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

evolutioncoop.com

Photo: Francis Rodino @ Scala (by Martin Nicholas)