Yes, I saw Jeff Rosenstock’s social media post about the cut venues take on merch sales. No one wants to hear in This Day And Age™ about another new way in musicians are getting screwed, but here we are again, pissed off at another spoke in the shitty wheel.
I suppose the reason that this has been The Discourse is that someone somewhere is hedging on fan vitriol to pressure venues into doing the right thing. Thing is, it’s not on fans to fix. Fans are already mad that an artist’s tees are starting at $40, let alone where that money is going, and everyone is exhausted from being outraged all the time.
While this seems like an unfixable problem, I’d like to suggest that it’s highly fixable, the problem is that you have some understanding of how the sausage gets made. And no one really wants to address the root of this.
Look, I will not pretend that I am some grizzled insider. My glory days were in the early 2000s, booking shows in a 100-person bar that was filled to 25% of its capacity most nights of the week, on top of holding down a thankless Ivy League admin day job. I worked with contracts a handful of times, intentionally so, because guarantees wiped out whatever I made in my paycheck that week. I still don’t understand how things like “points” work for shows, so it’s highly likely that I am the wrong person to be saying any of this!
The job of a booking agent is to handle the schedule of their client’s appearances, which includes duties such as managing and negotiating contracts with promoters, venues, and other places that book talent. You have taken a significant step up in the business if you have one of these people handling your affairs.
Though having an agent is incompatible with my definition of “independent,” I can see why musicians hire these sorts. Booking shows is a thankless affair, a statement I can say from having been both the booker and the band.
But if I had an agent, I’d probably want to have a contract that ensures I am getting a good deal all around—which includes how much of merch sales go to the venue. In a perfect world, that would total 0%. So what exactly is going on here?
Just like LiveNation/TicketMaster have the majority of mid- and large-sized venues under their control, there’s a single booking agency handling pretty much every indie artist you like or read about on sites such as Pitchfork.
Somehow this is overlooked in 99.99999% of these conversations, maybe because there’s one agency controlling pretty much everything and the consequences of calling them out on this particular point are far too great. But I am a fucking nobody with no skin in this game anymore, so I get to make this point. I know that merch sales are a line item in these contracts, or at least they were in 2006.
So what can be done? Artists, make sure your contracts state that you get 100% of your merch. Agents, don’t compromise on this point for your clients! If a venue gives you shit, and you happen to work for That One Place (gestures to left), you have an easy bargaining chip with the whole agency roster. Imagine these venues trying to fill their spaces without it. Venues, if you’re reading this, cut the fucking nonsense. Waive the fee. Everyone benefits. That’s the point of the discourse.