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- abap_rockyI was reading an interview with the band "Agriculture" recently and they had a really interesting take on this. From this interview https://www.treblezine.com/agriculture-interview-quiet-viole... :"DM: We exist as a band because we sell t-shirts. Our job is that we sell t-shirts and the way we promote those t-shirts is by playing music. If we were talking strictly economically, that’s just a fact.LL: Weirdly, it’s also our most direct engagement with the money we make and with our fans. We’re often selling our own shirts at the merch table; that’s actually how we talk to a lot of fans and get feedback on our sets. We get cash in our hands; that’s one of the most direct economic exchanges in our lives as musicians. So, it is funny because it seems cynical, but it’s actually one of the more grounded exchanges in what we do."As it turns out, I had a nice little chat with their drummer when I bought one of their tshirts.
- riffraffWell, Brian Eno said of Velvet Underground's first album that it didn't sell many copies but everyone who bought it started a band.
- mrandishI read that Aerosmith made more money from Guitar Hero game royalties than from their albums. And it's been true for a long time that most acts make more from touring and merch than song sales.
- PunchyHamsterI dunno, Seems like author of article is projecting, I feel like most people would be happy if they made that much of an cultural impact
- deegIf the Ramones put their name on all sorts of merchandise does that make them sellouts?I joke, of course, and I'm a big Ramones fan. I've had numerous iterations of that shirt over the years. I often use them as an example when discussing "what is good art?" They are one of the most influential bands of all time and yet they were terrible musicians.
- circlefavshapeI get a lot of content about "how to promote your band"* and it's almost ALL about finding "superfans" you can sell merch to - so the actual art is reduced to ads for t-shirts* I've been in the same (unsuccessful) band since 1987 - obvs I have a day job too
- kleibaIsn't the whole point of touring to sell merchandise?
- musicaleThey're played every day on the radio, on streaming services, etc. Billions of listens vs. thousands (?) of shirts.
- metalmanThe Ramones are most defintly un haunted, doubly so by anything as subjective as the "truth" They captured, held up, and released the feeling that litteraly countless humans have experienced, and wished, as it turns out,to display as something "gotten off there chest"
- hdhdhebbbwhwuuwShawn Stussy printed shirts to promote his surfboards and ended up being the originator of “streetwear”
- flexagoon
- FerretFredFascinating! Always love these backstories. The Ramones were brilliant - I don't have a favourite album but my most-watched DVD is The Ramones Story
- joey1978How does it haunt them when they are dead?
- locallostI don't mean to be crude, but how can it haunt them, when they're all dead?
- mediumsmartMade my day. Thank you
- jimt1234Seems like The Ramones were way ahead of their time, whether they knew it or not. Before the digital age, most bands made the bulk of their their money from record sales. Concert tours were just promotional events for the latest album. That model has since been flipped to what The Ramones were doing 50 years ago - "music sales" earns little compared to concerts and merchandising. Now that's punk rock! LOL
- TMWNNIsn't it normal and typical for musical acts to make more money from concert tours and merchandise sales than the music itself?
- suoer[dead]
- keeganpoppen[flagged]
- schnitzelstoatI was wondering the same thing about Iron Maiden the other day - they seem more of a merch company than a heavy metal band these days.You can get Iron Maiden beer, Iron Maiden wine, Iron Maiden sunglasses etc. let alone the common merch like T-shirts.Given many more people can buy merch than can buy a concert ticket (which has inherently limited numbers) I wonder how the two revenue sources compare.