A Practical Guide For Local Bands in Miami Pt. 2: Where's the Merch?
In Part 1 of A Practical Guide for Local Bands in Miami, I wrote about the "right" attitude for bands to start moving their music careers forward (or at least keep their hobby enjoyable).
To summarize, the two extremes of band attitudes are the push over and the prima donna. For the most part bands should be gracious (push over) but assertive (prima donna). Additionally, bands should also be clear with their own desires, are they a hobbyist or a professional?
But, most of all, that mix of gracious assertiveness should be applied in the interactions between the "business people" of the music industry (record execs, promoters, etc.) and the artists. It may be a lot to ask, but clear communication, expectations, and honesty could make a world of difference by minimizing stress and tension, while allowing both musicians and businessmen to focus on the task at hand - building a successful music scene.
Where's The Merch?
This leads me to a glaring hole in the Miami music scene: merchandise.
Here is a typical conversation I've had with way too many bands:
Me: You guys are great, do you have a CD?
Band Member: We do, let me go get them, they're in the car.
CDs and examples of a band's music (demos) are the first line of merchandise for any band, but yet somehow bands usually don't carry their own music on them at their shows.
Maybe it's the growth of online accessible music, and bands are much faster to point a potential fan to their myspace page then they are to hand them a demo CD.
The internet may have created a simpler and cheaper way of people to access music, but it also has created the ultra-competitive market that caters to the modern entertainment industries' Attention Deficit Disordered pace.
Unfortunately, that saturated market has led bands to take a less is more attitude, rather than realizing more options for fans means more work for artists. Most bands reaction is to do nothing more than carry around a spindle of CD-Rs with their band name sloppily scrawled across the brand label of the blank CD.
Like Mitch Hedberg says about flyers (a whole other story), handing someone a CD-R with a band name lazily written across it is like saying to them, "Here, you throw this away."
It is a band's responsibility to have an appropriate and professional CD ready to hand fans and be put in a place so that band's can sell their albums to potential new fans. Professional production of CDs is becoming more and more affordable, plus no one cares if an album is in a jewel case or in a sleeve, which makes buying CDs even easier.
As important as CD's are, the bulk of any band's "merch" is for the ancillary product. Of course, these all have their own array of issues and problems, the worst being a band with a closet full of t-shirts that refuse to sell.
Using a bit of ingenuity can easily get a band around these problems, such as hand screen printing or hand sewing designs or patches onto jackets and shirts. Also, fan polls for different image ideas is an easy and fun strategy for thinly veiled version of online market research. Also, online fan creation contest, where other fans vote on which image they like best, are easy ways to gauge if spending the money on a particular t-shirt design is worth the investment.
Beyond that, other merch items should include patches, buttons, stickers, and tour posters. Honestly, anyone who has been a fan of music knows about all of these things, because they've probably bought some from their own favorite bands at one point.
Merchandise also has the secondary benefit of free advertising. It's one thing for a person to see your band one night in a club, but when they see two or three people around town wearing your t-shirt it will motivate them to find out more. Word of mouth and fan loyalty is by far the best way to gain a fan base.
While the particulars of merchandising is elementary, the main issue is the presentation of these materials. Why aren't bands showing their goods at their shows?
It comes back to that all important issue: attitude. Music is ultimately personal, so it's difficult, at times, for the sensitive artist to put their passion up for sale. Another reason, and more ominous, is that concerts are often times a place for bands to get high, drunk, and laid, and therefore can't be burdened with something like trying to make some money.
Either way, the fact is that a successful band is one that puts all the bullshit aside and does what's most important for the success of their band. There will be plenty of time for play, but first a band has to handle business.
If You Enjoyed This Post, You May Also Like:
- Miami Music Town Hall Meeting: The State of the Miami Music Industry
- A Practical Guide For Local Bands in Miami Pt. 1: The "Right" Attitude
- Revisited: Tristan Clopet -- Tours, EPs, and Growth as a Musician
- REVMiami's 1 Year Anniversary Celebration: Review
- Show Review: Arsenal 88, Furious Dudes, and Fireside Social at Jada Coles - Jan 16 2010
NOTE FOR COMMENTS: Do not flame or leave obnoxious comments, THEY WILL NOT BE APPROVED. Constructive criticism should always be welcomed by any artist, but don't be a d-bag, show some class. Thanks. - REVMiami Staff
