![]() ![]() When asked how some low-priced merch-album bundles yield profits, 4Hunnid’s McNeill responds simply, “I don’t know.”įor some artists, this won’t matter: Minaj probably makes enough on high-end merch and all her other endeavours that a dangerously low margin on cheap T-shirt album bundles won’t hurt her. California rapper Phora bundled his new album with a T-shirt for “$10.99 to $11.99” or a hoodie for “$17.99 to $18.99.” But rappers like Minaj, Russ and Brockhampton all sold T-shirt/album bundles for $15 in recent album campaigns. Matt Young, EVP of Warner Music Artist Services, suggests that a good average price for a T-shirt/album bundle is $25. ![]() The odd thing about merch bundle prices is that they often seem to heavily downplay the first justification for bundling (“raising the value of each transaction”) in the hopes of achieving the second (better chart position). “Fans are probably already listening to the album, but because I sold them this T-shirt, I also get a CD sale within it.” This is unlikely.īundles serve “to trick people back into buying full albums,” says Matt McNeal, a veteran manager and A&R for J. That’s because, under the latest Billboard accounting rules, it requires 1,250 subscription streams to yield the equivalent of one sale - a fan with a Spotify subscription needs to listen to A Boogie wit da Hoodie’s new album more than 60 times during release week to achieve the same impact as one purchase. In a streaming-centric landscape, physical sales and album downloads have perversely taken on more weight. Who cares about chart position, you ask? “If you talk to any artist or label president ever, even with all of the changes in the way that people discover and listen to music, being Number One is still really important not just to the labels, but to the artists themselves,” says Larry Miller, Director of the Music Business Program at NYU Steinhardt. “So you’re making a $3 or $4 margin when they should be selling the whole thing for $30, at least - what fans would pay if they bought the album for $9.99 and a $20 T-shirt. “Let’s say for $15, you’re selling the album for the lowest retail price of $6.99 and then the T-shirt - at cost - is what, $5?” asks Amir Kashani, co-founder of media and strategy consultancy Salt + Vinegar, which has advised artists on their merch programs. Minaj, for example, was selling a T-shirt and album bundle for $15. The goal is to boost both chart position - Billboard counts bundled sales in many cases - and revenue: In the streaming era, the margin on selling music has shrunk, but there is still profit to be made from selling clothing.īut some artists are bundling albums with merchandise at such low prices that it’s hard to see how they’re making any money at all. “‘Cause he didn’t.”īundling has become increasingly pervasive, even on a modest scale. Minaj wasted little time in condemning the gimmick, even though she used it too: “What we’re not gonna do is have this fucking Auto-Tune man come up in here selling fucking sweaters and telling y’all he sold half a million fucking albums,” she said. With help from a generous assortment of album-merchandise bundles - sell a fan a T-shirt, hat or hoodie, throw in an album download - Travis Scott’s Astroworld beat Nicki Minaj’s Queen to Number One. ![]() Last August, a business-school-101 discount technique sparked a fight between rap royalty. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |