Russian Circles will not be selling any merchandise at L'Olympia in Paris tonight thanks to a pretty ridiculous situation. According to Russian Circles, L'Olympia has hired an outside vendor to sell band's merchandise. The vendor takes a 25% commission of the sales ad then slaps a 20% VAT tax on top of that. How those percentages stack upon one another isn't clear, but one thing certainly is – Russian Circles is gonna get utterly screwed financially in that situation.
"As you are probably aware, merch sales are vital to keeping artists financially afloat while on tour," wrote Russian Circles on their social media. "Venues often take a percentage of merch revenue from artists, and their rates have gotten higher in recent years. At tonight’s show in Paris, the venue has enlisted an outside company to sell artists' merch.
"This company takes a 25% commission and withholds a 20% VAT tax. Our options appear to be either raising our prices or losing money, so we’ve opted to not sell merch tonight. We apologize to our friends and fans in Paris who were hoping to grab a shirt or LP at the show, but we don't want to partake in this arrangement with this company. If you want our merch, it is always available at Evil Greed. Thank you."
The topic of merch cuts and how bands have been getting financially annihilated has been a very hot topic lately. Stray From The Path drummer Craig Reynolds recently discussed a similar situation to Russian Circles' at the O2 Forum Kentish Town in London that happened to Igorrr, while Khemmis explained that it's not exactly easy for smaller bands to simply rebel.
Monuments recently refused to sell merchandise in Greece due to insane cuts, while our own Frank Godla penned an editorial about why Gojira is a good example of a band trying to keep their business going in a difficult touring world. Architects drummer Dan Searle also recently posited that maybe bands should get a cut of the venue's nightly alcohol sales to balance things out, while Dark Funeral guitarist Lord Ahriman has outright said that venues are killing the live music industry. So it's safe to say that bands aren't exactly thrilled with the business practice at the moment.
