Alex Guinness said:
Thanks for that, Lee. I hadn't realised.
Is the merchandising Company seperate from the band (forgive my cynicism, but seeing as I live close to the Essex/Suffolk border, I know that my local metal merchandising machine [should be really easy to guess which Sony band I am talking about] has the merchandising Company owned by the midget vocalist, if I am not very much mistaken)?
Anyway Lee, if you were there last night, what was your impression as you have a longer history with the band than most?
Opeth do their merch through a company called Razamataz (at least they did last time they toured). They also sell direct at
www.heavymetalonline.co.uk . It's interesting to note that the online price for the T Shirts are £12.00 (+ VAT, so about £15.00 in total).
With the shirts sold to stores and direct by mailorder there would be a royalty paid to the band, much like an album royalty. Tour merch is different. The merch company would send one of their own people on the road with the band, and then there would probably be some sort of profit split at the end of the tour. This kind-of explains why shirts are usually more expensive at shows, since there's the added cost of transportation, daily wages for the sellers, etc.
While the guys outside the concerts sell their bootlegs for a lot cheaper, try and remember that these crooks (usually organised gangs) have no royalties to pay, no overheads, and are, more often than not, printed on shitty garments that cost a £1.00 a throw at a wholesale market. I guess it's up to your personal conscience whether you would buy something like this. I guess it's similar to downloading entire albums from the net.
i didn't realise that CoF were doing their own merch these days. They used to go through Razamataz too. I guess it makes sense for them as they sell so much stuff. It would make sense for most bands at that level, so long as you have the time to organise such things. In Opeth's case, the bigger they get, I'm sure the % the manager (I know the guy, he's an experienced nogtiator and is not usually messed with) negotiates will keep increasing.
And I couldn't make it to the show I'm afraid as my Mrs was very unwell.
Lee