Band merchandise

I recently attended a small gig at a bar by a fairly new band on arrival I noticed a table set up at the side of the stage on which the band were selling every possible item you could think of with the band logo on. You name it and it was there, lighters, badges, stickers, mugs, t-shirts, cd’s, etc.

So this made me think, what is an appropriate amount of merchandise for a unsigned band to sell at a gig? personally I think it was a bit over the top to have such an array of items on display especially considering they had a fanbase of about 5 people, mostly friends!

I would be interested in hearing anybody elses views but I think when playing venues where people are probably seeing you for the first time a cd is all you should try and sell, maybe as you build a fanbase and start to see familiar faces following your gigs it is worth introducing one or two designs of t-shirt.

The only other thing I would consider in the early stages is badges but not to sell, they are far better given away for promotion.

making a living as an unsigned band

Is it possible to make a living from your band if you do not have a record or publishing deal?

Of course it is, you may not gross millions but it is certainly possible to make a decent wage working as a full time band and by this I do not mean selling out and playing covers in hotel lobbys.

The key to this depends on a couple of things though

1. at least one member of the band must have some business sense or you will need someone who does to come along for the ride (manager?)

2. you must be prepared to travel and work hard, gigging is going to be a major source of income and promotion.

But if all the band are willing to commit then it can be done.

But dont forget you need to make enough for everyone in the band, travel costs, accomadation costs etc.

you wll need to setup your own label for releases, your own publishing, your own merchandise, your own website as well as playing maybe 3 or 4 gigs a week!

If this sounds like a lot of work then you had best stick to mailing out your demos!