money. So, put a merch budget aside from the revenue generated from a few gigs and CD
sales, along with initial merch sales.
Next, your merch should not be crap. Crap does not sell. Repeat after me, “Crap does
not sell. Crap does not sell.” Make that your mantra. Your merchandise must be on par
with your performance, at bare minimum. Ideally, it should be even better. Beyond that,
it’s a good idea to have levels of merch, or items at various price points. The low end
might be a branded keychain, then hats or similar middle of the road item. Then comes
USB drives with a song or two followed by higher priced CDs, shirts, etc. Give your cus-
tomers a pricing choice. Not everyone will have the available cash for a CD or higher-end
shirt. Selling them a lower priced items allows them to take something home, while you
make a little bit of dough. A little bit of something is loads better than a lot of nothing.
You might be one of the lucky ones who have a band member with some design tal-
ent. The Beatles did. John Lennon attended art school. Kiss’ lead guitarist, Ace Frehley,
designed their iconic logo, Davie Bowie was a graphic designer before he morphed into
Ziggy Stardust.
But, before you start designing, give careful thought to product. What can you suc-
cessfully sell? CDs, of course. They’re a staple. As mentioned, wearables are a big item.
As a matter of fact, t-shirts, in particular, can account for as much as eighty percent of
your merch sales. Eighty percent! Look at your fans. What are they wearing? T- shirts?
Hats? Braclets? Here are a few ideas to help get you started.
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- CDs
- USB drives (branded with your logo and a contain an original song or two)