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Merch

How Musicians Can Maximize Merch Sales At In Person Shows

By Merch, Music Business No Comments

You’ve put a lot of thought into creating the right designs for merch based on your brand and music. With those designs, you decided on the best way to get those items made. Now, it’s time to sell!

For many independent artists, live shows don’t come as frequently so you want to make sure you’re maximizing these opportunities to sell when you’re performing live.

In this blog, we’ll go over all of the basics that you should keep in mind for selling merch in person and some tips to maximize your efforts. Read More

How to Sell Your Merch Directly Through Instagram Shopping (Guide for Musicians)

By Ecommerce, Instagram, Merch, Music Business No Comments

5/8/22 Update: I noticed that Meta(Facebook) is rolling out a revamped tool called Meta Business Suite that looks to replace Facebook Business Manager, which I reference in this blog. As a result, some locations of things I reference and directions I included below may not work anymore. I will try to update everything as soon as possible.

For musicians, a big part of marketing is accessibility. Whether it’s at a live show or on social media, you want to meet fans where they are at and make it as easy as possible to support you.

With Instagram being one of the top social media platforms for musicians, setting up the Instagram Shopping feature is a great way to do this. After launching in 2019, Instagram Shopping has become more widely available now for most business account users.

Unfortunately, the process to get set up can be a bit confusing. In this blog, I will go over all the steps in detail so you can get Instagram Shopping up and running on your Instagram account. Read More

How to Sell Collectible Music Merch for Stronger Brand Loyalty

By Merch, Music Business No Comments

Music fans love merch. Despite how much music has become digital with streaming, we still seek and crave having something physical from artists to:

  • Buy as a form of support
  • Take home as a memento to remember shows
  • Wear as a form of self-expression
  • Show off to friends
  • Have on display for others to see

Fans will still buy physical music to collect even if they don’t have a way to play CDs, cassette tapes or vinyl. In a 2023 report from Luminate, they found that 50% of consumers who have bought vinyl in the past 12 months don’t own a record player!

Selling merch is such an important aspect of your music business, not just financially as an income stream, but also a means for fans to build a stronger rapport with your brand.

This month’s blog is going to be a little different than what I usually do. I want to talk more freely about a topic that I find really interesting as someone who collects a lot of different things. Based on my own personal experiences with collecting as a hobby, I want to discuss how merch collectability can be used by musicians to engage fans, build brand loyalty and sell more merch. Read More

Ordering Merch

Bulk Ordering or Print On-Demand? What’s the Best Way for Musicians to Order Merch

By Merch, Music Business No Comments

This is part 2 of 4 in my Merch for Musicians series.

It’s no surprise that one of the key components to making a living off music is selling merch. Not only is merch an income stream, it’s also a marketing / advertising tool to raise brand awareness.

At this point, you should have some designs on hand in the proper graphic file format. If you don’t have your designs yet, before sure to read this first.

You have merch designs ready to go. Now you need to find out what’s the best way to get it made, and into the hands of your fans. There are some factors to consider when getting merch made. Read More

Zion I Merch

What Merch Should Independent Artists Make That Fans Will Actually Buy

By Merch, Music Business 2 Comments

This is part 1 of 4 in my Merch for Musicians series.

In our music streaming world, it has become much harder for independent artists to sustain a career in the music industry. Selling CDs was a large income stream that has basically vanished. To put into context how important it was, consider how much you make from music streaming.

Based on the latest numbers, to make the profit of selling one $15 CD, you would have to get roughly 3,200 streams on Spotify or 2,000 streams on Apple Music. For emerging artists, it’s a challenge just to get 1,000 streams.

It’s safe to say now that selling merch is basically a necessity now to make it as an artist on top of doing shows and tours.

Often times, the problem with merch is you need money to make money. Since the money to fund merch will most likely come out of your own pocket, you can’t afford to make items that people won’t buy.

Before you go and print a bunch of shirts with your face on it, it’s important to take a step back to evaluate your brand, what you represent and what characteristics define you as an artist. Read More