Whenever I go to concerts I think about the unnecessary wasted merchandise. Thinking about it from a business perspective, the opportunity cost of having too little inventory is too high because the profit margin on merch is so high. Therefore it’s a much better business decision to carry extra inventory for every show. Though more generic styles can be sold online after the tour is over, concert-specific styles can be wasted. Think the date- and venue-specific Harry Styles tees that were produced for each of his Live On Tour shows or tees that have every tour stop printed on the back. This specific merch loses value if it is not purchased on that specific tour or tour stop.
I have long loved The 1975, specifically lead singer Matty Healy, so in honor of their latest album Notes On A Conditional Form finally being released today I wanted to talk about their NOACF merchandise.
In August Matty shared on Instagram “We are not making new shirts for now. Unsustainable.” Instead they would be screen-printing new designs onto old existing merchandise from previous tours and albums. He showed a number of designs in that Instagram post, all with different designs, lyrics and logos printed on the front of the tee, and their signature rectangle outline printed on the back. They also had screen-printing stations at a few of their live shows back in August and September where concertgoers could bring their own tees and get them reprinted (plus it was free if you brought your own 1975 tee).
I was so inspired by Matty’s Instagram post that I had to buy one of those tees. When I ordered the merchandise back in August I got to choose between a white or black tee and the design I wanted screen-printed on top, but I had no idea what the shirt would actually look like until I got it in the mail a few weeks later. My tee was printed over merch from their last album – A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships. There are a few holes throughout the tee, which I’m assuming is why it wasn’t able to be sold online or on tour, but I am obsessed with it.
There is so much waste created by the music industry but I know just as well as anyone how special concert merch can be. To see people like Matty Healy taking responsibility for the waste that is created in his industry by his band on his tours and turning it into something customizable and one of a kind is just the coolest. Shoutout to The 1975 & Matty Healy for giving a shit and making art.
Especially in a post-COVID-19 world, there is a major opportunity for the live music industry to take a fresh look at merchandise. Thinking of all the tours that were cancelled and the merchandise for those tours that were already produced kills me. If they were printed with specific dates and stops on the back there’s no way they can be sold without being updated in some way.
Here are some of the ways I think merchandise can be made more sustainably:
- Using different materials. Merch tees are almost always made from conventional cotton. Hemp and recycled cotton are good alternatives that are less resource intensive.
- Producing merchandise ethically. According to What She Makes, paying living wages to garment workers would add just one percent on average to the retail price of a piece of clothing.
- Reprinting on old merchandise like The 1975. Inventory holding costs can be high and destroying old merchandise is a sunk cost, so screen printing new designs over old merch (like The 1975 did with NOACF) is a great way to clear out old inventory and make money while doing so.
- Offering custom printing at events. Like the 1975 did at a few shows, concertgoers could bring their own shirts to have designs printed on them for a fee. While this would require having skilled labor at the merch stands, it would reduce the need for having as much inventory on hand. Additionally, merch stands could offer the option to print specific dates or tour stops on regular merchandise. Like the Harry Styles tees with the specific dates and venues printed below an otherwise normal design, concertgoers could have the option to buy the plain tee or pay a bit extra to have it printed with the date and venue. This reduces the risk of holding aged inventory that cannot be sold at the next stop. Just think about how cool this would be at a festival.
Customers already have a high willingness to pay for merchandise (people complain about paying $40 for a sustainably made tee shirt from a regular store but will drop $40 in a heartbeat for their favorite artists’s merch), so I see all of these ideas as viable solutions even if it means there would be a small increase in price. Additionally, merchandise is often handled by a specific arm of the artist’s record label. Reaching economies of scale for production is often a barrier for sustainable fashion brands and leads to higher prices, but these record labels wouldn’t face the same issue due to the high volumes of merchandise being produced.
If this is important to you, use your voice as a consumer and as a fan and reach out to merchandise companies! Let them know that this is an important issue to you and that you’d love to see sustainable options. Here are some major merchandise producers and where you can reach out to them:
- Live Nation Merchdandise (Harry Styles, Dua Lipa, Jonas Brothers)
- Universal Music Group Merchandise – bandname@UMGstores.com (The 1975 the1975@umgstores.com, Taylor Swift taylorswift@umgstores.com, Lady Gaga ladygaga@umgstores.com etc.)
- BANDMERCH (Ingrid Michaelson, Anderson Paak, The Vamps)
- Manhead Merch (X-Ambassadors, Train, Panic! At The Disco, CHVURCHES, Two Door Cinema Club)
Not sure who makes and manages your favorite artist’s merch? Look on their FAQ page for a customer service contact. You should be able to tell from there.
If you’re a fan of the new NOACF album like I am and want to buy some sustainable merch, The 1975 still has three styles available. Shop the NOACF tee here, the Boot + World tee here, and the Wake Up! tee here. Under each of these tees it says “In an effort to limit our waste and protect our planet, we decided to use preexisting inventory that has accrued from prior tours and add a vintage wash. Due to the nature of using this inventory, each garment may vary slightly in coloration”.
