As venues have re-opened, the music tour merchandise business has begun to recover, and is preparing for a robust 2022.

During the height of this year’s June-August concert season, U.S. tours generated $108.9 million in gross merchandise revenue (including a million t-shirts) across 1,709 artists and 10,461 shows, according to the research firm atVenue. That’s up substantially from 2020 when there was $51 million in merchandise revenue (560,000 t-shirts). But it’s a fraction of the $350 million in the same period in 2019, when there 3,737 artists and 63,251 shows.

Yet while touring shows are expected to return with a vengeance in 2022 – Live Nation Entertainment had sold 22 million advance tickets through October – whether licensed music merchandise experiences a similar renaissance in venues and retail stores is far from assured.

Dealing with limitations
“There will still be a huge demand from people to experience live music and there is increased enthusiasm for buying more that will continue to 2022,” says Bill Mooney, CEO of music merchandise supplier Tannis Root. “It is going to be our busiest year so we are not adding any new business in anticipation of having to better service existing clients which will require more work with the added complications of the past year.”

The “complications” mirror those of other businesses: shipping and material shortages. That’s even for licensees that manufacture t-shirts and other products in the U.S. One of those suppliers reported that merchandise scheduled to arrive three days ahead of rock band Parquet Courts’ November tour stop in Austin, TX, was delivered eight days late. The licensee re-routed the shipment to next stop in Dallas where it arrived the day of the show.

And with cotton both carrying its highest price in 10 years and being in short supply due to a ban on Chinese imports, many in the music merch business don’t expect to be able to meet demand for shirts and other apparel until the  middle of next year.

Of course, with venues shuttered, demand shifted strongly to ecommerce at the height of the pandemic. Bands scheduled virtual concerts (not as effective a merchandise driver as live events), but it also was a time when factories were slowing production or shutting down, says Mooney. And while the plants have come back, production is still behind demand especially for live concerts. Mooney says that tour sales carry better margins (25-30%), even with the added expense of venue fees, than does general retail (15-17%), which is largely the confines of legacy singers and groups. Concert t-shirt prices also increased this year to $35 from $32 in 2019, while at retail they’re around $25.

Brick and mortar is playing a part. Hot Topic carries merchandise from many of the top current acts and Tannis is developing a program with Urban Outfitters for Sonic Youth, a group that disbanded in 2011, but for whom Tannis serves as a licensing agent, says Mooney. Tannis also represents Dinosaur Jr., Mudhoney and Galaxy 500. Sonic Youth has a licensing agreement with denim jeans supplier R13.

The summer concert season resumed this year in mid-summer after a pandemic-related hiatus in 2020. Live Nation Entertainment’s merchandise sales rose 20% in the third quarter ended Oct. 3, while Universal Music Group reported a 13.5% gain merchandise revenue to 85 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 30. And Warner Music Group reported revenue from artist services and expanded rights, which includes merchandise, rose 70% due to the resumption of tours, CEO Steve Cooper said.

So the reality is that the merchandise business is likely to be expand, but with limitations, at least in the short term. Says Billy Candler, CEO and co-founder of Absolute Merch, the merchandising company for artists such as Amine, Blackbear and Trevor Daniel: “Bands are used to having several items on their tours always in stock, but I think it’s unrealistic for most artists to be running their merch the way they did before the pandemic.”