MERCHANDISING

In the last few years I have found myself more interested in the developing bands within the jamband scene, supplanting my obsession with the superstars. For years I have found myself in a concert hall or music bar, running calculations in my head as to how well the night was going financially, and how bands that are touring across the country are making ends meet. Having worked with many of these bands, I realize that the costs are significant, and getting a group of people across the country to perform every night is a huge undertaking.

Even the bands that are doing well in their development, and getting a couple of hundred people to their shows, struggle to make ends meet and to have the resources necessary to perform well. At five bucks a head, and revenues being split between venues, musicians, promoters and the gas station, bands don't get paid very well. Bands are hard pressed to look at the gate revenues as their sole means of income generation while out on the road.

The most obvious way to make money for travelling jambands is through merchandising. Everyone is familiar with the t-shirts and recordings that bands pitch off the side of the stage or in a booth inside the venue. How well the band can conduct their merchandising can determine whether or not they succeed on the road, and as a business altogether.

For instance, I was meeting with the band Snake Oil Medicine Show last fall, and we were interviewing each other trying to initiate a business relationship. As these are very personal relationships that need to develop between people who were previously strangers, everyone is cautious as the business relationship is established. I wanted to see if their business was developing on a solid foundation, and whether or not my efforts had the best chances possible to succeed. They were of course examining me in the same way.

Not being from their area, I couldn't tell how popular they were, and how much interest they were generating in the local markets. So I asked them how merchandise was going, whether or not they were selling any discs and t-shirts. "Well, we've sold a couple thousand of each of our discs (pretty good) and a couple hundred of each of our shirts." "You have a few different kinds of shirts?" "No, we have about a dozen different kinds."

Well, I was amazed. Twelve different shirts, at a couple hundred of each, makes some 2000 t-shirts with the bands name and logo out in the world. Thousands of people were being exposed to the bands name and marketing images as these t-shirts traveled around the South. This re-assured me that the band was at least good enough to be inspiring hundreds of people to dig into their pockets to support the band and it's artistic vision. When the band travels to new places, there is a decent chance that people will have heard of them because their music, artwork, and merchandise travels ahead of them through their fans. This made working with them an attractive prospect, and we started to work together almost immediately.

Several months later, the band and I planned and executed their first national tour, over four weeks and visiting many markets to which they had never been before. I was concerned that the expenses would be considerable, and worried whether or not we would be able to generate the kind of funds necessary to finance the tour. But the band happily reported that because of merchandise, they were able to generate more money than the expenses. Punching numbers on my calculator, I discovered that the profitability of the tour was due mostly to the fact that the band were voracious in the promotion of their merchandise. Steve Peterson, Snake Oil's drummer, indicated that it was not unusual for the band to do as well at the merchandise table as they did at the gate. This should be the goal of every band, as their profitability as a business depends on it.

But merchandising achieves many more things for a band business than just income generation. The bands marketing plan can be delivered directly to fans and potential markets through merchandising. The look of the products, how they achieve cross-over between the message and the music, and the connections that the fans and artists make through the products help to drive the development of bands. It is without doubt that the merchandising guile of the teams behind Phish and the Dave Matthews Band have helped to propel these two bands to the top of their fields. These products act as walking advertisements for the bands, and spread the word easily while bringing money into the band.

My friends who grew to love jamband and live music in the Virginia area ten years ago tell of seeing the DMB hats everywhere. College kids throughout the South and Mid-Atlantic seemed to all have Dave Matthews Band hats, and this presence helped to spread the word ahead of the band. The very recognizable logo that Phish developed very early in their careers certainly helped to drive the visibility of the band as they went from a regional draw in upper New England to a national powerhouse that dominates the live music scene.

But how is this done? What are the best ways to go about merchandising a band? What are some of the rules to follow, and what have other bands done in the past that can help us learn how to merchandise properly.

For assistance, I spoke to Dave Balter, who is the head of a company called 360 Merchandise ( http://www.360merch.com) His company does merchandise for corporations, films, festivals, and bands of all sort. He has handled merchandise for everyone from Metallica to Wilco, and for jambands from superstars Medeski Martin and Wood, to developing jambands like Uncle Sammy and Mountain of Venus.

Jambands.com: Dave, what are some of the options that bands have to promote themselves through merchandise? What kind of products are available?

DB 360: There are so many choices to promote your bands, it boggles the mind. Stickers, hats, shirts, boxer shorts, mouse pads, whistles, balloons, condoms, and more. While some bands seem to be overwhelmed by the choices out there, the reality is that marketing can be an easy task that if handled correctly, can help you to book shows, get you stopped on the street, and propel your band into the war zone we know as the music industry?

Jambands.com How does a band get started? What things should be considered first and foremost before spending money on merchandise.

DB 360: The first step for any band is to get a logo and stick to it.

Bands need to carefully consider their marketing plan. Who are you trying to get to with your music? What color schemes, images, and layout can succeed in reaching those people.

DB 360: The second rule of merchandise is to keep it simple. Do not go insane with the complexities that are available to you. Make sure your logo is simple enough to be recognized anywhere. The guy driving down the street should make a mental note of your logo stuck on the back of a sign just as easily as a drunken patron catching a glimpse of it lurking beneath a half opened flannel shirt in a dark bar. Similarly, if your logo has too many colors or is too complex, you'll have some difficulty getting it transferred from a shirt to an embroidered cap to a sticker. Keeping it simple will save you many headaches down the road as you try to manipulate the graphic to fit different merchandising circumstances.

