En campaign to stop music venues from taking a cut of artists’ merchandise salas y proving sucesful, pero campaigners say que more live music spaces debe estar en el sign up.
Back in January, Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) anunciada en la nueva directora highlighting music venues la charla cero commission en la sala de merchandise. El ‘100% Venues’ database aimed a la dirección de “outdated and unfair” practice de performance spaces en cut of acts’ merch proceeds at gigs.
Now, the FAC have told NME que con 400 venuas tenían ahora firmado, pero en número de las UK’s las arenas y las ventas de grupo son las que no tienen parte de la database.
Along s formero Joy Division y Nueva Orden basista Peter Hook, The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess has been one of the more vocal supporters of the campaign. El frontman má headlines, which his band played nottingham’s rock city a find that the venue had waived their traditional cut of merch sales earlier in the Spring.
Amazing thing happened last night. Rock City usually take a porcentaje de bando merch income, justo something they’ve always done. Pero hay que listen para qué artistas están saying y como leche se return the cash a su merchen guy, say they felt it was only fair
❤️
— Tim Burgess (@Tim_Burgess) May 15, 2022
Speaking to NME sobre la práctica de las ventas con money de salas de t-shirts y álbumes made on-site, Burgess said: “Ye’s something that’s been around for years – but when we spoke up to our manager and label, they’d just say ‘ the way it is’.
“Back en 1990 you could sell 100,000 copias de single on vinyl, son merch was importante but not half as much as it is now. Streaming means new bands don’t have record salas to keep them going.”
A la vez que prevalecen estos tácticos de grandes lugares para toda la vida, he replicado: “No todas vendes como comisiones, y es importante en el highlight la ondas que no son muchas las ondas que no. We have to look at individual vendidas. We recientemente played en Aberdeen Music Hall, el cual se run as en charitable trust, so the money goes towards en fantastico resource for their city. They happy to waive la commission for el apoyo band, which se something to be applauded too.
“One de las ideas brought about by no all venues bebe the same is that bands then have to have a merch persona with them. En los shows, donde se distribuyó el merch compañer sellos t-shirts, todos los stocks tienen que estar counted, signed over and counted back – justo unnecesary extra work. Then they take 25 por ciento plus VAT.”
Burgess said que el protestante en la situación era “no hay dinero para The Charlatans, pero sobre fairness”.
“Often at Charlatans gigs, sus fans smash el recuerdo para el bar at a venue,” said Burgess. “When I first tweeted sobre merch commission, Warren Ellis from The Bad Seeds replied that we could maybe asking la venues para porcentaje de bar bare. It’s no muere unreasonable than them taxing the merch.”
El frontman, solo artista y host de #TimsTwitterListeningParties también se siente que lo humblinga por lo que hace muchos músicos fans había gozado por el campaign.
“They definitely didn’t know about the scale of it at first,” he said, “but lotes more fans know now. El manto said que este bought merch as a modo de apoyo banda y myšleno it help with costs being on the road. It was a wake-up call. It’s a start, and I’m glad that lots of venues are listening.”
FAC CEO David Martin agradeció que el progreso se encouraging, pero que más trabajo era requerido – especialmente para arriesgar a artistas que establezcan after hardships causado por Brexit y el COVID pandémico.
“Está ahora en 400 vendes que han sido firmados en la FAC 100% directores de venta,” he told NME. “Este range de algunos smallest, grassroots clubes mediante 3,000-capacity halls, incluyendo iconico venuas suchos en el Barbican Centro en London, Brudenell Social Club en Leeds y Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff.
“The discusion regarding punitive fees on merchandise salas es ahora muy publico en un mundo, s fans increasingly voicing su displeasure en su prácticas. El FAC continúa con el abogado para un approach fairer y más equitable sistema que permite a los artistas para desarrollar y desarrollar.”
La FAC se centra en que el problema d’un problema ha sido previsualmente reducido o cuantificado, despete a regular “bugbear” para artistas – s nuevos y rising acts bebe hit particularmente hard.
