Tomberlin hits back at music venues taking merchandise percentages
On September 17th, indie singer-songwriter Sarah Beth Tomberlin played as the opening act for Ray LaMontagne at Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia. However, fans who were eager to buy merchandise from Tomberlin were disappointed to see that she wasn’t selling any.
In a new series of social media posts, Tomberlin explained why she ultimately decided not to sell merch while performing at Wolf Trap. According to the musician, the venue wanted to take a significant cut from her sales, which she claims would have made her lose money if she had opted to sell items.
“Last night I played in a venue in Vienna, VA called Wolf Trap,” Tomberlin wrote on Instagram. “They had the most aggressive merch cuts I’ve seen so far with a forced venue sell (meaning my seller I pay each day could not sell for me, and we could not use our own square account). The cuts: 30% of soft merch (anything that is not music), 10% on recorded merch, a 5% card fee, and a 6% tax (which they retain)”.
“Aside from trying to talk them through the fact that we are two people on a 6-week tour, chasing a bus each day and night, doing everything ourselves while above all else trying to treat others with respect and kindness and share music each night with you – I felt it was an extremely unfair rate and that altogether a merch cut is an archaic rule and truly a made up model by the heads of these venues and company’s to continue to profit off of the labor of those who’s labor is already undervalued,” she claimed.
“That is why we have to go on tour and become a Walmart and sell you T-shirts. To make a living,” Tomberlin added. “Because we artists today, especially those of us starting out the last few years, cannot afford to make a living if we don’t sell you T-shirts.”
The issue of venues taking percentage cuts from merchandise sales has become a hot-button issue among artists and music professionals in recent months. Jeff Rosenstock, whose stance on the issue probably could have been predicted based on the name of his previous band, Bomb The Music Industry!, recently posted the cuts that various venues were taking from his merch sales while he was set to tour behind his recent album HELLMODE.
“After a lot of back and forth and, I would say, inappropriate anger towards me and my tour manager from their merch manager, who barred her from entering the merch booth unless we agreed to a cut, that I would not sell this evening,” she claimed. “This is of course a major loss to me as this was one of the largest shows of this tour so far. It felt appropriate and right to make this decision.”
“I shared from my heart on stage that I was so thankful for the attentive audience and their time for listening to my set; I would choose not to sell merch tonight because I did not want to charge them $60 for a shirt to make a profit,” she concluded.
“I felt support from you to [the] audience and even some employees of the venue. I am grateful for this small platform I have to share. I am passionate about change being made in an industry that I work in and want it to be better for all of [the] US. These corporations and ‘non-profits’ will not suffer by doing the right thing”.
As Tomberlin pointed out, Wolf Trap lists itself as a non-profit. Technically speaking, the venue is a part of a National Park operated by the National Park Service. Why is an agency of the United States Government trying to shake down an artist for additional profits? That’s anybody’s guess, but now the Black Crowes shirt I bought at the venue a few years ago feels tainted.
Read Tomberlin’s full statement down below.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.