Gillian Jackson Master of Industrial Design Project Book

MERCH BOOTH: ON-DEMAND MUSIC MERCHANDISE

MERCH BOOTH: ON-DEMAND MUSIC MERCHANDISE

TO FACILITATE DISCOVERY, SUPPORT AND PROMOTION OF DIY MUSICIANS

A Masters Project Presented to

The School of Industrial Design

by

Gillian Jackson

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree Masters of Industrial Design in the School of Industrial Design

Georgia Institute of Technology August 2019

COPYRIGHT © 2019 BY GILLIAN JACKSON

Presented to: Sabir Khan, Advisor

College of Design

Georgia Institute of Technology Courtney Garvin

School of Industrial Design

Georgia Institute of Technology Alex McIntyre

Committee Member

On July 31st, 2019

acknowledgments

I would first like to thank my advisor Sabir Khan and my committee members Courtney Garvin, and Alex McIntyre. I would also like to thank Professor Lisa Marks for her guidance and support through the first stages of this project; and Professor Kevin Shankwiler for his feedback on later sketches. This project would not have been possible without the help of all the DIY musicians who I have reached out to from Montreal to New York to Chicago to Atlanta. I would especially like to recognize the musicians who I interviewed for sharing their thoughts, opinions and insights: Shelby, Emily, Gabbie, Karen, Jesse, Jeremy, Wendy, Stephe, Hunter, Jill and Marco. I would like to thank Dr. Monica Sklar for her insights into the history and culture of Punk Style and Tomahawk Prints for talking to me about the business of screen-printing. I would like to thank everyone who came out to test the booth prototype: Robert, Andy, and Jenn. Thank you to Shirley Annis for her thoughts and feedback on early concepts. Finally, I would like to thank Craig for his never-ending support, participating in all aspects of the design process and being a rock star.

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Contents vii

Acknowledgments

xi

Approach and Methodology

x xii

1 3 4 6 10 12 22 28 43 46 48 50 51 52 54

viii

Summary Glossary

Introduction

01 DISCOVER What is Merch?

A Brief History of Merch Merch in the Digital Era The "New DIY" Interviews Objects

02 DEFINE

Themes, Insights & Opportunities Problem Statement Design Criteria Brief

Initial Brainstorming Prior Art

61

03 DEVELOP

66

Product Exploration

64 76 80 83 86 88 94 100 102 104 106

Concept Development Booth Development

Final 5 Booth Concepts

04 DESIGN

Merch Booth System Booth Design

Button Design

Fan Experience

Website Interface Prototype

User Testing

110

Conclusion

114

Appendix A.1

112 116 121 122 125

References

Appendix A.2 Appendix B

Appendix C.1 Appendix C.2

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summary

With the rise of digital and streaming music, touring and sales of music merch have taken on new urgency for both big name artists and DIY musicians alike. DIY musicians engage in practices of self-releasing music, self-promotion, booking tours and producing merch without the help of major record labels.

Digital technologies lowered the barrier to entry for DIY musicians but created a new challenge of obscurity. In the face of this challenge, DIY musicians still rely on in-person sales of merch at shows to fuel their creative output. The goal of this project was to use music merch to promote, support and engage with DIY musicians. A broad immersion into the world of music merch, including historical and contextual analysis, merch artifact analysis, interviews with DIY musicians and observations of merch tables at local shows identified the opportunity for an on-demand merch booth. Prior art includes photo-booths, pressed penny machines, the Mold-a-Rama souvenir machine, the Voice-o-Graph recording booth, and live screen-printing events. This merch booth allows local fans to discover, support and promote touring musicians before and after they play a show. A final prototype was evaluated by a focus group of members of the Atlanta music scene.

The following smaller goals worked to support the overall goal of exploring the promotional, connection and income generating possibilities of merch for DIY musicians: 1.

2.

3.

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Conduct a comparative analysis of the design process, production practices and distribution channels of merchandise in the mainstream music industry with those of DIY musicians, both contemporary and historically.

Identify the different roles merch plays for DIY musicians.

Identify a design opportunity that utilizes merch to promote and financially support touring DIY musicians; and, fosters connection with local music scenes.

approach and methodology

While using the tools of Industrial Design, at its core, this project is a Material Culture project and took an object-centered approach. My entire process centered around the design, production, distribution and meanings of merch products for DIY musicians. I began and ended my research with these objects.

Initial research centered around the question: In what ways are merch design, production and distribution methods unique to DIY musicians and in what ways do these practices parallel those of the mainstream music industry, both contemporarily and historically? To answer this question, I first looked at the history of merch and then at contemporary trends. For historical, contextual and theoretical perspectives I reviewed books and peer reviewed articles covering music and subculture. I located these sources using the following search terms: “DIY Merch”, “Music Merch”, “DIY Music”, “Punk Merch”, “Music Merchandise” and by looking at each source’s references. I conducted an in-person expert interview on the history and context of merch with Dr. Monica Sklar, author of Punk Style. For contemporary trends, I reviewed popular media sources including Hypebeast and Highsnobriety, music industry publications including Billboard and Rolling Stone and blogs from the DIY music community including Bandcamp Daily. I used the following search terms: “DIY Merch” “Music Merch” and “Music Merchandise”. I analyzed themes and trends in mainstream and DIY music merchandise from these sources in terms of design, production and distribution methods.

I conducted an object analysis of both images and physical artifacts. Artifacts came from my personal collection of merchandise, collected while touring in DIY bands over the course of 10 years. Genres skewed towards post-punk, punk, experimental, avant-garde, prog-rock, and included merch primarily from bands/musicians from Chicago, New York and Atlanta. Twenty additional images of merch were selected from the digital music platform Bandcamp using the tags “DIY”, “lo-fi”, “lofi”, “Indie”, “Indie rock”, “handmade”, “punk”, and “experimental”. I excluded any musicians’ that were from outside North America and sought objects that covered a wide range product category (apparel, emblem, collectible, functional item and physical recordings) and production processes. Objects were analyzed in terms of design, production methods and end user’s experience using approaches from Material Culture Studies.

The final method of data collection was Interviews with DIY musicians. For recruitment I used an open call for participants through my personal network and through a cascading approach of referrals from interviewees. I was looking to interview people who fit into 5 overlapping categories: • • • • •

Musicians who Design and Produce their own merch (amateur) Musicians who Design and Produce their own merch (professional / art education) Musicians who Design their own merch and have it produced by friends or local businesses Musician who Design their own merch and have it Produced via an Internet on-demand service Musicians who commission others to design and produce their merch

The data collection portion of the study led to the identification of a design opportunity, and brought in tools and methodologies from Industrial Design, including the development of design criteria, a project brief, brainstorming, ideation, concept development, creating system frameworks and evaluation through user testing. The final design is not meant to be a market-ready product but rather an object of discussion. The final design takes up the themes and trends of blending innovation with reference; digital with physical; and in-person with on-line found within merch produced by DIY musicians and proposes a new hybrid object that combines merch production with distribution, data transmission with tangible products and advanced technology with contextual design.

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glossary

In this project, I use terms specific to the do-it-yourself music community, terms commonly used in the music merchandise industry, terms related to on-demand manufacturing, and terms specific to this project. For the purposed of this master’s project I am defining these terms as follows: Digital Music Era: the current era of digital and streaming music, beginning around 1999 with the launch of peer-to-peer file sharing DIY Musician: a musician who engages in practices of self-releasing music, self-promotion, booking shows, and producing merch without the aid of major record labels DIY: Standing for do-it-yourself, the original and most commonly held usage refers to household repairs or home improvements. DIY within the music scene has its origin in the 1970s with the rise of independent record labels and refers to any practice or method of production that are self-taught or performed without professional training or use networks outside of traditional institutional channels. For merch, this includes self-taught production methods like screen printing but also the use of distributed networks for production and distribution including e-commerce and social media.

Emblem: a symbolic object worn as a distinctive badge representing a particular quality or concept. For merch, this includes pins, buttons, badges and patches.

Fan: a person who is devoted to specific bands or musicians; and/or a supporter of DIY music as a belief system. Fans are often also DIY musicians themselves.

Scene: I will be using Peter J. Woods definition of scene as “either local or global communities defined by a common set of artistic and sociocultural practices” (Woods, 2017) Merch: items branded with a musician’s image, logo, graphic or other associated imagery for sale and promotional purposes. These items are tied to a musician’s identity but are secondary to the primary creative output of music.

On-Demand: being produced as needed or when required. As opposed to traditional production channels requiring minimum quantities and lead times.

Physical Music: tangible forms of sounds recordings including CDs, cassette tapes and vinyl.

Pop-up Retail: a trend of opening short-term sales spaces, offering not only retail products but also a curated customer experience. The prevelance of pop-up retail has continued to increase since its inception during the retail apocalypse of the 2010s.

Venue: any space that hosts live performances. For DIY musicians this can range from traditional music venues like concert halls to dive bars to roller rinks to living rooms.

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introduction This project began with the observation that there is a resurgence in making physical objects in the 21st century, within specific communities. I explored two contemporary groups that are united by a shared belief in the power of making - the Maker Community and the Indie Craft Community. The first group focused on technology and the other embracing the handmade; both sharing/embracing the Internet's power to connect, disseminate information, and profit in the form of e-commerce. From these two movements, my interest in making shifted towards a different group of cultural producers – the DIY Music Community. For this group, physical products are not their primary creative outputs but rather bi-products. DIY musicians create a host of associated cultural ephemera – from flyers to t-shirts to buttons. This research was motivated by the desire to explore this group of do-it-yourself product designers whose primary creative output has no physical form. Music merch can be a means for musicians to communicate visually what their songs do sonically, a means to generate income, or a way to showcase the talent of multi-media artists. Merch is all of these and is what this masters project explored.

introduction

1

Merchandise keeps us in line Common sense says it's by design What could a businessman ever want more Than to have us sucking in his store We owe you nothing You have no control You are not what you own

2

ďťż

Lyrics to Merchandise

by Fugazi

01 DISCOVER

what is merch? /mәrCH/ noun INFORMAL 1. Short for merchandise

2. As a modifier: merch girl, merch table, etc

origin

1960s: abbreviation / informal

merchandise noun

1. Goods to be bought and sold

2. Branded products used to promote musical groups

At the most basic definition merch is shorthand for merchandise, defined by the Oxford Living Dictionary as 1) goods to be bought and sold, and, 2) branded items for promotional purposes. The abbreviated version first occurred between the 1960s and 1980s depending on the source. The Future of Music Coalition, includes music merchandise as part of a musician's "brand-based income", which the organization defines as “income tied to a musician’s creative self, but ancillary to what they earn based on their sound recordings, compositions or performances." (Future of Music Coalition, 2011) This includes apparel, emblems, functional items, collectibles and - I argue in the digital music era - physical copies of music. These products are not only a source of additional revenue for musicians but hold meaning and value beyond the marketplace for musicians, fans and society at large. One of these values is that merch gives musicians a visual means to share messages, meanings and intent of their music. As per the Oxford Living Dictionary’s second definition of

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merchandise, highlighting the promotional value of merch, these products help musicians advertise and build fan bases. For fans, merch serves ambivalently as an expression of individuality and as a badge of group membership. The physical forms of merch product also hold embodied meanings - with a t-shirt carrying a different set of meanings than a bottle opener. To fully appreciate any merch product, requires an understanding its physical form, its history, how it was designed, manufactured and distributed, and the musician’s intent.

01 Discover

APPAREL

T-shirt

Public Sphere

Hats

Protest

Sweatshirts

Rebellion

Socks

EMBLEMS

Patches

Radical Thought

Pins / Buttons

Individuality

Stickers

Identity Group Membership Belonging Altering

FUNCTIONAL ITEMS

appearance

Key-chains

Cultural Currency

Bottle Openers

Customization Domestic Sphere

COLLECTIBLES

PHYSICAL MUSIC

Figurines

Nostalgia

Trading Cards

Collecting

Posters

Status

Zines

Records

Physical

CDs

Analog

Tapes

Souvenir Death / Decay

what is merch?

5

a brief history of merch The history of music merch is tied to developments in accessible, low-barrier technologies that enabled music and the experience of music to be captured, commodified and distributed outside the concert hall.

The printing press was the first means to commodify music in the form of sheet music, with the first example occurring in 1465 with the printing of a set of liturgical chants. This ability to mass produce and distribute music in tangible form began the commodification and associated profits from what was previously only experienced through live performance. It soon followed that music would be registered, copyrighted and licensed. By the late 19th century, sheet music in America was a hot commodity, with heet music for the song “After the Ball” selling 1 Billion copies.

Capturing sound and replaying it as recorded music was the next step that enabled further product development and profits from music. By 1925, sales of recorded music exceeded that of sheet music. The ability to mass distribute recorded music enabled musicians to profit not only from live performance but also from associated physical products.

By the 1940s, “Bobby Soxers” were making homemade t-shirts for their favorite musicians, such as Frank Sinatra. In their book, Cool: Style, Sound, and Subversion Foley and Luecke describe the Bobby Soxers as “the first teenage girls to scream, faint, and stampede after music stars” but also note that the Bobby Soxers were not just star-crazed teenagers but also “defined their own tastes and interests” and go on to argue that these teenage girls had a lasting impact on subsequent fe-

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male-powered style and culture movements, like the Riot-Grrrl movement in the 1990s (Foley & Luecke, 2017).

