While purchasing merchandise at live gigs abroad always appeared unaffordable to me — the cost of various items almost matched the cost of concert tickets — I did indulge at an Eric Clapton concert I attended in Singapore in 2007 during his Australia-Asian tour.

While there were other items on sale including caps and plectrums, I bought two t-shirts then, one for another die-hard Mumbai-based music friend, and one for myself.
While merchandising — or merch, as it is now known within the music fraternity — has always been a tool supporting artistes performing live as it provides an impulse purchase for fans to remember their attending a concert, the model of merch being merely souvenirs has changed. This is true especially since the age of the physical format has given way to digital consumption and, with it, the growth of the independent musician.
Following the recording of songs and, with the opportunity of monetising downloads in India, if any, being miniscule, merch has arrived as a true saviour for independent musicians. In fact, even if one looks at it from the global perspective, the Future Of Music Organisation (http://money.futureofmusic.org/the-new-power-trio-bands-brands-and-revenue/) says that six per cent of a rock band’s income arrives directly from merchandising. Of course, the income varies not only according to the popularity of the band but, equally important, the genre of the music played.
Much credit for the genesis of merchandising as a revenue earner for artistes should go to – who else –The Beatles. Looking back to my school days, having my parents’ return from the U.S. with a Beatles wallet was indeed a prized possession. In retrospect, I must admit that I had little, if any, awareness of the band’s music then. Nevertheless, that the success of The Beatles impacted the entire global merch industry can be gauged from the fact that merch still provides the surviving members of the band and the wives of the deceased members a revenue of upto $20 million a year, and all this 43 years after the Beatles have ceased to exist as a band!
It is also obvious that the best opportunity for a musician or band to monetise merch is at the time of a live show. In comparison, the quantum of merchandising sold through the internet — a media report makes reference to at least seven portals in India that do so – is certainly miniscule in comparison. While there are innumerable artistes that have supported merchandising in India, the combination for having it clubbed with an album is a model that appears to have worked well. Merchandising, however, is no longer merely restricted to the conventional, such as T-shirts, caps, coasters, badges, or posters.
For example, the current boy band favourite, the five-member English-Irish One Direction, has launched a toothbrush and toothpaste (http://www.onedirectionstore.com/search.html?term=toothbrush), ideal for their target audience. However, there is a whole lot of bizarre merch that remains available; for example Joel Thomas Zimmerman, better known by his stage name deadmau5 (pronounced “dead mouse”) who is a Canadian progressive-house music producer and performer who specialises in various forms of electronic dance music (EDM). He has launched headphones for cats (http://www.deadmau5.com/worlds-first-headphones-for-cats/). Consider American rock band The Flaming Lips’ merchandising selection that includes a Gummy Skull (http://store.flaminglips.com/misc/the-flaming-lips-11-gummy-song-skull-4...) that contains four audio tracks from the band, placed onto an USB located inside an edible ‘skull’, which requires fans to “eat your way to the new music!!!”
While there was, no doubt, a direct relationship between the artistes and the record label regarding the marketing and promotion of merch and its revenue share, the bond is virtually non-existent for independent artistes. They not only hold the rights to their recordings, having them distributed from their own websites and/or through the portals that support such content but, most importantly, it develops a direct link between the artiste and their fans. After all, it is the artistes who should be — and are — in the best position to connect with their fans, both in terms of music and in merch. But it is not only the younger artistes that are taking advantage of selling merchandising; the veterans — such as Indian Ocean — are also looking at utilising this tool to do so. In fact, a look at their website at the time of writing this article had a ticker running that stated: “Coming soon! Official Indian Ocean merchandise!”
— The writer has been part of the media and entertainment business for over 23 years, still continues to pursue his hobby, and earns an income out of it!