Within the current financial dynamics of the grassroots music world, striving to make any kind of financial return from your output as an artist can seem like a far-off aim. However, in Manchester, a new festival is making a point of prioritising direct-to-fan sales of merchandise, with no cut taken from any participating venues.
The festival, dubbed Merch Market, aims to disrupt the current status quo - whereby venues take a percentage fee from all merchandise sold on their premises - and establish a more ethical, way forward for burgeoning artists to earn some return from their work.
Headlined - and co-spearheaded - by The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess, this festival is set to take place on Sunday May 25th and will span numerous key circuit venues in Manchester - Gorilla, O2 Ritz and Dog Bowl.
The initiative will primarily orbit merch stalls where artists can sell their records, clothing and other merchandise without the venues taking any commission from sales.