While the Bobby Soxer’s homemade fan t-shirts are cited as the earliest examples of music merchandise in America, it was not until the 1950s that music merchandise, as we now understand it, emerged. In 1954, Elvis Presley Enterprises was established with the aim of profiting from Elvis merchandise but lay dormant for many years.

However, just as we saw with the registration of sheet music in years prior, wherever there is money to be made, there are people around to claim a share of the profits. In the1960s, the idea of officially licensing and profiting from music merchandise really took off, with Beatles mania. In these early years of officially licensed merchandise, NEMS, the management company established by the Beatles manager Brian Epstein, received 10% of the profit from Beatles merchandise and then later 46% (The Music Network, 2015). This move to officially license music merchandise established a line between who could and could not produce products with musicians’ images, logos, names and likenesses- defining these products firmly within the realm of mass production.

While as early as the 1940s, t-shirts were used as mediums for political and military messaging, it was not until the 1960s, with the perfection of screen-printing, that the printed t-shirt was no

01 Discover

longer a handmade item but fully intertwined with This new do-it-yourself (DIY) approach to being the world of commerce. Band merch was now in- a musician led to new merchandise formats, like extricably linked to commerce, but the band t-shirt buttons and zines, empowered by easy to learn was also a vehicle for sharing deeper messages production technologies - the button press and about a band or musicians’ political stance and photocopiers. The key to these forms of merch beliefs (Hall, 2018) were that they were both affordable to produce, and easy to create low-volume runs yourself.

Since the 1960s music merchandise has oper- However, within punk there was not a universal ated on two levels: as a product of mainstream acceptance of the independent or DIY approach consumer society and as products of subcul- to producing merch. This tension can be seen in tures. The relationship between musicians, artists, the following recollection from Joly MacFie, the merch producers and fans within these subcultural founder of Better Badges in the UK, when he degroups is much more complex than that of main- scribes his 1977 Badge for the band Blondie: stream consumer society. Within these subcultures, merchandise has served multiple roles such When [Blondie] came to London, they were as alignment to subcultural beliefs, as cues signal- amazed to find they had so many visible fans! They ining belonging or membership and as creative ex- vited me to hang out at their hotel. Next time Blondie pression of identity (Skylar, 140). In the 1960s, the came, they brought their own merch. The manager most well-known example of merch blending with started to give me grief at the show, but I successfully subculture was the Grateful Dead merchandise argued, pointing to my wall of many badges, that they (Hall, 2018). While musicians were writing protest weren’t merch – they were a medium, (Quoted in the Guardian, 2016)

The move to officially license music merchandise established a line between who could and could not produce products with musicians’ images, logos, names and likenesses - defining these products firmly within the realm of mass production. songs and visual artists were expressing political This divide between the merch produced by mamessages in the form of psychedelic prints, band jor record labels and that produced by DIY musimerch in the form of the t-shirt brought these cians continued through the 1980s. In 1989, the worlds together. Psychedelic prints produced Washington Post describes the importance of by artists , ike Warren Dayton, were associated merchandise, “over the past few years, rock-andwith spreading countercultural messages (Hall, roll has become a front for the t-shirt business” 2018). When these same prints showed up on going on to add that 1.6 billion t-shirts were sold band t-shirts, the wearer was expressing solidar- in 1987 and sales of music merchandise reached ity with the musicians, and the politics expressed $300 million (Harrington, 1989). The subcultural through imagery. response shifted from Punk to college rock, the American hardcore scene and the boom of DIY The 1970s were the era of stadium rock, with record labels. In the 1990s, punk crossed over to mega acts like the Rolling Stones, KISS and AC/DC. Major Record Labels with bands like Green Day According to Glenn Alan Baker, AC/DC was the first and Nirvana becoming mainstream and on the DIY tour to make more from merchandise than ticket music side we saw the continuation of hardcore sales (Quoted in, The Music Network, 2015). It and the Riot-Grrrl movement. For both mainwas only once music merchandise had been offi- stream and DIY musicians throughout the late cially licensed, and became an established part of 20th century, physical music was the main event the mainstream system that it was also part of a and merchandise played a supporting role. It was system to rebel against. The birth of Punk in the not until the late 1990s that everything changed 1970s was the most visible and longest enduring for both major record label musicians and DIY muface of this rebellion. The goal of punk to “com- sicians with the ability to instantly acquire music in municate a message of anarchy and resistance” digital format through the Internet. made merchandise, most notably t-shirts and buttons, a vital component of this equation (Hall, 2018). The spirit of rebellion also generated the emergence of independent music, which took an ideological stance against the mainstream music industry with its Major Label contracts, management and licensing structures.

a brief history of merch

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NEW INVENTIONS PAVE THE WAY FOR MUSIC MERCH

1893: SHEET MUSIC FOR “AFTER THE BALL” SELLS 1 MILLION COPIES 1906: INTRODUCTION OF THE “VICTROLA” HOME RECORD PLAYER

RECORDED MUSIC BOOM

1910: SALES OF

RECORCDED MUSIC ON

DISC EXCEEED CYLINDER

1925: SALES OF RECORDED MUSIC

EXCEED SHEET MUSIC

T-SHIRTS HIT THE MAINSTREAM

1938: FRUIT OF THE LOOM AND HANES START MASS-

BIRTH OF OFFICIALLY LICENSED MUSIC MERCHANDISE

MUSIC LICENSING TAKES OFF WITH BEATLES MANIA

1956: ELVIS PRESLEY ENTERPRISES ESTABLISHED

1968: BEATLES FORM APPLE CORPS

MANUFACTURING

T-SHIRTS

1943: VINYL BECOMES MATERIAL OF CHOICE FOR RECORDS

1964: CASSETTE TAPE BECOMES MAINSTREAM 1960S: GRATEFUL DEAD FANS DUB AND TRADE CONCERT TAPES

1940S: BOBBY SOXERS MAKE HOMEMADE BAND T-SHIRTS

1956: 1ST CONCERT T-SHIRT PRODUCED BY ELVIS FANCLUB

1960S: ADVANCEMENTS IN SCREENPRINTING ALLOW BANDS TO PUT LOGO ON ANY T-SHIRT

1965: BILL GRAHAM

CREDITED AS ESTABLISHING

1896: WHITEHEAD & HOAG PATENT THE “CELLULOID BUTTON”

THE CONCERT T-SHIRT

BIRTH OF MUSIC MERCH Physical Recordings T-Shirts Emblems

1890S1900S 8

1910S1920S

01 Discover

1930S1940S

1950S

1960S

MERCH SATISFIES CONSUMER APPETITES AT ARENA ROCK SHOWS

SUPERSTAR PROFITS FROM MERCH SALES GO FROM MILLIONS TO BILLIONS

PUNK AND GRUNGE EXPLOSION ON MAJOR RECORD LABELS

1982: CDS ENTER

1997: MP3.COM LAUNCHES

DIGITAL MUSIC SIGNALS DEATH OF RECORDED MUSIC

1970S: AC/DC 1ST BAND TO MAKE MORE $ FROM MERCH SALES THAN TICKETS

1970S: IRON-ON TRANSFERS POPULAR FOR BAND T-SHIRTS

MARKET AS AUDIO FORMAT

1999: CD-RS ENABLE PEOPLE TO BURN THEIR OWN CDS

MUSIC MERCH TAKS ON NEW MEANING AND VALUE IN THE DIGITAL ERA

1999: NAPSTER.COM PEER-TO-PEER FILE SHARING

1976: ARTURO VEGA SELLS SCREEN-PRINTED RAMONES T-SHIRTS FOR CALIFONIA TOUR

1999: CAFEPRESS.COM ACCEPTS DIGITAL FILES FOR DIY MERCH

1976: FAN ZINES FLOURISH

1995: BUSY BEAVER BUTTON CO. FOUNDED

DUE TO ACCESSIBILITY OF PHOTOCOPYING

PUNK ‘S DIY ETHOS INTRODUCES NEW MERCH FORMATS

THE RISE OF INDEPENDENT RECORD LABELS

LICENSING DEALS SYMBOLIZE SELLING OUT FOR 80s & 90s HARDCORE

1970S

1980S

1990S

DIGITAL MUSIC ALLOWS MUSICIANS TO CONNECT DIRECTLY WITH FANS

2000S

a brief history of merch

9

merch in the digital era

Diy merch examples.

For celebrities, music merch in the digital era is about branding, high-end design and curated experiences. I researched current trends in mainstream merch through fashion and music publications.

Vogue magazine declared 2016 the year of “Merch” and according to Rolling Stone, sales of music merchandise hit $3.1 billion that same year (Yotka, 2016; Browne, 2018). This new wave of celebrity produced merchandise falls against proclamations of the death of the music industry – with sources citing first the rise of peer-to-peer sharing like Napster, then digital downloads and now streaming music (Harrington, 1989; Gerber, 2017).

In the 21st century, music merch has become one of the largest revenue generating endeavors of musicians of all levels due to the fact that analog music recordings like CDs, tapes, and vinyl have lost much of their value both for consumers and for musicians alike. This devaluing of physical re-

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cordings is a result of first, issues of piracy, then digital downloads and now streaming services.

Mat Vlasic, who runs the merchandising company Bravado describes that with digital music replacing physical forms of music “fans are craving something physical” (Browne, 2018). For fans, attending live music satisfies an experiential need whereas streaming music provides access to music as recorded sound. However, listening to streaming music does not satisfy the need for collecting and possessing physical objects previous filled by physical music formats. Collecting physical music not only allows people to listen to the sound contained on the vinyl, tape, or CD but also satisfies a need for collection and materiality. Physical music not only contains the sounds recorded by the mu-

01 Discover

Left: logo and safety pins from 032c, Right: M.I.A. downloadable merch Image: Vogue

sicians, but also contain a visual representation of the musician’s intent in the form of album art, liner notes and packaging, and is a multi-media representation of the musicians’ message. When consuming music through digital formats much of this experience is lost. Does merch fill the void?

Warhol and The Velvet Underground. (Sklar, 2013).

The rise in popularity of merch in the mainstream has also generated multiple spin-off industries including bootleggers, counterfeiters and fan-produced merch. While bootleggers and counterfeiters have been around since the early days of Innovative merchandise offerings and means of merch, the advent of e-commerce generated distribution have now become one of the primary new means to distribute these items and a new ways in which musicians generate income. Art- category of merch: fan-produced merch. Fanists like Kanye West, Fall Out Boy, and Daft Punk produced merch is akin to fan -fiction, in that, the are all cashing in, not only at concert sales and primary motivation for its production is as a form on-line but also at highly curated Pop-Up store of creative expression rather than for monetary experiences. Fall Out Boy’s store features a $150 gain. However, fan-produced merch is not only hand-painted denim jacket (Browne, 2018). produced for individual consumption but also sold through e-commerce sites such as Etsy. The reAnother recent trend in celebrity merch is “DIY actions of celebrity's to fan-produced merch is Merch." In 2016, the British musician M.I.A. of- varied. Artist like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift have fered a graphics pack for fans to download from filed cease and desist letters to fans producing

“Music merchandise has become something that has far outgrown its roots in relation to financial gain and aesthetics – it has become a huge help in conveying deeper messages from albums”

merch (Ramirez, 2015; Payne, 2015). Lady Gaga her site. The artists described her reasoning be- took a different approach and commissioned Etsy hind this approach on twitter as “Can't even being artists to make original posters to raise money for myself to make merch - destroying environment charity (Bidwell, 2011). Slayer encourages homeand enslaving peeps can I just give u a vector and made fan art by requesting fans to post their “pics you print on ur T/hoodie” (M.I.A, twitter, 2016). of SLAYER tattoos, handmade merch, album colThe magazine 032c had a similar approach, sell- lections and anything you die-hards would like!” ing their logo and safety pins as “an authorized under the #repentless but their merchandising bootleg, if such a thing exists.” (Yotka, 2016) While company, Global Merchandising Services, filed a these innovated approaches highlight music mer- lawsuit against bootleg merchandise sellers (Nielch's ability to morph and change with the times, son, 2018). what remains constant in the 21st century is the importance of merch to broadcast musicians' To illustrate the relationship between officially produced merch and these unofficial spin-off identity and ensure their financial prosperity. industries, I chose the band Slayer because of Much like album art in years past, contempo- their brand recognition and at times contradicrary merch offers a visual medium for musicians tory relationship with all forms of unofficial merch. to communicate deeper messages about their Slayer offers a wide range of merch offerings on identity, political views or meanings behind their their official website, everything from t-shirts to music. In an on-line article for Hypebeast, Arby Li baby onesies to shot glasses. There is also at least discusses how many musicians utilize their merch one web-page titled “Shirt Stains” on the web-site as a way to communicate messages about per- “Toilet of Hell” that is dedicated to posting picsonal identity and the meaning of music through tures of bootleg Slayer t-shirts. Finally, in terms visual representation. He argues, “music mer- of fan-produced merch, there are multiple Etsy chandise has become something that has far out- sellers who create their own original products in grown its roots in relation to financial gain and aes- tribute to the band, or re-purpose official merch thetics – it has become a huge help in conveying products in new formats. deeper messages from albums” (Li, 2014). This multi-media representation of musicians' mes- . saging is rooted in a long history of collaboration between visual and musical artists, as well as, the business of merch being a highly profitable industry of its own. The relationship and collaborative nature of music merchandise goes back to the 1970s with a notable collaboration between Andy

merch in the digital era

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the "new DIY" Official celebrity merch, bootleg merch, counterfeits and fan-produced merch are all products or bi-products of the mainstream music industry but these forms of merch have parallel products and means of production that raise questions about commodification, consumerism, and production, in both overt and covert ways DIY music has origins in a myriad of radical politics including 1960s counterculture and 1970s punk and anarchy communities. From these origins, DIY has in many ways been commodified by the mainstream and in many ways remained true to its ethos. The Internet has empowered more musicians than ever to release albums but with this new ease comes a new challenge of self-promotion. The Internet and social media have not only shifted the way we consume music but also the culture surrounding music. Bands can no longer blame Major Record Labels' control of music distribution for their lack of success. Rather than getting signed and selling-out, the new rat race is of on-line self-promotion through social media. The DIY scene is no longer the united underground of the 1980s and 1990w with its “us vs. them� camaraderie. Instead, there are now many facets of doing-it-yourself as a musician; and, the associate pressures to succeed are just as numerous (Peoples, 2010).

