I’m with the brand! How merch saved the music industry

Travis Scott’s two shows at London’s O2 in August were a huge success, selling out in less than two hours – with tickets for the 20,000-capacity venue going for as much as £180. But when it came to profit margins, that was only part of the story. Scott also sold $1m (£900,000) of merchandise at these concerts – surpassing a record previously set by BTS in 2019.

Scott’s windfall from this merch was partly due to the prices (£45 for a cap, £125 for a hoodie) but is also part of a wider trend. With revenue from streaming negligible and the cost-of-living crisis meaning that ticket sales may be less reliable, merch provides a financial win for artists – and especially those not at Scott’s megastar level.

Singer-songwriter Liz Lawrence has been producing merch for the last five years. For her most recent album, The Avalanche, she has tote bags and T-shirts, and she