So you have booked yourself a show, or perhaps even a full tour, and you’ve had your t-shirts printed, and your CD’s pressed, posters made and every other type of merch you could possibly want to take on tour with you and you’ve just rolled up to the venue ready to load in, when you discover to your surprise, that the venue requires a merch split for your band to play there. It should have been in your contract, if you had one, and if you even read it, though it may come as a surprise if you’re pretty new to the game, the following are some tips and tricks for how to handle the inevitable merch split with the venue:
- Take inventory of what merch you have BEFORE you play your show, and also before you play any shows if you are embarking on a tour. Make sure that it is an accurate inventory, count it multiple times if you have to. Keep track of your numbers of each item by using an excel spreadsheet.
- Bring in with you ONLY the amount of merch you think you might reasonably sell that night, you don’t have to bring in every single item in every single color and size available, this way you avoid having to count every piece of merch you brought on tour with you, at least once maybe even multiple times, with the venue staff each night.
- Check your contract or with the right person at the venue to know what to expect. Venues will oftentimes take between 10-20% of your night’s takings if they are the type of venue who takes a cut, but generally it will be on ‘soft’ merch only which is good for you – this means no split on CD sales, but each venue has different rules so make sure you check ahead of time so you know what you’re dealing with.
- Be sure to create a proper pricelist that correctly details the dollar amounts for each item, and have an effective system for tracking your sales – either with a spreadsheet on a laptop on the night or on a printed version that is put into your computer at a later date. Some venues are very strict and will have their people count your merch at the beginning of the night and afterwards at the end of the night with you to make sure your numbers add up, and others will simply take your word for it. Either way make sure you know how many items you have at the beginning of the night and how many you’ve sold. Make things easy for yourself by keeping everything labelled and recorded and you will also be able to prove yourself if any disputes should come up.
- While it may not be so much fun having the venue take a cut of your merch earnings for the night, remember if you didn’t have a show there you probably wouldn’t be selling the merch in the first place. Merch splits are just a fact of life for touring bands, but if you keep the above tips in mind, you’ll make things easier for yourself so you can get down to the real business of being on the road – having fun, and playing music.