"Often called the democratization of the music industry, the ability to reach out directly to consumers is the single most important aspect of the 'new DIY.' There's now a base level of on-line activity that anyone can achieve. A no-frills website, a You Tube account, a low-cost digital From the history of merch in the 20th century, distributor, a few social network we saw how the commodification and licensing both the physical formats of music and associ- profiles and a basic e-mail ated merch products by Major Record Labels led to the emergence of independent music scene in service can achieve what was the late 1970s. In addition to providing an alternative to the major record labels, many of these nearly impossible in 1999" independent record labels shared a common DIY or do-it-yourself ethic (O’Connor, 2008). In the book, Our Band Could Be Your Life Michael Azerrad describes how the American political backdrop of

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01 Discover

Peoples.

2010.

Billboard

the 1980s Reagan era motivated American youth to rebel against the establishment at large, As usual, music was the first art form to register discontent. Underground rock protested not just with its sound but in the way [emphasis added] it was recorded, marketed, and distributed. And since the music business is one of the most familiar and yet mutable manifestations of cultural power that American Youth recognizes, in a larger sense rebelling against the major record labels was a metaphor for rebelling against the system in general.

(Azerrad, p. 9)

at will (Luuvas, pg. 1). In this “cut and paste” approach the tradition lines between designer and producer fade, as the production process itself becomes part of the design process. He cites the availability of “once-elite technologies” now being widely available as the fuel for this new form of creation. Joanna Demers describes another inspiration to the creative process among DIY musicians as a form of “Creative Anachronism” where relics of the past, like the cassette tape, are used as a jumping off point during the creative process (Demers, 2017). In this system, design and production become one process, with the authorship of a “designer” playing a lesser role than in the mainstream. The goal is to get a message out in the most direct and accessible way possible.

The above quote illustrates that one key component about the DIY music community is that they value process. The way they produce any DIY musicians turn to production methods that of their cultural artifacts, from how music is re- are easy to learn and affordable to enable this corded to how they design a t-shirt to how they creative process including screen-printing, stenpress a button is just as valuable, if not more so, as ciling, and button making or the use of affordable the end-product. In the spirit of rebellion against local producers or on-demand e-commerce sites the status-quo or establishment, it is important catering to niche markets requiring low upfront that all off these practices take place outside of investment. Distribution for DIY musicians is primainstream channels. Peter J. Woods describes marily direct-to-consumer sales taking place at this DIY ideology within the DIY music scene as “a merch tables during live shows. belief system that values DIY production methods, networks and practices that exist outside of the The emphasis on alternative production and distritraditional corporate or institutional channels as bution channels, aligns the DIY music community inherently more meaningful and valuable (Woods, with other contemporary DIY communities like 2017). This is a community that for various rea- the Indie Craft Movement. In the book Craftivism, sons have opted out of the mainstream music Faythe Levine describes the relationship between industry in favor of a supportive community of punk, craft and the DIY lifestyle “This autonolike-minded participants who are creating their mous scene [punk] was based around music and own networks, promotion and consumption pat- embraced zine culture, direct action, and radical terns (Burns & Threadgold, 2018). art-making practice. It was my introduction and gateway to a DIY lifestyle.” (Levine, 2014). When While having origins in punk genres, the contem- thinking about how DIY Merch intersects with porary DIY music community spans across many the Indie Craft Movement, there are thematic musical genres but is unified through practices overlaps such as using the Internet as a tool to such as self-promotion, booking, running venues, communicate messages of resistance and viewcreating record labels, self-produced music and ing analog and digital technologies as equally valid merchandise. The literature on DIY music merch means of production in the digital era. comes primarily from the fields of cultural studies and sociology and examines DIY musicians’ moti- DIY merch can be viewed as a form of making, and vations for producing their own merch as evidence as such, examining the literature of contemporary for different cultural theories. I read two peer re- “Maker Culture” offers areas for comparison and viewed papers that explicitly discussed the mo- distinction. The literature on the Maker Movement tivations for creating music merch within the DIY spans multiple fields, including design, HCI and music scene, the meaning of these practices and Digital Media and includes both praise and critihow these practices can transfer to other profes- cisms. Some criticisms include the movements sions, but neither discussed in detail the products cultural bias and the language of dominance and themselves from a design perspective (Burns & control promoted by media outlets and key figures Threadgold, 2018; Sklar & Donahue, 2018). within the movement (Lidntner & Lin, 2017). In their article, “Making and its Promises” that apBrent Luuvas describes the contemporary DIY pears in the journal CoDesign, Lidntner and Lin scene, in general, as a form of collage that de- identify that making can have a variety of meanmocratizes the creation process and prioritizes ings for different groups, and any form of making passion and intent over “skill, knowledge and tech- must consider its historical and cultural origins nological skill” (Luuvas, p. 1). He goes on to state (2017). When viewed as a form of making, merch that the DIY design process in the digital era has produced through DIY practices can trace its linmoved from that of bricolage of decades past to eage to a time that predates the technology foa form of “cut and paste” where brands, logos, im- cused “Maker Culture” of the 21st century. agery, and cultural references are mixed together

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COMPARISON OF DESIGN, PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION PRACTICES BETWEEN MAINSTREAM AND DIY MUSICIANS DESIGN

IN-HOUSE MERCHANDISING

MUSICIANS SIGNED TO MAJOR RECORD LABELS

COLLABORATION WITH DESIGNERS / VISUAL ARTISTS

DIY MUSICIANS

DESIGNED BY MUSICIAN

INDEPENDENT RECORD LABEL

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PRODUCTION

DISTRIBUTION

MASS-PRODUCED

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

BESPOKE POP-UP STORES MUSIC STREAMING PLATFORMS

LIMITED EDITION

MERCH TABLES

AT SHOWS

ON-DEMAND ONLINE PRODUCTION

HANDMADE

MERCH BOOTH

the "new DIY"

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Development trajectory of the US music Industry by Revenues (1950-2015), Source: Naveed et al, 2017

The rise in streaming music has seen a parallel rise in live performance. For DIY musicians, this makes hitting the road and going on tour a matter of necessity.

For the music industry at large, revenue generated from live music surpassed that of physical music around 2010 (Naveed, et al.). The 2011, Music from Money survey from the Future of Music Coalition found that among “emerging independent rock musicians”, 49% of income comes from live shows and when combined with other touring related activities, including sales of physical recordings and other forms of merch, this percentage rises to 69.3%.

With the rise in live performances comes competition for the associated revenue. Superstars have been able to cash in by raising ticket prices, but DIY musicians are not in the same position. Glenn Peoples from Billboard magazine explains “superstars have been able to raise their ticket prices as their music sales have softened, mid-tier and upand-coming artists don't always have that luxury.

Artists who release music in order to tour - rather than tour to support new releases - can't afford two loss leaders.” (Peoples, 2010) DIY musicians do not have the draw or name recognition to set their own ticket price. Instead, ticket prices are typically set by the venue and with the band receiving a cut of the door money. Band may also receive a guarantee or in rare cases a cut of the bar.

The best-case scenario is bands receiving 100% of the door money. In the worst-case scenario, the venue has a minimum door revenue that must be met and the band gets what’s left over. In this scenario, bands could wind up owing money to the venue at the end of the night if this minimum is not met. Sometimes bands know how they

16

"It was fairly common for bands to carry their T-shirt screens with them when they went on tour so they could screen shirts when they ran out ... Ian [Minor Threat/Fugazi] was not terribly in favor of selling merchandise, but he let the band be a democracy, and we certainly needed what little money the shirts bought us."

01 Discover

Jeff Nelson, Minor Threat / Dischord Records, quotes in Easby and Oliver, p. 89

will get paid ahead of time but sometimes a band does not know the details until the night of the show. Whether getting a cut of the door money or a guarantee, bands almost always receive 100% of the profits from the merch table.

All the bands and musicians that I spoke with stated that they sold merch and physical copies of their music almost exclusively at merch tables at shows. In this way, the venue acts as marketplace.

For local musicians, merch sales are a bonus, but for touring musicians, this income can literally fuel the gas tank to get to the next city. There are several different types of venues that DIY musicians play, with each serving different roles for both musicians and the local music scene. House shows generally offer touring bands the highest percentage of income generated from the door, with the organizers of these venues giving bands 100% of the door money and touring bands receiving the largest. DIY mixed-use venues operate similarly to house shows but with more developed resources.

These spaces are often registered non-profit art spaces and are founded by local members of the DIY music community to support both local and touring musicians. These spaces generally give musicians a large proportion of door money but sometimes keep a cut for overhead costs, such as, staff and space rental. Bars and smaller dedicated music venues typically keep most of the door money but some do have door minimums or space rental fees. Finally, record store performances are often unpaid and serve as promotion for other shows in the same city. However, record stores also offer an opportunity for musicians to sell their music and/or merch at wholesale prices, on consignment. I have summarized below the types of venues DIY musician typically play with a brief description.

Music Clubs

Music clubs are dedicated music venues whose primary purpose is hosting live concerts and performances. They range from theaters, to nightclubs. Unless part of a showcase or a festival, DIY musicians will typically play music clubs with 100-300 person capacity. These spaces can be 21+ or all ages. Sometimes larger venues will have smaller dedicated spaces and/or own smaller venues specifically dedicated to up and coming acts.

Examples include Purgatory at Atlanta’s Masquerade, or the Bowery Ballroom and Mercury Lounge in New York City.

Dive Bars

Dive bars are venues that serve primarily as 21+ drinking establishments but also host live performances. Some bars will only host live music certain days of the week or may have different themed nights. Bars will normally give the band

a cut of the door money and in some cases a cut of the bar sales for the night for playing.

DIY / Experimental Galleries

DIY galleries are usually mixed-use art spaces that host a variety of programming including visual art and music shows. Today, these spaces are usually registered non-profits and have a mission to serve local arts communities. Some of these spaces are dedicated all ages venues and others will have 18+ or 21+ policies for specific events.

DIY House Venues / Shows

DIY house shows are where many DIY musicians get their start. Some of these venues are long standing houses that have been hosting music shows for decades. Whereas, some house shows are one-off events. Often DIY venues are also residential spaces with venue organizers living in the same space. These venues face a tenuous legal situation and are under continual threat of being shut down by the authorities. These spaces are run by members of the DIY community and usually give 100% of any money from shows directly to the touring bands. Some DIY house venues will operate a cash bar to help cover cost of running the venue.

Independent Record Stores

Independent record stores have long been a space for independent musicians to sell their recordings and often their merch products like buttons or t-shirts. These stores serve as a gathering spot for the community and often host bands for instore performances. While unpaid, these shows may allow bands to "pass-the-hat" and offer a strong exposure and promotion.

Music Festivals

Music Festivals range in size and variety from County Fairs to Warped Tour. These are typically multi-day outdoor events, but in city centers , can also spread out across multiple venues (i.e. CMJ in New York City). DIY musicians either apply or are asked to play festivals. Festivals typically pay a guarantee to bands. Even if the guarantee is low, playing a festival is good exposure for DIY bands because it gives them the opportunity to share the stage with more well-known bands. Playing

the "new DIY"

17

T-shirts

and

pricing

No

?

Display

one at

table when

Band

is

playing

Tapes

18

01 Discover

Records

CDs

a festivals is often an impetus for bands to book a tour.

Other

Depending on the type of event and genre of music playing college campuses, bookstores, coffee shops, museums, strip clubs, bowling alleys, roller rinks can all serve as music venues for DIY musicians. Some of these venues will pay guarantees, like college campuses or events hosted by museums. Whereas, other venues serve as an opportunity for musicians to bring their music to new audiences, outside of the typical dive bar or music club.

I also attended shows and events at different types of venues and observed the merch tables, or merch resources offered at each.

The Bakery, Atlanta

I attended a screen-printing class at the Bakery, a new DIY venue in Atlanta that hosts a variety of music and visual art events. The space recently opened a “pop-up” maker-space that features a screen-printing station, wood shop and a variety of sliding scale classes on topics from hand embroidered patches to LED clouds. This wide range of programming seems reflective of the community they serve and of the larger trends towards making and hacking. This type of DIY space operates as a form of hybrid gallery /maker-space .

