Merchandise sales is a pretty big source of income for bands nowadays, and if you're in a band that's constantly on the road, then this is pretty much the difference between going home comfortable and going home wondering how the bills will get paid.
Behemoth, who are no "small" band by any stretch of the imagination, is suffering from the same issue every band suffers from – merch sales being cut into by venues. Here's what bassist Orion had to say about the issue in a recent interview.
“Record sales nowadays, it’s not really a source of income for musicians. So the most money that we earn is from touring.
“It’s super important for us to bring our merchandise to the people. And they know that they can buy some unique stuff at the shows, which is much appreciated, ’cause this goes directly to us. And that’s great it’s happening.”
“Some venues, they start charging bands for selling their merchandise, which causes bands rising prices of the merchandise.
“I was, three nights ago, counting everything that we need to leave in the venue; it was 42 percent altogether. So this is becoming a bad trend between the venue and us and everything. It’s becoming like a Mafia. People should be able to get whatever they want for the prices that are fair.”
Holy shit… nearly half?! I mean, for a bigger band that's probably not a big deal because the amount they're taking in is substantial, but Behemoth-sized bands and smaller, that has to hurt.
