Indie Artist Advice – “Meet Me at the Merch Table”

“Thanks everyone, you can find me on Spotify!”

It’s a closing statement concert goers have become all too familiar with, and it’s terrible.

Not the part where you, the artist, thanks everybody, but the second part, where the call to action involves asking people to dive into their phones, and do a search for you.

Do you know what we used to hear, and what still works wonders today for those who say it? – “Thanks everyone! Meet me at the merch table!”

What makes this statement so magical?

For starters, there’s the obvious – it gets people to your merch table, where they’ll have all your music, t-shirts, and anything else you have for sale right in front of their face, and right at the time when they’re thinking about how much they enjoyed your set.

Second, it allows you to connect with the audience. You get to say hi to them, thank them for coming, take selfies, and sign autographs.

Fun fact – the audience at an indie music show is usually a mix of fans of each band on the bill. So when you invite the audience to meet you at the merch table, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll see some faces you’ve never seen before, because they came for another band, but you won them over over the course of your set.

Back in the day, every band on Warped Tour would end their set by telling the crowd to meet them at their merch tent, and it always had an amazing Pied Piper effect. A stream of people would flow to the tent to meet the band … and to buy things.

Personally, I was drawn in more times than I can count because I loved a band’s set, and wanted to know more. While finding out more I’d often pick up an album, or two, sometimes even getting those albums autographed.

I know what some of you might be thinking – what if I don’t have any merch?

You can still say, “Meet me at the merch table,” or “Meet me at the bar,” because that second aspect of why you should make the announcement might be even more important than selling merch – you’ll connect with the people who just saw you perform, including those who hadn’t seen you before that show. You can even spin the announcement in a fun way – “Meet me at the merch table! I don’t have any merch, I just want to say hi!”

Remember, a concert isn’t just an experience, it’s an in-person experience. It’s important to utilize the in-person nature of it as much as you can.