How to make merch for your band

What do the Rat Pack, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pink Floyd, and Taylor Swift all have in common, other than being musical performers? They all have merch. Band merch lets your fans show that they have an appreciation for you and your music.

You may have looked into the cost of making custom baseball hats in Canada and decided it would be too expensive to order merch for your band. If no one buys it, you may be stuck with a garage full of band hats, mugs, and t-shirts.

Fortunately, there is a way you can have band merch without making any investment. All you have to do is use an on-demand printer.

An on-demand printer will allow you to upload your original design to their website. If you still need to get a logo, you can design one on the company’s website. The best on-demand companies will even have a few different logos to choose from.

Once you have designed your logo or selected an image that you like, you can simply choose the article of clothing, accessory, or novelty item on which you want it to appear. You may want to select a few different items. An excellent on-demand company will offer both embroidery and high-tech printing. A computerized embroidery machine will make perfect stitches on your chosen item in no time.

When you select an item, and it is printed, the company will send it out to you. You can order as many or as few as you like. There is no waste when you use this type of printing.

Selecting an Image for Your Merch

The image you use on a piece of merch should capture the spirit of your band. People should know what to expect from your music when they see it. If you are hard rock, use a symbol that suggests rebellion, such as a wild animal, tattoo, or motorcycle. If you are a new age band, use an image that suggests relaxation. A pop band aimed at teenage girls should use images of the things young girls love.

How to Get People to Wear Your Merch

If you have a website, you can sell your bling there. If you are launching a website, you can give away hats to the first ten people who visit. You can order 20 or so shirts and sell them or give them away at the next concert. Hiring models to wear your clothing and other merch at your concerts is also a good idea. They will make your band look good.

Use The Internet

If you are saavy, your band will have a page on all social media platforms. Be sure to ask all of your friends to like your band on Facebook. People who like an organization’s web page will see all of that organization’s posts.

You can hashtag bands that are similar to yours on Twitter and post your baseball cap on your Instagram page.

You can also hire Instagram Influencers to wear your caps. Find influencers who have followers that like your genre of music. Influencers who are popular with the age group you are targeting can also help.

Instagram influencers are not cheap, but they are often worth the money. One or two posts can get many people to Google you and listen to your music. Influencer posts are priced according to the level of influence a person has.

Nano influencers are people with 1000 to 10,000 followers, and their posts cost between $10 to $100. If you want a Macro influencer, such as Andra Gogan, you will have to pay between $5000 – $10,000 per post, but you will reach 500,000 to 1,000,000 followers. Mega influencers such as the Kardashians have over a million followers and charge $10,000 for every post.

YouTube and Spotify are also great ways to get people to see your merch. When you post a music video or recording of yourselves playing, include a link to your website at the end of the video with a picture of one of your shirts. You can also pay popular YouTubers to wear your items when they work their magic. Ask them to use your music on their vlogs and podcast as well since they often use background music.

Get Your Merch on eCommerce Stores

If one of your band members or friends has an eCommerce store, you can sell your merch on it. Look for a company that specializes in music souvenirs.

The best way to get people to listen to your music is to practice and play great tunes. Fans will come to great music organically. However, a little publicity never hurt anyone.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com