Whether you’re an aspiring artist or an experienced professional, merchandise is something your fans can take home after the show. Mostly small to -mid-cap artists make up to nine times more on merch sales than streaming service royalties. To make it more graphic, 1 artist tee sold makes up for almost 12 thousand streams in revenue. The majority of revenue comes from only three items, when divided by genre, some artists can have up to 13 different products in their swag collection. Though it is proven that people value something useful over a novelty item. Because including the item into their daily lives will bring back memories much more often. Thus the useful product diversity is introduced in 2023. We’ve cherry picked some of the most sold and some – quite unconventional pieces from the deep sea of best artist merchandise that will become a useful statement piece for your hardcore fans.
How to pick the best artist merchandise?
It is a fact that all merchandise sales vary by genre. Rock fans are the ones to prefer posters, country music fans enjoy headwear, but those pop music listeners would choose a T-shirt over anything else. But the best artist merch to impress all starts with creative design. To create a magnificent piece and boost your sales as well as fan loyalty, you absolutely have to hire someone passionate for illustrating a personal brand. It is not enough just to print your logo on every item, it must be something memorable as well as cool-looking.Then your fans will feel proud when wearing an item belonging to the community.
Are T-shirts still ranking amongst best artist merchandise?
A bit more than a half of all merchandise sold in 2022 were T-shirts, mostly black. Even though this item is not the most eco-friendly, it is still top pick for music fans. Even though cotton production is creating textile waste and contributing to unsustainable cotton production, a way out is choosing an eco-friendly T-shirt supplier. Most of the wearable items are less popular due to being hard or expensive to design. It is still much easier to create a compelling T-shirt than any other wearable product. Alongside T-shirts, pullover hoodie is a hot item to include in your merchandise range. Though it is not our top pick in sustainability, fans love wearable merchandise, and it is ranking amongst the best artist merch in 2023.
Phone cases are the best merchandise for Gen-Z
The tech is becoming cheaper – more and more smartphones are being sold all over the world. That is one thing you bring everywhere, thus it needs protection. For it to last as long as possible and as good looking as possible, it is mandatory to have a durable phone casing. Thus one of the best sold products in 2022 in the print on demand industry are phone cases. They are easy to customise, but not that many artists have used them as their official merch. We would guess it is due to a vast variety of phone brands. Phone cases have been especially popular with EDM musicians and DJs, a little less beloved by contemporary pop, hip hop and rap artists. Simply because these genres are most appealing to the Gen-Z. This is a pick for the best artist merch if your fanbase are Gen-Zers who will maximise your exposure.
Best artist merch for die hard fans – a Cube lamp
Yes, we know, this is not the smallest and convenient piece of merch. It is perfect for those special people who have had your posters all over their room since they were eleven. And again especially popular with DJs as a promotional item to keep on their deck or hang nearby. Uniqcube light cube lamp can be a nice addition to your merchandise collection as well. What’s really amazing – it is foldable and lightweight to have on your merch stand while touring. It is big enough to fit your latest album art or tour info. As the lamp is fully customizable, feel free print anything on it: art, selfies, cat photos or something else for your fans to keep near and dear. Another thing which makes it the best artist merchandise is the easy-to-use online tool. So with it any of your crazy ideas can be brought to life as a cube lamp.
Best artist merchandise to wrap around your head
We all know at least one person who wears a beanie every time we see them. You can wonder about the sanitary situation under it, while all is hidden under a protective layer, we’re safe. It is not as easy to customize beanie or a trucker cap, due to the limited space for artistic freedom. I this situation a minimalist designer will come in handy to cut off the excess buzz. So what you’ll have to do is – take your band logo, be creative with it and print it on, that’s it. Not much more can fit on a hat or a cap. You should think about some more or less distinctive features of the logo and play around with the colors, shapes, fonts and hat styles. If you want to impress those rock fans, a beanie is a must. If you are a country musician – a cool trucker cap is made for your fanbase. A bucket hat is a type of hat to include if you want to mesmerise your Gen-Zers. By the way, in 2022 headwear ranked top 3 of the most purchased merchandise items.
Stick your merchandise onto anything – Stickers
This one can even be given out for free when fans purchase something else from your merch. The stickers can be geometric or cut out in any shape and are relatively cheap to produce. Most important part of the process is choosing the appropriate design shape and size. When all the measurement and design steps are done, you can think about choosing print material and supplier. What makes stickers still rank amongst the best artist merchandise in 2023 is all the hassle-free promotion of them being in random places.
Tech products as merchandise for the experienced
Most Gen-zers were born with an iPhone in their hand. Add something techy to your swag collection and watch the merch sales skyrocket. The pop-sockets, airpod cases or any other tech accessory will do the job just perfectly if your audience is mainly Gen-Zers. Well, if your item of choice is an airpod case, every time they reach to music, they will remember to include your tracks in their list. Any other accessory fit for all tech will be an awesome addition to your swag collection. For those youths the best artist merchandise in 2023 is something made for technology.
Summary
The world of merchandise is vast, there are some universal items and others more niche. When it comes to choice the best artist merchandise to wow your audience is always one fit for them. When choosing the items fit for your audience, set aside your personal preferences. Instead keep in mind your music genre, age of the fans and the budget (yours as well as one available to your fans). Items, fit for teenagers who can barely scrap enough pennies and dimes to make it to the show, might not fit the more mature audience. Amongst many items will wow your fanbase, it is crucial they are really useful and always with them. The more the item is with them, the more free attention to you.
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