Star Community Bar, Atlanta

Star Bar’s website describes itself as “Your local community bar since 1991”. It’s a one room 21+ dive bar with a stage in the center and two bars on either side of the stage. The venue has a capacity of 200 people. I attended a show Girls Rock Atlanta fund-raiser show and album release for the band Gabbie Rotts, on a Friday night. The bill was made up of four local bands and had a $10 cover. I estimate the crowd was between 50-100 people at various points in the night. There was one merch table towards the back of the bar with two of the bands on the bill selling merch. The opening band was selling tapes and stickers; and ,the headlining band was selling Tapes, CDs, Hats, T-shirts and posters. The merch table was staffed by members of the band.

Purgatory, The Masquerade, Atlanta

Purgatory is the smallest venue of the Masquerade venues, located in Underground Atlanta. The venue has a capacity of 300 people and frequently host up-and coming touring bands with local support. I attended a show on a Wednesday night with two touring bands and two local support acts.

The opening band was playing their first show and brought a relatively large crowd to support them.

The merch table was staffed by a friend of one of the touring bands and had a large variety of merch from both touring bands but neither local band.

The merch table prominently displayed that they accepted card payment. One touring band had a movie theater theme for their merch and it appeared that a considerable amount of effort went into the display. Both bands were selling multiple t-shirts, along with physical copies of their music and one band was selling custom koozies.

To further illustrates the touring experience for up-and-coming DIY musicians, I conducted a case study based on an interview with the band Gabbie Rotts. Gabbie Rotts is a three-piece Riot-Grrrl band base in Atlanta with a social media presence on Instagram, and Facebook; music available on Bandcamp and Spotify and album reviews from Atlanta music publications including Plasma and Immersive Atlanta. For their most recent album, the band went on a one-week album release tour up the east coast, playing seven shows in Asheville, Richmond, DC, NYC, Philly, Baltimore, Chapel Hill and culminating with an album release show in Atlanta. The following infographic shows their mileage and fuel cost based on their touring vehicle of a Honda Fit. I calculated these based on 31 city / 37 highway fuel efficiency and gas price of $2.70/gal and using the website tollguru.com.

In terms of merch, the band brought 35 t-shirts, 30 CDs and miscellaneous back catalog merch along with them on tour.

Left: Merch Table at 529 Bar, Atlanta

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CASE STUDY OF DIY MUSICIANS ON TOUR

5

NYC

PHILLY 6 7

BALTIMORE

4 3

D.C.

RICHMOND

2

ASHEVILLE8 CHAPEL HILL

1 HOME

CDS

20

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S

208

MI

$15.16

373

MI

$26.91

107

MI

$7.75

227

MI

$16.51

95

MI

$6.89

105

MI

$7.57

339

MI

$23.83

382

MI

$27.61 TOTAL

GAS MONEY

MILES

VENUES BARS

IIII

DIY GALLERIES

II

HOUSE SHOWS

0

RECORD STORES

I

GEAR 1 BASS 1 GUITAR 2 AMPS NO DRUMS

T-SHIRTS

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interviews Throughout the discovery process, I conducted informal interviews with DIY musicians. I also conducted five formal, semi-structured, interviews via phone, skype and e-mail.

Interviewees were with musicians who all self-identified as DIY musicians and have music projects based in Atlanta, Chicago and New York.

Interviewees had all been playing in bands for over ten years and played music genres ranging from experimental to pop to punk. Interviews began with questions regarding sale of merch products, the merch design, production and distribution processes and then asked opinion questions regarding how the Internet and emerging technology influence merch and the relationship between merch and creative identity. I concluded each interview by asking each interviewee to share a personal merch object and describe it.

Main themes that emerged from these interviews were: the devaluing of physical music, social media as a necessary evil, merch as part of a musician’s brand identity and the reliance on in-person sales.

Interviewees expressed mixed feelings about selling products ranging from commentary on our capitalist society to disillusionment to reluctant embracement of merch as necessary to continue to create music. In the following pages I have included excerpts from three of these interviews, images of their selected merch product, along with main themes and insights.

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1.

How

2.

What

3.

long

types of merch do you sell?

Walk

seems to be

me through your design process when it comes to

merch.

5.

If

6.

Where

7.

How

10.

What

most popular with your fans?

How

9.

you been playing music and what genres

you mostly play.

4.

8.

Have

do you get your merch produced?

you make your own merch, what techniques do you use?

do you sell most of your

Merch?

would you describe the relationship between merch

and your band’s identity and/or message?

How

do you use the Internet and emerging technologies

when it comes to creating, producing, and selling merch?

What

is the most interesting merch that you have seen

from another band?

Please

share an example of your merch and describe it in

you own words.

interviews

23

Image courtesy of Richard Album

Richard Album Richard Album is a Indie-pop band with a strong performative element. The central theme of the band is that the persona of Richard Album is a superstar. I interviewed the lead singer and he shared the power of merch to express creative intent when music alone may fall short. Another main theme from the interview was a sense of disillusionment with how being a musician is tied to personal branding and self-promotion.

"I think, generally, people are more willing to buy stuff from the touring band because you only have the one time to buy it. When they leave, it will be a lot harder to get their merch - this is the best opportunity to buy this recording so I might as well just do it. And, it’s a souvenir of the live experience. " Object:

Black and white glossy head-shot of lead singer with personal dedication and signature.

Main Themes: • • • • •

Merch as Souvenir Obscurity / Success Personal Branding Money not Primary Motivation Social Commentary

24

Insights:

DIY musicians have a level of disillusionment with the amount of personal branding required to achieve success.

For DIY musicians money is not always the motivation for making merch but limited finances can be a limiting factor to artistic expression.

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Image courtesy of Sontag Shogun

Sontag Shogun Sontag Shogun is a three-piece experimental, improvisational, neoclassical music project based in New York/Montreal. I interviewed two of their members about merch, touring and how their physical recordings related to their overall artist pursuits. They selected their most recent recording and print project to discuss. Main themes from the interview included merch as artistic expression, merch as a vehicle for multimedia collaboration and physical recordings as tangible collectibles rather than functional recordings

"We have noticed a resurgence in interest for tapes . [They are ] cheaper and since everyone is listening on Spotify it just becomes a cheaper antiquated artifact for fans to purchase and a way to support without purchasing 180 gram vinyl."

Object:

Insights:

Main Themes:

Merch is a reflection of artistic expression,

Vinyl record and art-book designed by friend and collaborator.

• • • • •

Merch can be a way to cross-promote and support artists working in other mediums,

Collaboration Supporting Extended Community Merch as Art Recordings as Collectible Artifacts Money not Primary Motivation

interviews

25

Gabbie Rotts Gabbie Rotts is a three piece Riot-Grrrl band based in Atlanta. I interviewed their drummer, about touring, merch design, production and distribution practices and the relationship between their merch and band identity. She described the hand embroidered hat, shown above. Main themes from the interview were collaboration, supporting the creative talent of friends/community, social media, personal branding, and social commentary.

"Gabbie Rotts likes to joke about having "brand practice," and in general has a large awareness of capitalism in our songs and stage presence, so I think the merch for that band in particular is tied to a larger image. It straddles the line between embracing and criticizing trends."

Object:

Insights:

Main Themes:

DIY musicians participant in the capitalist system through merch sales while also being critical of the capitalistic nature of self-branding and promotion.

Hat hand-embroidered with the song title "millennial scum" by a friend of the band.

• • • • •

Collaboration Supporting Local Community Social Media Personal Branding Social Commentary

26

DIY musicians rely on a network of like minded visual artists to create merch,

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Image courtesy of PussyFoot

Pussy Foot PussyFoot was a two-piece post-punk duo based in Chicago. I interviewed their drummer and singer.

Through this interview I learned how their merch choices reflect a strong commitment to the DIY ethos, supporting local artists, business and communities. Other key takeaways were how merch can provide an insight into musicians' intent and messages.

"We got into a conversation about flounder eye migration and then we started talking about how the whole topic felt very metaphorical and oddly important?! ... We found this open source image a scientist had drawn for a research paper " Object:

T-shirt with repeating illustration of Flounder Eye Migration. Image is from a scientific paper, layout by a graphic designer friend and locally screenprinted.

Main Themes: • • • •

Insights: Many DIY musicians value supporting local businesses and communities.

Merch can be an insight into a musicians message that may be otherwise lost.

Collaboration Supporting Local Community Conveying deeper messages DIY

interviews

27

objects DIY musicians design, produce and distribute merch in several ways. Some of these overlap with the mainstream music industry and some are unique.

To gain a deeper understanding of the cultural value of merch within the DIY music community, I looked at examples of merch objects from my personal collection and examples from the site Bandcamp. Bandcamp is the preferred digital music on-line marketplace for DIY musicians, allowing musicians to upload digital albums and sell physical copies of music and merch by naming their own price. When analyzing these examples of merch, I employed a material culture approach.

Asa Berger argues that studying contemporary objects through a Material Culture approach offers opportunities to “gain insights not provided by other methods of analysis.” (Berger, 2009, p.

20). This approach borrows methods from Psychoanalysis, Semiotics, Anthropology, and Archeology. For each merch object, I attempted to gain an understanding of first the design, then the production and distribution methods. Following this, I sought to gain an understanding of the meaning of the object in terms of the musicians’ intent, the fan experience and finally, the role the object served in society. I attempted to understand each of these meanings in isolation and then how they interacted with each other. I began my analysis with the most iconic type of merch, the t-shirt. I then looked at buttons as examples of emblems and cassette tapes as examples of physical recordings. When selecting merch objects for analysis, I looked for objects that showcased the wide variety of approaches DIY musicians taken when producing merch, and specifically looked for examples that were self-made, collaboratively produced - or utilized small businesses.

All merch begins with a design. Most DIY musicians are actively involved in the design process of all of their merch, with the musician or a member of the band serving the role of designer. Another common design method is asking a friend or collaborator to create a design. Less common design methods include design by a DIY record label or commissioning design work from a member of the

28

DIY community. None of the merch objects I analyzed were designed by a “gun for hire” but there is evidence of people soliciting design work or offering services on DIY Music Facebook groups.

After the design, most DIY musicians will upload their design to an on-demand manufacturer through the web, representing a form of distributed production (Burns & Threadgold, 2018).

Other objects will be produced by local brick and motor businesses. Finally, a significant proportion of merch is produced by hand or through collaboration with visual artists and craftspeople. By operating outside of mainstream channels this final form of production can be viewed as subversive, political, or acts of resistance. Sometimes the musicians, artists and craftspersons who produce merch are aware of the subversive nature of their acts. Whereas, some DIY merch producers are pursuing other aims such as self-expression, curiosity, or entrepreneurship.

Many DIY musicians produce merch at home or personal studios, however there exist DIY resource spaces for producing merch. One notable example is ABC No Rio in New York. ABC No Rio has existed since 1980 on the lowest east side of Manhattan and describes itself as a “collectively-run center for art and activism. We are known internationally as a venue for oppositional culture” (ABC No Rio, 2018). This space is well-known for supporting the New York Punk and Hardcore music scenes through their Hardcore/Punk Saturday Matinée shows that have run every week for twenty-five years. The center is currently undergoing a renovation, but both their previous space and plans for the future location have a dedicated space for screen-printing, an all ages venue, zine library and gallery spaces.

Once a piece of merch is produced it is then distributed. As emphasized previously, the most common method of distribution is in-person at

01 Discover

shows. While most musicians I talked to said they offered physical copies of their music on-line, they said that these sales were few and far between.

Other distribution methods are through consignment at local record stores, through independent record labels and more recently directly to consumers through Social Media (see Gabbie Rotts interview).

As explored earlier, music merch is means for musicians to communicate deeper messages about their identity, political views or the meaning behind their music. In addition to the artist’s intent, there is also the relationship between fans and merch, and the role of merch in society. At times, there is tension between the musicians’ intent, fans consumption and society. For example, the punk band Fugazi is famous for never selling merch, but they have one of the most extensive on-line archives of any bands, - with handmade tickets, flyers and other show ephemera. For fans, these pieces of ephemera serve the same function as merch in terms of the desire to collect and as souvenirs of the live experience.

Stephanie Kramer, Is Fashion Modern?

Exhibition Catalogue

2014, 7). Still other t-shirt designs rely exclusively on typography - either in the form of a band logo (i.e. The Doors) or song lyrics. The design process can include analog techniques like collage, painting, drawing or letter or employ digital design technologies. No matter the design process, DIY musicians are actively involved in the design process, and it is extremely rare for artwork to be commissioned by unknown artists or designers.

Once a band has a design in mind for a t-shirt, the image must be transferred onto a blank t-shirt.

The production of a band t-shirt is two-fold: the production of the blank t-shirt and the process of transferring the graphic onto the t-shirt. Bands will either provide their own blank t-shirts or a screenprinter will provide the blank as part of the service.

Almost all band t-shirts start life the same as a mass-produced t-shirt manufactured by Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, or Gildan. These companies are part of what is known as the “custom t-shirt market” or the “decorated apparel market” sharing vertically integrated business models by owning and operating the entire supply chain from cotton farming to yarn spinning to knitting to cut and sew facilities. The production of blank t-shirts has significant environmental impacts (Fischer, 2017).

