musician carries an air of romanticism unlike any other profession. People tend to think of musicians as something special. I have my doubts.

Reality reminds me of the countless musicians sleeping on other peoples couches and smoking other peoples cigarettes. I can recall a parade of fellers arriving at rehearsal, some call it band practice, with a six pack of brown ale and no drum sticks, or guitar strings, etc. Most of these cats talk a big game, but can’t walk a straight line. My advice? If your going to talk the talk, you really might want to consider walking the walk.

Are you paying attention? I doubt it.

I’m not sure you’ve noticed, but contrary to mythology, it is not raining money in the music business. Oh, of course, if you add up all the numbers, it appears big, but by the time you divide it all up there isn’t much to go around. There is even less for the independent acts.

The exception is the live gate, which is attracting huge dollar signs and some remarkable liquidity. A big chunk of that change comes from merchandising. Of course, you aren’t apt to sell as many t-shirts as Hanna Montana, but you can certainly sell your share, providing you have the good sense to approach it as a potential revenue stream.

There are some basic rules you need to follow when venturing into the realm of merchandising. Break these rules and you will severely compromise your chances of being successful. Ignore these rules, and suffer the consequence.

I’m going to focus primary on t-shirts, but the rules apply to all products.

Rule number one: set your standards high. When designing a t-shirt, think quality, and be prepared to take a substantial hit to the wallet. Two dozen poor quality t-shirts distributed among friends is a cop-out. That is not merchandising. For starters, I recommend no less than four or five dozen. The old adage about spending money to make money generally holds true. Don’t throw away your investment. Spend the money necessary to produce a quality product.

T-shirts are available in a variety of quality and price range. A higher quality t-shirt will obviously cost more, but is also well worth the difference. A hundred percent cotton is advisable.

Be sure the artwork and graphics you have chosen are worthy of printing and distribution. Don’t let your shirts look like every other band shirt circulating.

Either hire a pro to do the job or find someone capable of producing the work of a pro. Trust me on this. Bad artwork will come back to haunt you. no-one wants to wear a t-shirt that makes them look trashy. That shirt won’t get worn.

Rule number two: Don’t give away your t-shirts. Are you insane? You just spent a bundle on those shirts. Who do your friends think you are? Are these same friends who are pushing for free t-shirts going to shell out hundreds of dollars so they can give free stuff to you? Of course not! Don’t be a sucker!

Likewise, before you give a shirt to some blonde back stage, reach into your pocket. If you don’t have enough money in that pocket to pay full asking price for the shirt, you are robbing yourself and your band-mates. This is perhaps the biggest mistake. Where are all those t-shirts you gave away now?

Rule number three. Don’t just leave your t-shirts lying around in a milk crate stage left. “ Hey man, like we got these cool t-shirts for sale, you know, so if you’re interested come see our drummer after the show.” Not! How in God’s green earth are you ever going to sell shirts with that pathetic shtick?

Set up a merchandising booth. Buy your own folding table if you must. Drape the table with a black cloth or what not. Set your booth up in a brightly lit spot, and display your shirts in a positive manner. You’ll need someone you trust who is willing to stay with the booth throughout the event. Keep a ledger, and store all monies in a locking cash box. Keep track, dang it!

Here’s some advice. Fix your price and stick to your guns. You can always ask more than your fixed price, but you should never accept less. Furthermore, don’t spend your merchandising money on beer, pizza, or anything else for that matter, other than for re-investing in more shirts. This is not beer money. Merchandising requires serious commitment. If you don’t think you are ready for such a commitment, perhaps you shouldn’t bother.

Well, my friends, stand up, take a deep breath and stretch a little. I’ll pick this up again next week and we will go ever a few tricks for optimizing sales. I know what your thinking, but relax. It’ll all be worth your effort!