This may be a bit of shocker, but the truth is, the life of a touring musician is not as financially stable as you might think. And while there are tons of things that are not in your control (traffic at your show, press, your van breaking down between gigs), it’s crucial to optimize all of the revenue streams that ARE in your control. At the top of the list should be the merch you sell at your shows. Your band merchandise is something that you have pretty much complete control over – what you sell and for how much you price it at is completely up to you. You have a captive audience that you know are into what you do, and after you blow them away with your completely amazing set, they’ll be looking for anything else they can get.

What to Make?

The first step it to sell your band’s latest record, for a fair price of course, at your gig. That way, folks that you have converted though you ass-kicking live show can take your music home with them and turn on other folks. Additionally, for the people that come to your gig all the time and you consider your fan base, it makes sense to make some "tour only" records. Furthermore, posters are not only good for announcing your tour – consider making low-run signed posters, (or nicer numbered prints, but that could get a bit pricey), that your fans can take home. You’re giving your fans something they want and promoting yourself at the same time. Stay away from making ridiculous high-priced tchotchkes. Remember, this is a business!

How Much To Make?

LIMITED QUANTITIES. No one wants to be sitting on unused out-of-date merch. Be smart about how much you want to make. If you’re playing 15 small dates over the summer, do you really need 5000 copies of your CD on hand? Take a good look at your tour schedule over the next few months, and estimate what you will really need. If you are selling merch online off your web site, or are using merch as street marketing incentives, factor those numbers in too. And although manufacturing costs may be slightly higher at lower quantities, you’ll win in the long run by having up to date materials.

How to Make It?

In terms of commercial CDs: The labels use Cinram for CD duplication and Ivy Hill for the booklet for their audio titles, but as an independent musician, the minimum run at these places may be too high to be cost effective for you. In terms of CD duplication, a couple of outlets that you may want to consider are www.superdups.com based in New Hampshire, and www.diskfaktory.com based in California. Both these outlets allow for a limited print run (as low as 100 copies), and are reasonably priced.

Also, there is no shame in a homemade run of CDs to sell exclusively at your shows. One of my favorite bands, Pinback, always sells these amazing tour-only homemade ‘white label’ CDs, which is part of the reason I always try to make it to their show when they are in town. I also heard that Colin Meloy, the main guy in The Decemberists, was selling a tour only home made CD of Morrissey covers! Now who can possibly pass that up?

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