“If the white T-shirt is the ultimate sartorial blank canvas, a quintessential product of twentieth- century modernity, the graphic T-shirt is its all-knowing, expressive, postmodern sibling” These companies are part of the global fashion The band t-shirt is the most well-known and lon- industry, which is the second largest polluting ingest enduring music merch product. It exists at dustry after oil. Michelle Millar Fisher describes, the nexus of fashion and the souvenir - of garment “In the twenty-first century, the white T-shirt has and collectible. As a fashion item, the iconic band become emblematic of the ethical and ecologit-shirt has been elevated to the runways and re- cal implications of rapid global manufacturing and produced en masse for chain stores the likes of distribution in the fashion industry.” (Fischer, 2017).

Target. The t-shirt functions as a blank canvas for Somehow, the band t-shirt does not hold this bands to communicate visually what their albums same association, with the graphics on printed do sonically. Band t-shirts can be an invitation to t-shirts distracting and obscuring the discussions start a conversation. A stranger might not ask of labor practices, and environmental concerns about your blank Gildan t-shirt, but they might that plague the blank t-shirt. Whether motivated strike up a conversation about your Gildan shirt by their budget or these ethical concerns some emblazoned with the logo of a friend’s band. bands lessen these negative impacts by using thrifted or factory reject t-shirts as their blanks.

T-shirt designs can be unique to the t-shirt or can re-purposed from other designs (i.e. album Bands will transfer the image onto t-shirts themcovers, posters or flyers). T-shirt designs range selves, use a local-screen print shop or upload from singular graphic elements to combinations their graphic to an on-demand service. In the early of words, images and graphic elements. Some days of merch, many band t-shirts included a DIY band t-shirt s feature all original artwork, either fan production aspect, with bands selling iron-on created by members of the band, by close friends t-shirt transfers of their band logo or image. Toor collaborators (i.e. Kurt Cobain’s artwork on Nir- day, if a band has a shirt produced professionally, vana t-shirts). Other t-shirt designs take employ it will be screen-printed. Although there exist the "cut-and-paste" approach by blending ref- other professional printing processes, including, erences ranging from pop-culture, to sci-fi, to dye sublimation, vinyl heat transfer, and direct to classic works of art, to advertisements and even garment printing, the order minimums or set-up to band t-shirts of years past (Easby and Oliver, costs of these methods make them prohibitive

objects

29

for most DIY musicians If a band produces their own t-shirts through DIY methods, they will also most likely use screen-printing techniques in some form. There are many DIY techniques for screen-printing that range from cutting a stencil and placing it on top of a screen to burning photosensitive screen in a process similar to developing a photograph. The choice of process depends both on aesthetic choices and on access to equipment. Other less common DIY techniques for transferring images onto t-shirts include, handing drawing with permanent markers or fabric paint; spray painting with a stencil; hand or machine embroidery; iron-on transfers, and stamping with ink or paint.

popular image, as are text-based logos. While photography and text-based logos are the preferred design content for pin-back buttons, they are no means the only design strategy, and bands without access to a printer but access to a button press employ design strategies including handdrawn logos or collage. The recent rise in popularity of enamel pins require a different design strategy since these need to be manufactured by a non-local professional service and have specific design requirements of colors and line weights.

The limiting factor of upfront cost combined with the time investment of designing for production make lapel pins currently an uncommon merch offering for DIY musicians.

The meaning of a band t-shirt includes the musician’s intent, the wearer’s interpretation of the shirt and society's reaction. A musician conveys their message through their design, production and distribution choices but once someone purchases the shirt it takes on new meaning. People who wear band t-shirts are telling the world that they are not a blank canvas but instead that they belong, are in the know, or find the visuals aesthetically appealing. Band t-shirts are about finding your pack and standing out from the crowd, about being noticed and recognized but also about belonging. T-shirts allow for both inclusion and separation. T-shirts offer an opportunity to display your personal tastes and preferences and can showcase what exists on your play-lists. Donning a band t-shirt can also simply be the wearer making a fashion statement.

Like the t-shirt, most pin-back buttons rely on a blank of some sort. The modern form of the pin-back button was born in 1896 when the New Jersey based button makers Whitehead & Hoag received their patent for the badge pin or button.

At the time of this patent pin-back buttons were covered in celluloid whereas today mylar is used.

This material covers a printed image and then is pressed over a metal blank and bent wire pin (Busy Beaver Button Blog, 2019). The printed image has been produced in several ways over the years first through letterpress and now most commonly 4 color printing. Producing a pin-back button requires access to a button-press, either through professional services, purchasing a home button press or borrowing one from friends or DIY community resources. Without access to a button press, bands do come up with ingenious methods

Lapel pins, buttons, badges are the most popular merch product from the emblem category. For its entry in the Met’s Is Fashion Modern? exhibit, Michelle Millar Fisher argues “The lapel pin exercises considerable agency for the small amount of real estate it occupies; it is a tiny but mighty signifier of achievement and allegiance, whether political, social, cultural or aesthetic”. The 1” round pin-back button is the most iconic of all formats of buttons and its popularity is largely attributed to Joly MacFie the founder and visionary of Better Badges in the UK. Busy Beaver Button Co. in Chicago carries on this tradition today. Recently, enamel lapel pins have also gained in popularity as a merch product due to lowered manufacturing costs.

of creating buttons for sale, one popular method is using bottle caps, can pull tabs and safety pins (see Dish Pit button below) or more craft based techniques using pin backs purchased from craft stores.

“The lapel pin exercises considerable agency for the small amount of real estate it occupies; it is a tiny but mighty signifier of achievement and allegiance, whether political, social, cultural or aesthetic.”

The small footprint of the lapel pin lends itself to different design strategies than t-shirts. The ability to easily print full color photographs is highlighted in the design of many pin-back buttons.

Closeup photos of band members faces are a

30

Distribution of buttons is almost exclusively at the merch table. These items are used as promotional items, or to provide a low-cost option for fans with limit finances to support a band. In the 1970s, punk buttons, first popularized by Better Badges helped “fuel the rise in fan-based promotions popularized by independent record labels” (Busy Beaver Museum Blog). Today, the promotional value of buttons is commonly accepted within the DIY Music Scene, with Jeremy Young describing them as “wearable flyers" in the on-line course “Touring on a Shoestring” (Young, 2015). In the 21st century, other forms of fan-based promotion, like street teams, have been replaced by social media posts. Merch products, like buttons now hold the

01 Discover

most promotional value if they are “Instagramable” giving creative, unique or unusual buttons a larger promotional value.

Buttons can signify rebellion, group membership, communication a cause, indicate status, advertise or campaign. Pin-back buttons were originally developed as political propaganda tools and over the years have been used to endorse activist causes, advertise goods and services, promote musicians, display American identity and indicate group membership. (Busy Beaver Blog, 2019). Christen Carter of Busy Beaver Button Co. and Museum describes the cultural meaning of buttons as “they have a permanence and mark a moment in time.

There’s an evolution to the different ways that people express ideas that’s also very telling [of the times]” (Busy Beaver Blog, 2019). Their small size and uniform form factor enable buttons to straddle the world between collectible and apparel, between the personal and the public

Demers, 2017

"Current invocations of tape - its appearance, sounds and technical idiosyncrasies - romanticize how tape actually behaves. Tape's revival can be framed as a predictable consequence of the economy of waste that results from discarded sound recordings."

The cassette tape has long been a favorite format for DIY musicians because it facilitates ad-hoc self-distribution. You can make a tape yourself at home with low up-front costs, no specialized equipment or knowhow. Accessible, low-cost technology like the Tascam 4-track made recording yourself easy and all you need is a tape-dubber to create your own album release. Tapes in the underground communities were (and still are) promoted and traded through distributed networks like the mail and fanzines. Now, platforms like Bandcamp enable these distributed networks to continue in on-line form. Purists may still rely on analog technology like the 4-track to record, but due to the democratization of digital recording technology, often music is digitally recorded and then output onto cassette tape. Bandcamp released 17,872 tapes through their on-line platform in 2017, equating to around 50 tapes per day and one every 29 minutes (Bandcamp Blog, 2017).

The popularity of the cassette tape on Bandcamp is a form of digital-analog hybrid in the independent music world. By including digital download codes, these 21st century cassette tapes satisfy the desire for tangible objects combined with the practicality of digital music.

objects

31

Fuck This Life T -shirt Shift Pay Shift Pay was a 2010s punk band based in New screen-printing shop.

York City made up of all bicycle messengers. The band name, t-shirt phrase, design and production This t-shirt literally sends the message “Fuck this methods all reflect the punk spirits of DIY, brico- Life." Wearing this t-shirt signals group memberlage, rebellion and anarchy. ship or insider status. The graphic language further reflects this sense of belonging, as it is only This t-shirt was designed and printed by the band. appropriate in certain settings, for example at a The image was applied with a hand cut stencil and punk show, or socializing with like-minded friends. spray paint by members of the band. One band member recalls stealing the spray paint from his wife and using whatever materials they had lying around. The blank shirts were from thrift stores or factory rejects from a friend who worked at a local

32

01 Discover

CBYH 2014 Tour T-shirt Cloud Becomes Your Hand Cloud Becomes Your Hand was a 2010s prog-rock These shirts were made by the violinist of the / experimental / improvisational/ art rock band band who designed and hand carved different from New York City. This shirt was made for a 2014 animal stamps. The shirts were different colors West Coast tour. The band’s overall aesthetic is giving fans a feeling of customization. The hand whimsical and fantastical. The handmade, crafted stamped paint on the shirts creates an ephemeral nature of this shirt conveys that aesthetic. The feeling and the sense that it is more of a piece of lead singer describes merch in general as “con- art than a functional garment. tain[ing] the aesthetic of the overall music / visual element, so I have always thought it was important.

[I] tend to favor hand drawn or collage or homemade/ DIY looking things, so it has always tended to have that theme for me.”

objects

33

Image courtesy of Gabbie Rotts

Garbage Party T-shirt Gabbie Rotts

This t-shirt is based on a song from the band's most recent album. The band commissioned the design from a friend based on the loose concept of a “possum holding a garbage party invitation”.

could appeal to people outside of the local band, with its cute critter and satirical slogan.

The band buys blank t-shirts on-line and then pay friends to screen print them. This represents a spirit of collaboration and commentary on supporting a community rather than unknown corporate entities.

Band member Emily describes the design as “Our generation makes a lot of jokes about being "trash people" and [I] think related to that is the Internet's love for critters like raccoons and possums. Our friend Evan designed this shirt in like, one day?!?!”

The process of this shirt shows a lot of concern for process but as a final consumer product this shirt

34

01 Discover

Pick Rick Button Richard Album

This button features a close-up photograph of the lead singer’s alter ego “Richard Album.” The slogan “Pick Rick”references political campaign buttons and plays into the overall concept that the persona Richard Album is a superstar.

The button was produced at Busy Beaver Button Company in Chicago by a band member who worked there at the time. Having its origins within the DIY music scene, this business actively supports the local music scene by offering employees discounted production services. This example of self-supporting community is an example of the two-way culture within the DIY music scene of musicians supporting local businesses and local businesses supporting musicians.

This button signals insider status on one level but also shows a post-modern level of irony that can be appreciated without necessarily being a fan of the music.

objects

35

Dish Pit Button Dish Pit

This button is an example of the punk ethos of thrift and bricolage. The image is a collage of the band name and a car. The button was made by members of the band using whatever materials they had on hand – bottle caps, can tabs and safety pins. Wearing this button signifies rebellion.

36

01 Discover

Ray Ellingsen Memorial Button Carrie Vinarsky

This button memorializes the life a Chicago DIY music scene super-fan, Ray Ellingsen. The design was created by Chicago artist Carrie Vinarsky for a tribute concert.

The design is a more unusual square button format, rather than the typical circle and features bright abstract artwork. A notable design feature is Ray’s name, the venue location and show date printed on the side of the button.

This button was made by Busy Beaver Button Co. in Chicago. This button serves to not only encapsulate the experience of attending the memorial concert but also commemorate the life of a non-musician member of the DIY music scene.

objects

37

Merch Booth Button This button is a 1.25" square acrylic button created from the "Merch Booth" machine. The design reflects the branding of the Merch Booth and is based on the physical appearance of the booth that produced it.

It was created from an on-demand vending machine at a local dive bar. The booth uses laser engraving technology to engrave imagery from any band who uploads their artwork.

This button takes up the theme of digital-physical hybrid merch products that have become popular and applies this concept to production and distribution channels. By combining digital design with physical production and in-person distribution, this button proposes that this could be a new means for connection within the DIY music scene.

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01 Discover

Image source: Athletic Tape's Bandcamp page

The Basement Tracks 3/Kaos The Diva Tape Deadbeat

Deadbeat is the musical brainchild of Chicago-based musician Jessica Risker. This tape is released by former Chicago Tape Label, Athletic Tapes.

The design features legendary baseball player Frank White of the Kansas City Royals. The design was created by the tape label in honor of the musician’s favorite sports player. The design shows collaboration between the musician and the record label. The record label describes the production process on their Bandcamp page as “Bedroom dubbed and packaged, with love in Chicago, IL.” This tape represents the spirit of community and collaboration within the DIY music scene.

objects

39

An Eerie Fire Eats The Brain Tape Evil Sword

Philadelphia based duo Evil Sword is as much performance art as a band. This cassette tape features a compartment for an art-book. Including a visual format of their art in equal size and dimensionality which highlights the performative aspect of this band, and their talents as multimedia artists.

