Merch programmes built around a release or a tour
Merchandise is a licence, not a product run. It uses the act's name, image and designs under agreed terms, and the terms decide how much of the calendar it takes up. We build the programme around a release or a tour so the product works and the deal stays clean.
The range and the box
The programme starts with what the product is. A clothing line, a print run, a limited edition. The category has to be defined narrowly, because the box the merch occupies decides how much room is left for other brand deals. We set the range, approve the designs that carry the act's name, and keep an approval right over everything printed.
Stock and the end
A merch run ends as well as it starts. The licence should say who owns unsold stock, what happens to it after the term, and how long designs may keep selling. The merch business runs from an operating company that licenses the name back from the holding side, so inventory risk stays out of the catalogue, and the range can be priced, discounted and wound down on paper.