FAC ramps up pressure on venues over merch fees

The Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) is upping the pressure on UK venues that charge commission on merchandise sales at gigs.

The FAC launched the 100% Venues scheme – a public directory of music venues that charge zero commission on the sale of merchandise – in 2022 in a bid to address the “outdated and unfair” practice at gigs, which it says is making live touring “unsustainable”, especially in the midst of a cost of living crisis.

To date, hundreds have added their details to the database, including Koko, Earth, Village Underground, the Electric Ballroom, Troxy and the Barbican in London, The Sage in Gateshead, Cardiff’s Tramshed, SWX in Bristol and Liverpool’s Olympia.

Now, in a new open letter signed by more than 60 industry bodies and businesses, the FAC is urging venues that are not currently participating to start making changes and back the following four principles.

• Support acts must never be subject to commission charges on merchandise sales
• Artists should be offered the option to staff and operate merchandise operations at their own shows
• There must be no surprises for artists regarding commission rates when they get to the venue – rates must be agreed up front
• Every show must be open to negotiation on merchandise commissions

“Ironically, it is when artists step up to play bigger venues, and the moment their costs and opportunities increase, that the most crippling fees kick in,” says FAC CEO David Martin. “In many instances, venues have sold on or outsourced their merchandising rights to a third-party – meaning that fees appear “baked in” to hire costs, with little room for negotiation.”

“In many cases, the money made from merchandise sales is crucial to keeping shows on the road”

“It is these outdated contractual terms that we now intend to address, but, if every UK venue implemented the four pragmatic principles outlined in today’s open letter it would mark a significant step forward.”

Signatories include the Musicians’ Union, Music Venue Trust, Independent Venue Week, PRS for Music, the Ivors Academy, the Music Managers Forum, the Music Publishers Association, Hipgnosis Song Management, Help Musicians, Black Lives In Music, Red Light Management, the Association of Independent Promoters, the Association of Independent Festivals and ATC Live, as well as Kevin Brennan MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Music.

The FAC has also launched a new public petition, while Steve Mason and Jack Savoretti have become the latest artists to speak out in support of the campaign.

“The FAC’s 100% Venues campaign has already received huge support from many venues, artists and fans,” adds Martin. “We are now calling on all music lovers to sign our new petition calling for further change. Since launching our campaign, awareness amongst fans and across the wider industry has increased about the devastating impact that onerous commission fees can have on the livelihoods of artists.

“Fans in particular have become aware that money they thought was being used to support their favourite artist is in some cases spent on punitive commission fees. In many cases, the money made from merchandise sales is crucial to keeping shows on the road.”

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400+ UK venues pledge zero commission on merch

Hundreds of venues in the UK have pledged not to take any commission on artists’ merchandise sold at concerts, thanks to a campaign launched by the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC).

In January, the FAC launched a public database of music venues that charge zero commission on the sale of merchandise.

The ‘100% Venues’ directory aims to address the “outdated and unfair” practice of performance spaces taking a cut of acts’ merch proceeds at gigs.

Since January, the database has garnered more than 400 entries, ranging from grassroots clubs through to 3,000-capacity halls.

The Barbican Centre (London), The Louisiana (Bristol), The Leadmill (Sheffield) and Deaf Institute (Manchester) are among the hundreds of ‘100% Venues’.

“The relationship between artists and venues represents one of the most important partnerships in the music ecosystem,” says David Martin, CEO, FAC.

“These 100% Venues are leading the way, enabling artists to take home 100% of merchandise revenue. This makes selling merchandise at gigs worthwhile for artists, creating a fairer and more sustainable touring circuit, particularly for grassroots and emerging talent.”

“That merchandise is the difference between breaking even or losing money”

And while Martin agrees that the progress is encouraging, he says that more work is required to help emerging artists break through after the hurdles caused by Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking to NME, he said: “The discussion regarding punitive fees on merchandise sales is now very much a public one, with fans increasingly voicing their displeasure at such practices.

“The true scale of the problem is hard to say, but almost every artist that we talk to about it says, ‘Yeah, that really pisses me off. It has been prevalent for a very long time.

“What is absolutely clear is that, particularly at support band level, it’s still a matter of acts being told, ‘Come and play for no expenses and £50’. That merchandise is the difference between breaking even or losing money.”

He continued: “We’re seeing now that fans are finding out that this happens, and they hate it. It really annoys them that the money that they’re spending isn’t going to the artist as they thought.”

The campaign has draw support from the likes of The Charlatans lead singer Tim Burgess, as well as Peter Hook of Joy Division and New Order, who says: “You’re treated like gods in the dressing room and then robbed blind on the merchandise stall. I fully support this campaign and have been very vocal about this injustice to artists and fans for years. I fail to understand why these charges are so high?”

Venue bosses can sign up to the 100% Venues campaign by completing a one-minute form and the FAC is encouraging acts to share the spreadsheet with their fanbase and the wider music community. You can find more information here.

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Viagogo site traffic down 70% globally

The number of fans visiting the Viagogo site has plummeted since the secondary site was banned from advertising through Google, the Guardian has revealed.

According to figures obtained from analytics service SimilarWeb, traffic to Viagogo’s UK site has dropped 80% – from 4.5 million visitors per month to 820,000 – and by 70% on its global site – from 15.3m to 4.5m monthly users – in the almost three months since Google banned the site from paying to appear at the top of search results.

“Google is a key part of any company’s advertising mix and the suspension has certainly seen a decline in traffic from this source. However, as a global business we employ multiple marketing methods, to ensure we can reach the widest global audience effectively,” reads a statement issued by Viagogo.

“This has allowed us to manage any impact of the suspension on the overall business, whilst we are working with Google to resolve their concerns and be reinstated. Viagogo has long enjoyed a close working relationship with Google and we are in discussions presently to resolve the suspension.”

“Google is a key part of any company’s advertising mix and the suspension has certainly seen a decline in traffic from this source”

According to a 2017 IQ report, secondary ticketing sites such as Viagogo were paying up to 15 times more than promoters to appear at the top of Google’s sponsored search listings.

The move to bar the site from Google’s paid-for search results was widely welcomed by the industry with promoter Kilimanjaro Live, UK Music and anti-tout campaign groups FanFair Alliance and Face-value European Alliance for Ticketing among those to show support for the decision.

Viagogo has faced a number of court orders and lawsuits around the world. Most recently, New Zealand’s Commerce Commission was granted permission to pursue a temporary injunction against the site.

In September, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority decided to halt legal proceedings against the secondary site, in a move that concerned anti-tout groups.

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