The artwork is collage of text and photographs that mirrors the art-noise rock meets punk nature of their music. On their Bandcamp page, the band describes this release as “The double cassette box contains an audio tape of brutal art damaged punk and a full color book of desperately scrawled writings and otherworldly photo collages.� This tape is equal parts art object, listening object and collectible.

40

01 Discover

Image source: Evil Sword's Bandcamp page

discover phase summary Merch in the DIY music scene is full of dichotomies. Seemingly opposite beliefs coexist and may, at times, be at odds with each other.

From my historical, contextual research, interviews and object analysis these juxtaposed themes began to bubble to the surface. I began by tagging different themes from my readings, interviews and observations with codes, then grouping these codes into categories and then finally creating five dyads that I then used going into the define phase to identity design insights and opportunities.

- t-shirts bundled with concert tickets, cassette tapes with download codes, flip-books with CDs. Currently, merch is sold either in-person or on-line but current technology exists to integrate digital design with a physical manufacturing experience.

Success | Obscurity

In the digital era most people consume music via on-line streaming services, but DIY musicians still depend on in-person performances, sales at merch booths, and by friends to fuel their creative output.

There is tension in the DIY music scene between the desire to be heard and share your music with the world and fears of selling-out and music being commodified. DIY practices in many ways represent an oppositional stance to mainstream commercial success. However, the common practices of entrepreneurship, self-promotion and personal branding by DIY musicians also align with the mainstream “new economy� of start-ups, and freelance work that is prevalent in the United States, today.

Desire to support the local community, the underground and the DIY ethos can be at odds with relying on revenue from sales. To balance these tensions, DIY musicians often turn to collaborations, friends, and local businesses who share common beliefs for their merch production needs and for joint success.

Digital | Physical

Retro Remix, Cut & Paste, Creative Anachronism - in the era of music streaming, items that physically hold an artist’s music like records, tapes and CDs may be redundant or irrelevant. However , hundreds of thousands of cassette tapes are being released in the 21st century by DIY musicians, which begs the question, Why is this form of physical music enduring? Is it nostalgia for lo-fi analog technology or does it satisfy the desire for the physical or the need to collect? These desires birthed digital-analog hybrid merch products

In-Person | On-line

Accessible | Exclusive

Trends toward limited edition, one-of-a-kind, and handmade merch products represents a level of exclusivity. However, offering merch products at different prices points and the flexibility of DIY musicians pricing shows the desire to be inclusive with who can consume DIY music and merch.

Innovative | Referential

The t-shirt, the button, the cassette tape -these staple merch products have remained unchanged for decades despite new advances in on-demand manufacturing and advancements in consumer products. These objects serve as cultural references to times past and are a part of the collective experience of attending shows. Another aspect is that these products all utilize readily accessible, low-cost, blanks for their production. Moving away from these low-cost blanks to create an innovative merch product requires upfront investments of time and money, which are limited for DIY musicians.

discover phase summary

41

42

02 DEFINE

discover phase summary

43

MERCH ECOSYSTEM FOR DIY MUSICIANS Tapes CDs

Physical Music

Records Keychains

Functional Items t-shirts hats Apparel bags

ME

sweatshirts Patches

Merch not containing Physical Music

Pins/ Buttons Emblems

OBJECTS

Jewelry

DIY MUSCIAN

Posters Zines Collectibles Flyers Stickers i.e. Bandcamp

Download Codes Digital Music

i.e. Soundcloud

44

Streaming

02 DEFINE

Any form of Merchandise + Digital Music

Digital - Physical Hybrids

By Musicians

DESIGN

ERCH

Commissioned DIY Artists / Designers Collaboratively designed with DIY artists / Designers Online Distributed Networks

Formal Training i.e. Threadless Workshops Ways of Knowing blogs Self-taught Thrift

PRODUCTION

NS

Self-Made / Produced

Bricolage

youtube zines

Screenprinting

Produced by local business

Button-pressing

Local Shows Merch Tables

Methods

Stenciling Sewing

Touring Online

instructables

Materials

Produced by local artist / crafsperson

DISTRIBUTION

Internet

i.e. Bandcamp

Collage

Local Record Stores

LOCAL FANS VENUE

MERCH ECOSYSTEM

45

themes, insights & opportunities Obscurity Insight:

Merch allows musicians to connect with artists across mediums and provides an insight to other creative talents that can help musicians gain recognition.

Opportunity: There is an opportunity to use merch to promote unknown DIY musicians.

In-person| On-line Insight:

In-person connections are disconnected from on-line music experiences. Someone might listen to a band on Spotify but not come to their show when they come to town, or vice versa.

Opportunity: There is an opportunity for an in-person system for people to discover new or unknown DIY musicians.

Digital | Physical Insight:

Digital music frees past recorded music technologies from utilitarian functionality to a form of aesthetic expression. Past technology can be a form of creative inspiration.

Opportunity: There is an opportunity to take the approach of mixing together the digital with the physical not only in merch products but also in distribution. Currently, merch is sold either in-person or on-line but on-demand manufacturing enables combining digital design with physical production.

Accessible | Exclusive Insight:

Merch can offer a means for fans to support DIY musicians at any price-point.

Merch can symbolize identity and belonging.

Opportunity: There is an opportunity to create a low-cost merch product that allows fans to discover and support DIY musicians without competing with more personal and unique merch products.

46

02 DEFINE

USE MERCH TO CONNECT TOURING DIY MUSICIANS WITH LOCAL FANS

TOURING DIY MUSICIANS

LOCAL FANS

Visit Venue

Play Shows

VENUE

themes, insights & opportunities

47

problem statement

In order to focus my open-ended exploration to this point, I went through a problem definition exercise.

From my historical and contextual analysis, interviews, object analysis and observations, I found that there is an opportunity to engage fans with merch in-person before and after touring bands come to town. This insight came from looking at the origins of merch as handmade fan t-shirts, the financial tension between bands and unofficial merch producers and the shift from consumers as passive consumerist to more active consumer-producers in the 21st century.

Based on the importance of live performance to income generation for independent musicians, I chose to focus on touring musicians. I believe there is a design opportunity for a merch experience that both actively involves fans with the merch production process and also benefits DIY musicians in terms of promotion, financial support and fostering connection between local scenes and touring musicians.

48

DIY musicians depend on merch and touring but face challenges of obscurity.

How can merch promote and support touring DIY Musicians and foster connection with local scenes through discovery? + Increase attendance + Connect Scenes + Boost income

02 DEFINE

problem statement

49

design criteria HOW CAN MERCH PROMOTE AND SUPPORT TOURING DIY MUSICIANS AND FOSTER CONNECTION WITH LOCAL SCENES? 1.

2.

3.

Promote touring DIY musicians Provide financial support, directly or indirectly, to touring DIY musicians Help fans discover new bands

4.

Pose no to financial burdens and minimal time investment for touring DIY musicians

6.

Have fans actively engage in merch production process

5.

7.

8.

Foster connection between touring DIY musicians and local music scenes

Any use of technology must be familiar or have a low-barrier to entry Process / interaction must take less than 2 minutes

9.

Must have low upkeep requirements or be self-maintaining

10.

Must be able to promote a large number of bands/musicians on a rotating basis

11.

12.

13.

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Design must include in-person interaction

Physical size of design can be no larger than a photo-booth to fit in common DIY venue

If the design product is sales-based, any merch products offered must cost under $10

02 DEFINE

brief BACKGROUND

DIY musicians have more opportunities to sell directly to fans than ever before but face new challenges of greater competition and risks of obscurity. With live performance, in-person sales of physical music and merch making up the majority of how these musicians fuel their creative output, the need to connect with the local scene is imperative. Despite the huge number of social media platforms, e-commerce and on-line distribution options, DIY musicians still sell most of their physical recordings and merch in-person, at shows. What if local fans could discover and support out of town bands before, during and after a band comes to town through an in-person merch booth?

OVERVIEW

An interactive booth at local venues will facilitate the discovery, promotion, and support of touring bands before, during and after the bands comes to town. The booth will offer merch on-demand for different featured bands. These merch products will then serve as promotional tools for the out-of town bands.

DRIVERS

Social media and web-based platforms have enabled a sense of constant connection but people still crave in-person ways to connect and capture experiences.

AUDIENCE

COMPETITION

Music platforms with embedded e-commerce, like Spotify or Bandcamp.

TONE

Discovery, Remix, Retro Futuristic

MESSAGE

Find out what bands are coming to town, discover who you like and share your discoveries with your friends

VISUALS

Edge lit acrylic, exposed chrome hardware, back-lit marquee lettering, high contrast

DETAILS

This project has a budget of $500 for conceptual level testing. The time-frame for completion is one-month. Resources include laser cutters, vinyl cutters, 3D printers, and basic wood-shop equipment. The final deliverable will be a testable prototype plus supplemental documentation.

PEOPLE

All design and fabrication will be completed by Gillian Jackson with guidance from Sabir Khan, Alex McIntyre, Courtney Garvin and Lisa Marks.

Additional expertise may be added as needed.

Touring Musicians / Bands Fans / Venue Patrons / Local DIY scene Venue Staff / Organizers

brief

51

initial brainstorming

Once I identified the opportunity to use merch as a promotional tool for DIY musicians, I did an initial brainstorming session in response to my design question.

How can I amplify merch’s promotional value and help connect DIY touring musicians with local scenes?

I presented basic sketches along with a brief verbal explanation for three of these initial ideas to a group of local musicians. The ideas I presenter were 1) an on-demand merch booth, 2) a mail ahead merch promotional case and 3) a Little Free Merch Library. The concept for an on-demand merch booth garnered the most interest. From this response I decided to develop this concept and generated a design brief and criteria.

52

02 DEFINE

Pop-up

exhibit

/

kiosk

Collaborative Merch Line DIY

musicians

An

on-line system

/

with

network

that connects touring bands with local screen-printers or merch producers

Traveling Merch Resource Center / Workshop / Maker-space for merch production

Little Free Merch Library Mail-ahead

promotional case

On-Demand Merch Booth Automated

vending machine

that produces merch on the spot

Self-serve

merch station with

instructions

initial brainstorming

53

prior art

My search for prior art began with on-demand booths that make souvenirs. The best-known examples are photo-booths and pressed penny machines. Photo-booths now employ either digital or analog photography. Digital versions can include Snap-chat inspired filters ranging from changing the background to swapping your face onto a baby.

Other examples of on-demand souvenir machines include the Mold-A-Rama machine and the Voiceo-Graph. The Mold-A-Rama creates blow molded animal and other plastic figurines while you watch The Voice-O-Graph cuts a record live while you record. The Voice-O-Graph were common in the 1920s-1960s but now there are only a few left in operation, including at Jack White’s record store Third Man Records in Nashville.

From these starting points, I broadened my search to include other on-demand vending machines, and one-of-a kind booths. These ranged from utilitarian machines like key cutting kiosks to human powered entertainment like live screen-printing bicycles. One-of-a-kind booths include the human-powered “Face-o-Mat” that

54

creates on-demand portraits. I explored what the Maker Community was tinkering with at sites like Make: magazine and Instructables.com and discovered the tiny laser cutting machines “Coasty” and “Nickelbot” that maker Bart Dring invented (Dring, 2018).

Finally, I turned to vending machines commonly found in DIY music venues: Jukeboxes, ATM machines; gum-ball-style machines that dispense earplugs; bathroom vending machines; and re-purposed vintage machines that dispense art or cassette tapes.

I analyzed these booths, vending machines and kiosks using 2x2 matrices, and scale drawings. I gained insights in form, visual aesthetics, mechanics, use and function from looking at these analogous booths that helped inform next steps in my design process.

02 DEFINE

Souvenir Machines

Engraving Machines

One-of-a Kind Venue Vending Booths Machines

1. Photo-booths

1. Coasty: the laser engraving coaster machine

1. Art-o-Mat

1. Cigarette Vending Machines

2. Live screen-printing events

2. Earplug Dispensers

3. Face-o-mat: human powered drawing machine

3. ATM Machines

2. Pressed Penny Machines 3. Mold-A-Rama

2. Nickebot: the Laser engraving wooden nickel machine

4. Voice-O-Graph

3. Key copying kiosks 4. Dog Tag Engraving kiosks

4. Button Bar: “the portable do-it-yourself button making workshop with simple to use step-by-step instructions�

4. Bathroom vending

prior art

55

DIMENSION COMPARISON OF MACHINES COMMONLY FOUND IN DIY VENUES

56

02 DEFINE

PRIOR ART 2X2 MATRICES

Automated Key Copying kiosk Dog tag engraving kiosk Coasty ATM Machines

Photo-booth Jukebox Mold-o-Rama Voice-o-Graph Nickebot

Entertainment

Functional

Face-o-mat Penny Press Live screen-printing Button bar

Cigarette Machines Earplug Machines Condom Machines

Human Powered

Modern

Live screen-printing Button bar Coasty Face-o-mat

Key Copying kiosk Dog tag engraving kiosk ATM Machines

Analog

Digital Cigarette Machines Earplug Machines Bathroom Machines Mold-o-Rama Voice-o-Graph Penny Press

Photo-booth Jukebox

Vintage

prior art

57

define phase summary

At the end of the definition phase, I had a clear direction for moving forward. I would be designing a booth that created on-demand merch products to promote touring DIY musicians.

