In the last few columns I wrote about what happens when your band finds itself at the crossroads between the do-it-yourself world and the pay-someone-else-to-do-it-because-you-can’t-keep-up world. We’ve covered a couple of ways that you can actually make money (publishing, soundtracks, album royalties) and some unavoidable ways to spend it (lawyers, managers, business managers, tour managers). This month I’ve got one more of each-adding a booking agent to your team and signing a (hopefully) money-making deal with a merchandising company.
As your band becomes more successful (and your life gets more insane), one responsibility you’re going to want to delegate is booking gigs and tours. Having less to worry about, however, isn’t the only reason to hire an agent; your agent’s contacts with venues and other artists should help get you better gigs.
Booking agents usually earn a commission from concert proceeds (usually 5-10 percent). The unusual thing about hooking up with a booking agency is that you generally won’t sign any kind of contract, and you’ll generally have dealings only with your agent specifically. If you’re a gigantic, profit-generating arena band, your tour may have tie-ins with other things (sponsorships, promotions) that require you to sign something, but on any other level, a contract usually indicates something’s up. Anyway, you shouldn’t even consider signing something unless your lawyer has seen it (and maybe your manager and business manager, too), but you already knew that from reading this column, right?
The upside to all this is that if you start with a small agency (maybe through your independent record label or a music industry sourcebook) and need to then move up to a bigger company, you’re not legally prevented from doing so in any way. Also, if you have a really good relationship with your agent and he or she moves to a different company, you, by not being tied to any agency, can follow them.
Stuff that sucks, anyone? As with publishing and just about everything else in music, the touring business has changed a lot in the past 10 years. There are many booking agencies, but there are also thousands of bands playing every night, and with music videos and the Internet competing for people’s attention, interest in live music is down. Believe it or not, there are actually quite a few bands that sell records and have hits on the radio and MTV but can’t manage to make any money on the road. Being on a major label is no longer a guarantee that you can get a tour booked or get a merchandising deal.
Ten years ago, when commercial heavy metal was the biggest thing since sliced bread, signing a record deal pretty much made a merchandise deal a sure thing. As bands who had signed million-dollar t-shirt contracts became unpopular or broke up without recouping their advances, merchandise companies went out of business-or totally restructured the way they did business. These days, new bands are offered small deals and small (or no) advances.
Early on, we talked about how to make your own shirts (and stickers, etc.) to sell on the road. This is a cool way to make money and promote your band, but suppose you can’t keep up? Suppose you’re on tour and (here’s some wishful thinking) your Houston gig is packed with twice as many people as you had expected. Not only do you stay in tune the whole show and break no strings, but your set rocks like crazy. Bang! All your shirts for the next week of shows sell out, leaving you with nothing for the next day in Austin. You call the guy who screens your shirts in his basement and he’s only got 10 shirts that are dry enough to send to you, and since it’s 2 a.m., even those wouldn’t get to you by the next evening. Been there, done that, it sucks. Just like publishing, the longer you hold out before signing a merch deal, the better the deal you’ll get. When you make the initial jump to signing with a company, a smaller one may be just right for you: some have in-house designers and artists, some don’t. Some can offer you a fairly good deal, some can’t. Sometimes a deal can even be part of your record contract, as with Blue Grape, which is Roadrunner Records’ merchandise arm.
Besides the fact that with a big merch company you don’t have to worry about designing, moving, selling, or running out of shirts, an important advantage is that you have access to retail sales-i.e. your shirts will be sold in record stores, t-shirt shops and catalogs. Although these sales don’t usually account for as much profit as sales at gigs do, they can go a long way toward paying off your advance.
The way a merch deal works is pretty much the same way a recording or publishing deal does: you sell a company the right to use your name and image and you get an advance, which you then recoup at a rate of (depending on your deal) 20 to 40 percent. Well, enough of that. Play some weird chords while I try to think of what to write about next month.
