A New Way To Make Some Cash For Your Band
October 2003
By Josh Bashara

If there's one thing that bands don't have, It's a lot of money.

You might think with all those millions of dollars passing hands each day in the music business, it shouldn't be that hard for you to get a little of it, right? Well, although It's not impossible to get some cash when you're a struggling musician, you're not going to be rolling in the dough or wearing the bling-bling platinum chains until your metaphorical ship comes in.

So, besides your 40-hour-a-week job at Happy Burger, what can you and your band do to make a little cash on the side? Before you think about donating blood or slinging crack, be aware that there are easier ways to make a buck—even when you're on the road!

Band merchandise—or "merch," as It's referred to in the industry—is the single most lucrative thing you can sell when you're up-and-coming. Merch refers to everything and anything you can sell with your band name on it: Stickers, keychains, bottle openers, t-shirts, hoodies, hats, posters, lighters and even thong underwear.

You can set yourself above the rest of the other bands" merch tables by selling unusual or novelty-type items like Frisbees and wristbands. Comedy-rock band Tenacious D made a killing back in the day by selling adult "clean-up rags" to fans—just a small towel with their name on it. Because of the unusual—and funny—nature of the item, fans shelled out hard cash for a 38-cent towel with a $1.25 patch on it.

Of course, don't forget to sell your CD too. A great way to recover your costs after your album is cut is to host a CD release party. This is a show that you'll want to promote the hell out of; if done correctly, you can bring in a lot of cash. Some bands work the cost of their CD into the door charge. For example, they charge $12 at the door, which gets fans admittance to the show as well as a copy of your new CD. Others prefer to charge a nominal fee at the door and then promote the CD over the PA at the show.

You'll want to give a few copies away for free in a drawing, too. Never underestimate the power of fans feeling "left out" when they didn't win a free copy. They'll swarm your table after the show.

Now for something completely different, The Music Phone Book has a new program designed to give bands the opportunity to make some easy cash on the side as well as promote their band. The Affiliate Program allows you to sell the MPB on your website or on a consignment basis. For each order, we'll give you a quick and easy $5!

You can incorporate the Affiliate program through your band's website.

We'll e-mail you a graphic and link specific to your band to post on your homepage. Whenever someone places an MPB order through your Website, you get $5. If you have ten orders through your Website next month, you'll get a check automatically mailed to you for $50!

You can also include a special link to the MPB's website in your band's email newsletter (If you don't have an email newsletter for your band – start one immediately – It's a quick way to get out news about your band and has the added benefit of being free). All you have to do is include the specific URL to the MPB website (that we will give your band) at the bottom of all of your email newsletters, then wait for the money to start flowing in!

Another way is to sell the MPB directly at shows or in your free time. We'll send you five copies of the MPB at a time, and after you sell all five copies at your merch table for $25 each, just send us $100 and you keep $25.

For more information on becoming part of our Affiliate Program, please contact us at 402.932.1456.