From my background research I concluded that emblems, including buttons and patches, were the best category of merch suited for the booth for the following reasons: 1) their history as tools for propaganda, campaigning, advertising and endorsement, 2) their size and uniform form encourage collection and repeat sales, 3) enamel pins' recent popularity has peaked and there is an opportunity for a new button format. The decision for on-demand manufacturing was driven by the insight that upfront investments of either time or money are a limiting factor for DIY musicians when creating merch products. I also wanted the test the idea that part of the appeal of hand-made and hand-crafted merch products is the transparency of the process. I sought to design an on-demand booth that created that same sense of connection to process.

58

02 DEFINE

define phase summary

59

60

03 DEVELOP

concept development

To develop my concept for an on-demand merch booth, I broke the design down into sub-components and brainstormed design solutions for each separately before combining the parts into a complete system.

The merch booth aims to serve two separate users: local fans and touring musicians. Within the local fan experience, there is the booth experience and the final product. For DIY musicians there is the process of learning about Merch Booth and the experience of uploading their digital graphics to an on-line system.

I began exploring possibilities for the final product.

From my background research I was familiar with the different processes used to produced merch.

When determining which on-demand merch production process would be appropriate for the booth, I included processes used by professional and DIY merch producers. I also evaluated processes using desktop manufacturing tools processes commonly used by the Maker Community and craft techniques not typically used by DIY merch producers. From all these tools, technologies and processes, I identified those most appropriate and feasible for use in an on-demand merch booth. Following this identification process, I explored what materials and type of merch each technology could create.

To decide which direction to pursue for the final design, I tested different processes and created product samples and then evaluated both the process and the product with the following criteria: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

What is the overall time to create product?

Does the process require clean-up?

How many steps are required?

Does process require technical know-how, equipment, or personnel?

Is the technology currently available for less than $500?

Is the final product novel or innovative?

Do the product aesthetics fit in with current merch trends?

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I identified three products that best met the above criteria and developed basic booth experience concepts for each. While the aesthetics for the screen-print jukebox and Gocco Printer were appealing, I eliminated this concept due to clean-up logistics. The design requirements for the Stencil Pin would not work with many band designs like photographs and thin typography. I ultimately moved forward with the concept for laser engraved buttons because not only did the process and product meet all the above criteria, but this option also offered the most design flexibility for musicians. I further developed the laser engraved button concept by determining the size of the blank, the minimum line weight for engraving and testing common design approaches for bad buttons including photography, type-based logos, illustration based-logos, and song lyrics.

Once I determined the product and process for the merch booth, I developed the form and experience of using the booth. I drew inspiration for the booth design from record store listening booths, jukeboxes, and merch flight cases.

I identified three use phases of the booth, before use, in use and after use. Each phase had associated design elements. For the before phase, I focused on developing a form and visual language that communicated the key aspects of the booth: band promotion, product display and on-demand manufacturing. The use phase required interface design for selecting, payment, and engaging with the manufacturing experience. The after phase involved designing any packaging for the button and thinking about what would make people want to use the booth again.

03 DEVELOP

POTENTIAL ON-DEMAND MERCH PRODUCTION METHODS BY COMMUNITY DIY MUSIC COMMUNITY

SCREEN PRINTING PRESS BUTTON PRESS

METAL EMBOSSESER / DIE PRESS

INDIE CRAFT COMMUNITY/ HOME CRAFTERS

MACHINE EMBROIDERER RISO GOCCO PRINTER VINYL CUTTER / PLOTTER

MACHINE EMBROIDERER

DESKTOP MANUFACTURING / MAKER COMMUNITY

VINYL CUTTER / PLOTTER CO2 LASER CUTTER CNC ENGRAVING MACHINE

MACHINE EMBROIDERER

SMALL SCALE PROFESSIONAL

SCREEN PRINTING PRESS CNC ENGRAVING MACHINE BUTTON PRESS CO2 LASER CUTTER

MACHINE EMBROIDERER DIRECT

LARGE SCALE PROFESSIONAL

TO

GARMENT PRINTER

DYE SUBLIMATION PRINTING FIBER LASER CUTTER CNC ENGRAVING MACHINE 3D PRINTER

concept development

65

product exploration

1

1

66

2

Laser Engraved Pins

2

Laser Fused Patch

Acrylic blanks are laser engraved with the band logo, imagery, name, etc. Can be customized with other information like show date, digital download code, etc. Concept can also work with rotary engraving technology.

Two layers of polyester are laser fused together. The layers then need to be weeding and a final heat pressing to fully fuse together.

Single-step process 2 min

Multi-step process 2 - 5 min

03 DEVELOP

4

3 5 3

Mini Screen Print Kit

The booth laser prints screen-masters for bands on transparency film and dispenses a mini screen printing kit to create one patch off-site.

Multi-step process 1 min interaction 30 min to screen print

4 Lino Block Stamp

5 Stencil Pin

Linoleum blocks are produced ahead of time by laser cutting or CNC engraving. Consumers can select stamp to print a patch onsite. Requires upfront investment of time and materials. Also, requires ink and clean-up on site.

Booth cuts stencil with laser or vinyl cutter from vellum or thin plastic and dispenses a pin holder for the stencil. The consumer inserts the stencil and can wear the stencil pin or use the stencil to put ink on apparel, tagging bathroom walls, etc.

Multi-step process 2-5 min to produce each stamp 1 min interaction

Multi-step process 3 min to cut the stencil

product exploration

67

FIRST 3 CONCEPTS

CONCEPT 1: STENCIL PIN FROM SUITCASE STYLE BOOTH

68

03 DEVELOP

CONCEPT 2: LASER ENGRAVED PIN FROM GUM-BALL MACHINE STYLE BOOTH

CONCEPT 3: IRON ON PATCH FROM GOCCO PRINT SCREEN JUKEBOX

product exploration

69

70

03 DEVELOP

EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR ON-DEMAND MERCH PRODUCT

On-Demand Merch

Accessible

1. Laser Engraved Pins

Yes,

Product

Technology?

of Steps

low-power 1

laser engravers are becoming

mainstream 2. Laser Fused Patch

Number

Not

Novel?

No

Yes

No

Yes

Required?

more

c u r re n t l y, 2

requires

Clean-up

higher

power laser cutter 3. Mini-screen Print Kit

Yes, using desktop 2

Yes

No

4. Lino Block Stamp

No, requires high 2

Yes

No

printing technology

power laser cutter or CNC engraving

5. Stencil Pin

Yes, can use vinyl 1-2 cutters which are low-cost and widely

Depending on Yes use

available 6. Gocco Screens

Yes

2

Yes

product exploration

No

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03 DEVELOP

BOOTH MOOD BOARD

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74

03 DEVELOP

BOOTH BRAINSTORM

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booth development

76

03 DEVELOP

booth development

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78

03 DEVELOP

booth development

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final 5 booth concepts

booth

MERCH

1

80

De-constructed Jukebox

03 DEVELOP

2 Cut & Paste

booth

3

Merch Case with Legs

4 Wall Mounted

5 The Booth

final 5 booth concepts

81

82

03 DEVELOP

04 DESIGN

84

85

merch booth system MERCH booth

Engraves Artwork

Dispensed

Experience

Loads Artwork via wi�

Hosts

Upload Artwork

Sends Email LOCAL FANS

Visit Venue

DIY MUSICIANS

VENUE Play Shows

Discover Promote Support

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04 DESIGN

FINAL DESIGN EVALUATION AGAINST DESIGN CRITERIA

1.

Design Criteria

Final Design

Promote touring DIY musicians

"Merch Booth" gives touring DIY musicians a new way to connect with fans and has high promotional value.

2.

Provide financial support, directly or indirectly, "Merch Booth" has a high experience value that to touring DIY musicians can help new interest in lessor known bands generating exposure and potential sales

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Help fans discover new bands

It is unclear if "Merch Booth" will help fans discover new bands

Pose no to financial burdens and minimal time The "Merch Booth" system is free for bands to investment for touring DIY musicians use and lets bands use their existing artwork Foster connection between touring DIY Yes, by featuring multiple bands, both touring musicians and local music scenes bands and fans will get a chance to see what musicians are coming and going Have fans actively engage in merch production Fans watch the merch production process process when using Merch Booth but the system has a high level of automation Any use of technology must be familiar or Laser engraving technology is becoming more have a low-barrier to entry and more mainstream

Process / interaction must take less than 2 The average time for completion is less than minutes 2 minutes

9.

Must have low upkeep requirements or be Currently, laser engravers do require regular self-maintaining cleaning and maintenance by trained personnel

10.

Must be able to promote a large number of The logos are updated remotely by the mabands/musicians on a rotating basis chine's processor but the display is analog which would need to be updated when the booth received maintenance.

11.

12.

13.

Design must include in-person interaction

Merch Booth is an on-demand vending machine that lives in DIY venues and requires in-person interaction for use.

Physical size of design can be no larger than The overall height of "Merch Booth" is the same a photo-booth to fit in common DIY venues as common ATM machines and has smaller footprint than a photo-booth

If the design product is sales-based, any The Proposed Cost for a button from the merch products offered must cost under $10 "Merch Booth" is $5

merch booth system

87

booth design The final design for the merch booth is a freestanding booth that take design cues from jukeboxes and merch flight cases.

The feeling is old meets new. Materials choices included edge-lit acrylic, mirrored trim, and exposed chrome hardware. Along with black and chrome materials, the color scheme is a muted primary scheme that takes cues from souvenir machines from years past like the Mold-A-Rama but with a modern twist. Key functional design elements include a shadow box displaying examples of laser engraved buttons, a viewing window to watch the button being engraved and a back lit display interface that highlights the current band button designs. The display interface design allows for up to fourteen designs and utilizes a calendar format.

Along with the depicting the band logo or design, the display also shares the band name, hometown and date of their upcoming local show. .

Right: Merch Booth Final Design Render

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04 DESIGN

Halo-lit Logo / Branding

Exposed Chrome Hardware

"Deconstructed Jukebox" with strong vertical lines

Back-lit Analog Display

Edge-lit Acrylic Accents

booth design

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C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

24”

1-axis Belt Driven Laser

inner components.pdf 1 8/3/2019 6:06:41 PM

Carriage

18”

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Feed Tray Driven by Roller and Motor

6’

24

5’

12 8

4’

3’

54 46

2’

36

1’

90

04 DESIGN

Top and Bottom; Close-up Renders of Inner Mechanics of "Merch Booth"

booth design

91

92

button design The final design the button is a 1.25� square acrylic blank with an embedded lapel-pin back.

The buttons are available in a rotating selection of four color and material options that musicians select when uploading their images to the "Merch Booth" website.

Material choices are from the acrylic manufacturer Rowmark from their Color Hues EFX, LaserMax and LaserGlow lines. This acrylic is designed for the signage industry and meets requirements for high detail laser engraving. The acrylic is two-ply with a thin black or metallic coating on the surface. Color choices were based on subdued primary color schemes reminiscent of other souvenir machines plus silver and glowin-the-dark which are common colors and materials found in DIY music venues and merch.

The blank can be left as a full square, cut into a circle or cut as an offset from the engraved artwork. Artwork can be engraved as a positive or negative image.

The blank is dispensed in a match-book style box that includes a download code for a free music download featuring music from the currently featured musicians in the booth. The packaging also serves to facilitate ease of loading and dispensing of the button blanks.

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04 DESIGN

Square Blank minimizes material waste and maximized design options Match-box style packaging references cigarette machines and dive-bars

Two-toned acrylic allows for positive or negative space design approaches

Offered in 4 different color combinations

button design

95

LOGO, BRANDING AND PACKAGING

MERCH booth

MERCH booth

booth

booth

ljdkhkf-2346g

MERCH booth

booth

download this week’s mixtape featuring MERCHbooth bands @ bandcamp.com/yum

Thank you for using MERCHbooth!

Silver

To engrave your button load this blank in the tray. Your band button will be created while you watch using laser power!

Pacific

Effra Light

download this week’s mixtape featuring MERCHbooth bands @ bandcamp.com/yum

Thank you for using MERCHbooth!

Passion fruit

To engrave your button load this blank in the tray. Your band button will be created while you watch using laser power!

Thank you for using MERCHbooth!

To engrave your button load this blank in the tray. Your band button will be created while you watch using laser power!

Lemon Zest

MERCH

MERCH

MERCH

ljdkhkf-2346g

ljdkhkf-2346g

download this week’s mixtape featuring MERCHbooth bands @ bandcamp.com/yum

Effra Heavy

ljdkhkf-2346g

To engrave your button load this blank in the tray. Your band button will be created while you watch using laser power!

Put the me tray!in

Put the me tray!in

ooth

download this week’s mixtape featuring MERCHbooth bands @ bandcamp.com/yum

CH booth

booth

MERCH booth

MERCH

Thank you for using MERCHbooth!

ljdkhkf-2346

download this week’s m featuring MERCHboot @ bandcamp.com

To engrave your button load this blank in the tray. Your band button will be created while you watch using laser power!

