‘Band merch’ has come a long way over the past few years, what started as tour specific t-shirts bought at the gig has now evolved into a huge business with dedicated websites and huge ranges of products.
Looking at the online stores of recent big tourers you can see just how expansive the product offerings have become. Coldplay fans can buy engraved clothes hangers, seed pencils and holiday postcards, amongst the more usual fare of tees, hoodies, books and limited edition albums. Fans of Taylor Swift can find handbags, jewelry, photo frames, candles and even guitars on her merch store.
With artists making tour, album and song specific products as well as replicas of items seen in their music videos there is a lot of choice for fans.
To reach a wider audience of more casual fans though it's still important for artists to have their products sold at mass market retailers. These collections usually tie into big moments for the artist ,such as album releases or tours.
A great example of this is the recent global Oasis reunion tour. As well as the usual band merch site they also had pop up stores in key cities the tour was visiting. On top of this were collaborations with their beloved football club Manchester City, clothing brand adidas and a whole range of other clothing retailers. Oasis clothing could be found in retailers such as Paul Smith, Abercrombie & Fitch, Levi, Sports Direct, Next, Hollister and Shein.
There are therefore great opportunities for manufacturers in a number of categories to work with music artists to tap into their fandoms. Post pandemic, fans are more and more looking for immersive experiences from entertainment brands, and music artists are no exception.
Fans want to dress up and build connections when they go to physical live events - just look at the cowboy hats and feather boas worn in their thousands at Harry Styles' concerts and the probably millions of friendship bracelets at Taylor Swift’s record breaking Era’s tour. ABBA Voyage (the digital avatar experience) in London, as well as having exclusive merch on sale sees a large proportion of the visitors go already dressed up in official, or inspired by, ABBA outfits.
These products also offer the opportunity, and power, to develop storytelling with each item offering a unique opportunity to enhance the artist’s brand narrative. Whether it’s through the design, packaging, or limited-run items tied to specific albums or tours, each can play into building a stronger connection with the existing audience and bring in new fans.