I can't agree with Dave enough about simplicity. For bands with budgets on their mind, this couldn't be more important. Black and white images jump out at the viewer, and easily imprint the images onto people's brains. The simplicity of design also makes it an inexpensive option. Black or white ink can be cheaply used on colored t-shirts to add effect without getting into multiple screens printing. Be creative in how you can amplify your message without increasing your costs.

DB 360: Before you put your logo on anything, you should consider who is going to make use of your merchandise. Do you want kids wearing shirts around town or do you want industry professionals looking at your logo? Both target markets must be considered as you create your merchandise.

DB 360: If you are going after the general public, shirts and stickers are your best bet. Stickers can be cheap and can be given away or stuck anywhere that you think you will get noticed.

A note on stickers. Bands should create two different types of stickers for promotional purposes. The first should be inexpensive and small. These will be given away to fans for free, and will be used in promo packs, stuck on envelopes, stuck in bathrooms, and are a happy little way to spread the word on your band. The second sticker type should be nicer, perhaps on vinyl or nice sticker material, using multiple colors and having bolder images. These stickers are far more expensive to produce, but can be sold at your merch table for $1 - $3 depending on the quality of the sticker. You always want to have something free for the poor fan, and a way for those who want to support the band financially to do so.

DB 360: A shirt with a two color design will save you manufacturing costs, will be easy to sell, and will be worn more often. If you go after the embroidered mock neck with 6 colors on the sleeve, you will be wearing them for warmth as you sleep in your van.

Dave brings up a very interesting point. At first, with shirts, keep them simple and inexpensive. It is only after years of merchandising and a larger fan base that bands need to expand into the costlier and more attractive merchandise. Certainly the bigger bands have fans that have the money to spend on hooded sweatshirts that can cost up to $50.

DB 360: Don't forget that bands must be fashionable- that means that you have to keep tabs on the changing styles that are popular within your audience. Investing in a white T with black ink may not cut it with your audience. A baby doll shirt or spaghetti strap for the ladies gets you noticed. Skin tight thin T's have been more popular these days as have natural colored shirts and camouflage. If you like hats, knit caps are more popular and cheaper than a baseball cap.

DB 360: Don't forget, Keep it Simple! I can't stress that enough. Simple will keep it cheap and will translate well to numerous people in a wide variety of situations. Once you've fully established yourself, things will get plenty complex anyway. People will want to shave their heads with your logo... you don't want to make that hard for them, do you?

Once you have created your merchandise, you must sell it. Too many bands fail to sell merchandise because no one can be bothered to do it. It is vitally important to realize that your merchandise will be sold almost entirely in the 15 minutes before your show until the hour after it.

Take the time onstage to let people know that you are selling merchandise. Putting band members into the merchandise area is also very helpful. Take turns operating the merchandise booth, and be sure to meet and greet your customers. These people are your biggest fans, and they want to make personal connections with you at the merch table. How this meeting takes place can often define how much someone will buy. I have seen people engaged in a short conversation with a smiling band member who is polite and interested walk away with multiple discs and shirts, dropping $50 at once loading up on merchandise for their friends and family. This can completely change the financial success of a show!

Don't forget that you can sell merchandise in more places than just at your live shows. Most of the online distribution houses (HGMN, headjams.com, etc.. ) are equipped to sell merchandise as well as discs. Merchandise can be easily pitched through a band or record label website. Bands with a larger fanbase and more dependable buying public can take advantage of their market by creating order forms that are included in discs and newsletters. Both the Dave Matthews Band and Phish are un-ashamed marketers of their merchandise, and the professional look of both the promotional materials and the products themselves drive huge consumption of their merchandise by their fans. Also, the stores that handle your disc sales may also be willing to swing merchandise for you, so don't be afraid to ask.

I asked Snake Oil Medicine Show how they did so well selling merchandise. The band has a very interesting marketing plan for selling. While most bands have the familiar line about there being merchandise available over there... Snake Oil created a short song that communicated the same message. This keeps the audience on their toes, and sets them into a buying mood straight away. It keeps the merchandise strongly associated with the music, and sets the buying mood during the performance. Bands too often forget that the whole experience of seeing a band is part of the show. Snake Oil takes advantage of this by even making their merch pitch entertaining.

By selling a few t-shirts and discs a night, a band can go from losing money on tour, to profiting. A conscious plan and effort is needed from the point in which the band first designs their logo and marketing plan to the point at which a fan purchases products at a show. How well a band can merchandise will often define their ultimate success as a band business. Good luck, and Go Sell Your Merch!

Thanks to Dave Balter for contributing to this article. Check out the 360 Merch website at http://www.360merch.com.

Snake Oil Medicine Show is a visually artistic, improvisational bluegrass band out of Boone, NC. Their official website is http://www.snakeoilmedicineshow.com

Phil Simon is a booking agent and freelance journalist. His clients have included ulu, Jiggle the Handle, Snake Oil Medicine Show, the David Nelson Band, the Burt Neilson Band, Uncle Sammy, Jive Talkin Robots, Mountain of Venus, Soular, Max Creek and more. His writing has appeared at Jambands.com, Headjams.com, and Heads Magazine. Check out the Planetary Group website at http://www.planetarygroup.com.