Live Show Merchandise Made Easy
So many people talk about music going completely digital, yet how do your fans who attend your live shows get your music? Many of these may not even listen to music online. Of course what better time to get people to buy your merchandise then at your live shows. Yet so many bands don't have any merchandise for sale when they play live, why is this?
Part of it is the cost to get a professional album done up. After all we want only the best of our work to go public. I'll bet though that your fans who attend live shows really want something to remember the experience with. That is what selling merchandise at your live shows is all about. Reminding them of that great night when every woman was slapping them around, yet the music was FANTASTIC.
Even when there is merchandise for sale at a live show. Many bands don't even mention it. This comes from the desire not to be salesmen but showmen. I have found lately though that if they have something for free that their fans can take home some few more bands are willing to take that extra step. Of course they have to realize timing is important. During your live show when you go on stage, take a 10 minute break, and when you finish for the night you need to mention your merchandise table. If this means insuring you have something that the attendees can take home for free then supply it.
Lets talk about merchandise then, I will focus on your music but there are tons of things you can do from calendars to t-shirts, or even dish ware.
If you practice you music at all (This should be mandatory) then be sure to record them. There are many reasons to do this, but for today we want to have them available to edit into a CDR (Burn recording). It maybe even a nice touch to add in conversational explanations of how those practices went. These of course do have a value to themselves and if you put enough work into them they will sell. However I would see these as your freebie of the night at your live shows. In fact as there is a cost associated with the CDRs themselves you may want to have a donation jar for these. The pay what you want, donation, or tip jar works. I tested it with my E-Courses and out of 8 people 5 of them payed something with 3 paying more then I suggested.
Now lets move on to getting something for sale. After all the main reason for the live show is to earn you something to hopefully someday be able to earn only from your music right. As long as you are doing live shows, you will always have merchandise to sell. Record each of your shows then depending on how often you play live. Edit your music into a monthly, quarterly, or annually live cd. Here you want to get as professional as possible with album art, jewel cases, etc. Now lets make these truly valuable, and at the same time get more fans to your live shows. Have these live cds only for sale at your live shows, and as prizes for contests where your fans get more involved.
One more thing I want to say about your live shows besides NEVER PAY TO PLAY. Is depending on how the venue wants to pay you, you may want to talk to them about other ways they can sponsor you. With parts of the music industry trying out different ways of sponsorship from donations, to fan funded albums, I am sure there is something the venue can do. Granted if they are paying you top dollar then maybe you don't want to say anything. But if they want to pay you as little as possible. Then here is a way they may be willing to help you out in exchange for you playing live at their business.
Netvalar
Researcher Extraordinaire / Music Strategist
Photo: Francis Rodino @ Scala (by Martin Nicholas)
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One of the more important things a band can do is build a contact list of their fans, so communication can continue long after the show is over. Whether it's mailing addresses, email addresses, twitter names, facebook account, or whatever, fans who provide that kind of information want the band to stay in contact with them. News about upcoming shows, new music releases online or offline, contests, whatever.
While most bands don't have the numbers of fans that someone like Amanda Palmer, but she made $11,000 in 2 hours using social media to tap into her fan base. The Marketing Profs Daily Fix blog has a post about it here - http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2009/09/have_you_ever_seen_an_1100000.html and Hypebot has an expanded story about how it climbed to $19,000 after a 3 hour online auction of some of her personal stuff and a Twitter donation-only "secret" gig here - http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2009/06/amanda-palmer.html . Obviously, not every band can repeat that kind of success, but even scaled back to something more reasonable for most bands, a bit of social media marketing to fans could generate a decent amount of money.
It's worth considering that any band merchandise a band sells can serve as a marketing device. Fans will play their music for their friends, exposing the band to a wider audience. Fans will wear t-shirts that display the name of the band and ideally provide some sense of what the band is like. Things like band-branded laptop and MP3 player skins again put the band's name out where it can be seen. (One place to get skins like that is Sticviews.com. They do removable stickers of all shapes and sizes. Stickers for non-skinned laptops and car bumpers or windows are other ways to utilize that resource.)
Let's not forget the value of scarcity, either. Netvalar touches on that with the live recording CDs, and it can be expanded to other merchandise as well. Limited production runs of t-shirts specifically for a special show - when they're gone, they're gone. Signed posters of the band. A contest for fans with the prize something really amazing - like a private gig for the winner and 25 of his or her friends, with a live CD of it going to those attending. Burned to CD, autographed by the band, and including some photos taken at the event. That small group of fans will become evangelists spreading the word of just how incredible the band is. The key is to offer things that not everyone can get. Sure, some will end up getting a bootleg of the private party gig, but that only makes them more determined to be in that small group the next time the band has a contest.
The better known you are, the more you're worth to a venue. Get known. Piracy won't kill your band. Obscurity will.
Gordie
@biblinski on Twitter, biblinski on Sellaband
The idea about offering merch for "whatever they feel it's worth" actually seems to work pretty well as was shown at Francis Rodino's recent gig at The Bedford (http://www.50kmusic.com/wordpress/?p=192) where we offered CDs for "whatever you care to pay". Sure, there were a few jokers who offered a pound, but the majority stumped up £10 and many gave £15, but I'd suggest the amounts offered may be linked to how good a show you put on!