The gig thread

[Snowy]

£40 for a shirt or hat though ffs!

Yeah this is a new scam from venues, many of which (i.e. the ones owned by various large corporates, looking at you o2 ¬_¬) now insist on a 20% cut in merch sales, which has driven prices way up.

I think it stinks, they wouldn't be making anything if the band weren't playing, so how about the band takes a cut of the bar takings? That would be a lot more equitable for me, rather than talentless grasping wankers gouging the gig-goers and bands (who must sell a lot less merch as a result).

[Alex79]

£40 for a shirt or hat though ffs!

Yeah this is a new scam from venues, many of which (i.e. the ones owned by various large corporates, looking at you o2 ¬_¬) now insist on a 20% cut in merch sales, which has driven prices way up.

I think it stinks, they wouldn't be making anything if the band weren't playing, so how about the band takes a cut of the bar takings? That would be a lot more equitable for me, rather than talentless grasping wankers gouging the gig-goers and bands (who must sell a lot less merch as a result).

The prices at the Nine Inch Nails shows this summer were obscene. Like £50 for a t-shirt, more for long sleeve, up to £100 for a hoody. Just completely unacceptable.

[Snowy]

Yeah the price scales on the size of the venue/band I assume. £40 has become the standard minimum t-shirt cost at small venues, but when I saw Gojira at the Ally Pally a hoodie was £80 and tshirts £50 iirc.

It's not the bands doing though. I have seen some bands that I follow suggesting buying merch from their web-store direct to get as much of the profit to the band as possible and not to scalping venue owners, rather than buying at the gig itself.