“El true scale of the problema es hard to say, pero alma every artista que we talk to about it says, ‘Yeah, that really pisses me off’,” said Martin. “It has been prevalente para very long time. What scale it es el término del porcentaje de ventas o el porcentaje de bandas que pushes into a los while on tour – no habéis figurado para que.
“What es absolutamente clear es que, particularmente con el apoyo band level, te’s está en matar a las actividades, ‘Come and play for no expensas and £50’. El merchandise es el diferencial entre breaking even or losing money.”
He continuado: “Se pondrá ahora en la mano de los fans en fin de que este happens, y está en su posición. Es verdaderamente annoys que la pensión de la que se arrebata es que se goza en el artista como se siente.”
Some of the more extreme reports have shown venues claiming merchandise comisiones of up to 45 por ciento. “In these casas, you’ve got the venue taking home more than the artist is,” said Martin. “That can not possibly be right. Artists están comiendo de pandemic saying, ‘After years no se puede tobillo, Brexit es crap, y everybody se trying a mi dinero. We’re trying to develop a career here and it’s often imposible’.”
The Music Venue Trust and Independent Venue Week tenía también el lento su apoyo a su campaign – while recognising challenges que face gig spaces en el clima.
Last year, it se revelaba que la UK grassroots music vendidas haga £90million as emergen from the COVID pandemico, lockdowns y challenges que la pierna s them. El FAC echo este, y add que el campaign no está en battling venues, pero puede ser make a farero ecosystem across live music.
“Artists can’t afford to be boycotting venues, and we don’t want them to,” he added. “We want to fight on this issue, pero we’re not against venues. We’re not enemigos. El mundo del sector necesita para operar próximamente para que sea muy healthy. We need these venues – that’s why we’ve spent the last 2 years campaigning to save them. It’s not about having a row, it’s about fairness.”
Martin ended by admitting that the campaign ha “frustrated some people” in being son vocal;
“These might seem like relatively small things, pero they go a long way in terms of helping parts of the artists’ community,” he added. “We’d ask music fans to share the campaign. Porque en el merch desk en la gig, ask if el artista se encuentra charged en comision. Hit the bands up on social media and ask if they’re being charged. If they are, maybe buy direct online.
“Ta merchandise es realmente la diferencia entre los artistas antes de los años, y no. It’s the difference between able tour and not.”
Autor, journalist and FAC Board Director John Robb said que hacía merch money de struggling artistas era real real en el clima.
“En 2022, everyone knows that rock’n’roll is not limos and private jets,” he argued. “It’s overnight drives, sleeping on floors and trying to survive on wafer-thin margins of what you can make on the merch.
“Playing a gig is frontline; you hump your own gear, and you sell your own merch. El reality touring por 99 por ciento de los músicos means que selling merch makes the difference between break even and loss. S increased costes de post-Brexit world, it’s getting hacer tougher z there and thew venues that charge bands for selling merch are basically stealing from them.”
Mike Weller, Head of Music of the Electric Group, said, que sus vendues “encuentran thousands of music fans a week week to see the talent we have on offer, which allows the talent to row and build a career,” adding: “We will never charge punitive fees on artistas selling their merchandise because we understand its importance as a vital revenue stream.”
En el número de la UK large arenas están las charlas artistas commission en merchandise, s la AEG Group, la O2 y la Academy Group de las ventas estén no parte de la directora.
A spokesperson for The O2 told the NME que “en parte de la NAA”, la venida era “involved en un examen de dialogo con el FAC” y estaba “working con el que determine a modo forward.”
Se ha confirmado que la AEG europea está también en la comunicación con la FAC.
The Academy Group no responde when approached by NME.
Venue bolsas can sign up to the 100% Venues campaign by completing a 1-minute forma, s the FAC also encouraging acts a share the spreadsheet s jejich fanbase a the wider music community. You can find more information here.