04 DESIGN

Put me in

Put me in

MER

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BUTTON MATERIAL SPECIFICATIONS

Black/ Passion Fruit

Black/ Pacific

COLORHUES EFX Black/ Passion Fruit

CH342-426 2-ply 1/8"

Black/ Pacific

COLORHUES EFX

LASERMAX Glow/

Brushed Silver/Black

Safety Black

CH342-455 2-ply 1/8"

LM942-3342-ply 1/8"

COLORHUES EFX

COLORHUES EFX

LASERMAX

LASERGLOW

CH342-426 2-ply 1/8"

CH342-455 2-ply 1/8"

LM942-3342-ply 1/8"

LG322-9142-ply .050"

TECH SPECS TECH SPECS COLORHUES EFX

COLORHUES EFX Material

Gloss (1 side)

LG322-9142-ply .050"

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Multiple passes may be required when lasering certain gauges.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Sheet Size

Sheet Size

24-1/8" x 48-3/4" +0, -.125" Usage EFX // 24-1/8" x 48-3/4" +0, -.125" // Interior signage 613mm x 1238mm 613mm x 1238mm

Cell cast acrylic (PMMA)

Finish Finish

LASERGLOW

Multiple passes may be required when lasering certain gauges.

Material Cell cast acrylic (PMMA) Matte non-glare (1 side) Matte non-glare Gloss (1 side)

Glow/ Safety Black

Brushed Silver/Black

Restaurant/pub signage & displays Retail environments nding & directories N/A (Single ply) Point-of-purchase

Engraving Depth Engraving Illuminated Depthway

(1 side)

ColorHues N/A (Single ply) EFX .003" // .08mm ColorHues

EFX .003" // .08mm

Gauge

Capabilities EF

Usage EFX Capabilities EFX

Scores Interior Scores signage Laser Vector Cuts Saws Drills Drills Bevels & displays Heat Bendable Restaurant/pub signage Screen Prints Screen Prints Hot Stamps Bonds Retail environments Fine Detail UV Stable Paint ll Fine Detail Back-lighting way Braille-engravable Illuminated nding & Back-lighting directories Point-of-purchase

1/8" +/- 0.016" // 0.4mm

Gauge

1/8" +/- 0.016" // 0.4mm

LASERMAX Material

LASERMAX

Microsurfaced impact acrylic

Finish

Matte non-glare Brushed metal

Material

Sheet Size

.003" // 0.08mm

Finish LASERGLOW Matte non-glare Brushed metal Material

laminated impact acrylic

Finish

Matte non-glare

LASERGLOW laminated impact acrylic

Finish

Matte non-glare

Interior/exterior signage Personal identi�cation Trophies, awards & plaques

Engraving Depth

Microsurfaced impact acrylic

Material

Usage

24-1/8" x 48-3/4" // 613mm x 1238mm

Sheet Size

24-1/8" x 48-3/4" // 613mm x 1238mm

Capabilities

Bevels Bonds Heat bendable Hot stamps Permits ne detail engraving Scores Screen prints Silk screens UV stable

Usage

Interior/exterior signage Personal identi�cation Trophies, awards & plaques

*For best results, it is recommended to rotary engrave these select products.

Engraving Depth

Sheet Size.003" // 0.08mm Usage 24-1/8" x 48-3/4" // 613mm x 1238mm

Engraving Depth .022" // 0.56mm (Reverse only) *.025" // 0.64mm (Front only)

Egress and exit signage Industrial tags Interior/exterior signage Safety signage Tactile signage MEA certi ed MEA#203-08-M

Capabilities

Back-lighting Drills Hot stamps Outdoor weatherable Screen prints UV-printable

Bevels Embosses Ink prints Paint Shears

Drills Laser vector cuts Saws Shears UV-printable

Capabilities

Bevels Heat bendable Permits ne detail Scores Silk screens Braille-engravable Heat bendable Laser vector cuts Saws UV stable

*For best results, it is recommended to rotary engrave these select products.

Sheet Size

24-1/8" x 48-3/4" // 613mm x 1238mm

Usage

Egress and exit signage Industrial tags Interior/exterior signage Safety signage Tactile signage

button design

Engraving Depth .022" // 0.56mm (Reverse only) *.025" // 0.64mm (Front only)

Capabilities

Back-lighting Drills Hot stamps Outdoor weatherab Screen prints

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98

99

fan experience booth

MERCH

1.

A

regular at a local dive bar grabs a drink after work and

notices a new machine by the door.

N

MO

XX

ON

-M

3

XX

2

BAND NAME hometown date playing

BAND NAME hometown date playing

8 BAND NAME hometown date playing

10 9 BAND NAME hometown date playing

BAND NAME hometown date playing

5

BAND NAME hometown date playing

4

BAND NAME hometown date playing

11

BAND NAME hometown date playing

7

6

BAND NAME hometown date playing

BAND NAME hometown date playing

12 BAND NAME hometown date playing

14 13

BAND NAME hometown date playing

BAND NAME hometown date playing

6

booth

1

MERCH

PIZZA RATZ my hometown this weekend

2. She

walks over to check

it out

100

3. She

04 DESIGN

sees a band from her

hometown is playing

4. She

decides to check them

out and buys a button

BAND NAME hometown date playing

BAND NAME hometown date playing

8 BAND NAME hometown date playing

10 9

BAND NAME hometown date playing

BAND NAME hometown date playing

5. She

receives a blank

button

6. She

4

BAND NAME hometown date playing

BAND NAME hometown date playing

12 BAND NAME hometown date playing

14 13

BAND NAME hometown date playing

BAND NAME hometown date playing

11

places the blank

7. She

button in the feed tray

watches the button

get laser engraved

booth

MERCH

8. She

puts her new button on and is excited

to come check out the band that weekend!

fan experience

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website interface Musicians learn about the merch booth through booking confirmation emails from venues. They can then upload button artwork on the Merch Booth website. The website is a simple interface that allows musicians to upload their artwork, preview how their image will look engraved on the button, choose shape and select color / finish from four options.

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04 DESIGN

website interface

103

prototype

104

04 DESIGN

prototype

105

user testing I created looks-like prototypes for both the booth and for the buttons in a variety of color combinations, thicknesses and finishes. I used these prototypes for user testing with a focus group of local musicians.

The key interactions that I wanted to test on the booth included payment, selecting, experiencing on-demand manufacturing and dispensing the final product. The prototype allows users to insert a credit card, select a button design, watch a laser engraver move and receive their selected button.

A focus group of three musicians were given a brief verbal overview of the "Merch Booth" concept, completed a series of three tasks and then participated in a post-testing feedback session. Participants were asked questions following the ACCESS FM framework (Herbert, 2019). The ACCESS FM framework helps to evaluate products in 8 categories: aesthetics, customer, cost, environment, size, safety, function and materials. Each category receives a score of zero, half or one. A category receives a score of one for two positive statements, a score of half for one positive and one negative statement and a score of zero for two negative statements. Following the ACCESS FM questions, I assessed the prototype’s success at helping local fans discover DIY musicians, promoting DIY musicians and supporting DIY musicians financially and scoring using the same ranking system by asking participants the following three questions and using the same scoring system: 1.

2.

3.

Would this booth help you discover new bands?

Would this booth help promote bands / touring musicians?

Would this device help support bands / touring musicians financially?

Focus Group Results The overall ACCESS FM scores from focus group participants ranged from 5.5 to 6.5 with an average score of 6 out of a possible 8. For the questions regarding the booth promotional, discovery and support value each participants' overall score ranged from 1.5 to 2.5 with an average score of 2.7 out of a possible 3.

ACCESS FM Results: Participant 1 Total Score: 6 / 8 Participant 2 Total Score: 6.5/8 Participant 3 Total Score: 5.5/8 Totals for each category for all participants: Aesthetics: 3/3 Customer: 3/3 Cost: 2/3 Environment: 2.5/3 Size: 2/3 Safety: 1.5/3 Function: 2/3 Material: 2/3 Promote, discover, support results: Participant 1 Overall Score: 1.5 Participant 2 Overall Score: 2.5 Participant 3 Overall Score: 2.5 Totals for each category for all participants: Promote: 3 Discover: 2 Support: 1.5 The prototype scored the highest with focus group participants in the categories aesthetics, customer and promotion. Participants all agreed that the strongest value of the booth was promotional and could see it in a variety of settings from dive bars to record stores. Participants also

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04 DESIGN

Opposite Page: Key Booth Interactions tested with Prototype: Payment and Dispensing, Selecting, On-demand Engraving, Final product

user testing

107

Aesthetics What do you think about the look of the booth?

Customer Who would use this booth?

Cost How much does it cost and is it a good value for money?

Environment Where would this product be used?

Size What do you think about the size of the booth?

Safety Do you think the booth is safe to use?

Function Does the booth work as expected?

Materials Do the material choices seem appropriate?

0

2

4

6 Positive Responses Negative Responses

0

2

4

6

Would this booth help you discover new bands?

Would this booth help promote DIY musicians?

Would this booth �nancially support DIY musicians?

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04 DESIGN

Positive Responses Negative Responses

saw the booth having strong promotional branding applications outside of DIY musicians, specifically promoting films in movie theater settings. One participant felt strongly that the booth was best suited for record stores and not for venues so that it did not compete with merch tables at shows or distract from the live performance. The participants felt that the booth would appeal to teenagers and people in their early twenties, regulars at local dive bars and people who wear jean or leather jackets displaying button collections. Aesthetic elements like the color scheme, the mix of retro and new references and the back-lit elements resonated well with all focus group members.

The prototype scored lowest in safety and supporting musicians financially. Participants expresses concern with lasers damaging eyes, the ventilation system and the presence of a physical barrier. While participants all expressed safety concerns, two out of three participants felt that if they saw the booth in a bar or venue, they would assume that it was safe. In terms of the booth financially supporting DIY musicians, one participant felt strongly that this booth would not bring any income to DIY musicians. Another participant felt that the booth offered strong potential to be monetized and could be linked to other money generating machines in dive bars, like jukeboxes.

The final participant felt that the booth would not directly benefit musicians financially but that the experience value in terms of social media posting potential would positively benefit musicians financially.

Another area for improvement identified the focus group regarded the functional operation of the booth. In the prototype, users receive a button blank in a box, make a selection and then feed the blank into the machine to be engraved. Two of the participants felt that this process could be automated or partially automated. The transparency of the before and after was appealing but the physical process of opening the box and placing the blank into the feed track seemed unnecessary to these participants. These participants felt that this process could either be eliminated or that this process needed to be integrated into the experience of using the booth in a more playful, interactive way. The two-part process did not bother the third participant and he said it did not seem like any more steps than using a similar machine like a key copying machine.

The focus group also provided feedback on the button prototypes. The prototypes tested were 1/16” thick brushed gold on black acrylic buttons for all designs. Participants could select from designs that featured photograph-based graphics, band logos, song lyrics, and illustrations. While the display depicted an accurate visual depiction of what would be engraved on the button, it did not show an example of the final button. Some button designs utilized the full 1.25” square blank,

whereas other designs were circles or profile offsets of the image. One participant who received a design with a profile offset cutout did not like the size, weight and material of the prototype. He said the prototype felt “very county fair” and would have liked preferred a full metal button. Another participant agreed that he would prefer a heavier, thicker button but liked the aesthetic of the metallic two-toned acrylic. The final participant enthusiastically expressed liking the material, size and look of his button.

Discussion Based on the feedback from the focus group, I think the overall concept for the "Merch Booth" as a promotional tool is strong. There key areas that need further development are addressing safety concerns, and further developing the blank system for the pin-back buttons. Many of the safety concerns expressed regarded the specific laser technology. Small laser cutters have only recently entered the mainstream consumer market and as a new technology this level of safety concern is to be expected. As this technology becomes more widespread, it is anticipated than many of these concerns will be elevated. Another option in addressing safety concerns is to use a different engraving technology. Current on-demand engraving booths on the market, including key copying machines and dog tag engraving machines, use CNC engraving to create the product. This technology is a viable option for the "Merch Booth" but was not pursued in the prototype due to the current cost of these machines given this project's budget. Using CNC engraving technology could also address the material concerns with the button, in that, metal could be engraved.

The low scores in terms of the financial support for the device offer two possible directions. One option would be to embrace the strong promotional value of the booth and pursue developing the booth as a non-profit public art project. Examples of this model include the Art-O-Matic and the Swap-O-Mat. Another option for increasing the income generating potential for the "Merch Booth" is to increase its entertainment value. The version of the prototype that was tested played a song from the musician while the button was being engraved. Participants felt that the booth could function as an add-on feature for existing jukeboxes or the booth itself could also function as a jukebox. A final insight into the income earning potential of the "Merch Booth" regarded the value of the button. Participants all agreed that the button should offer additional value aside from the button itself. Suggestions included download codes, a special button that entitled the customer to a free beer and using the booth to promote charitable causes by donating profits on a certain night. These incentives would help to increase repeat customers and increase the income earning potential of the booth.

user testing

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conclusion This master’s project began with a broad exploration into the varying roles merch plays for DIY musicians in the 21st century. The divide between people consuming music in digital formats and the rise in the number and variety of physical merch products drove this research. The Internet's empowerment of musicians to connect directly with fans resulted DIY and Major Label Musicians' both relying on merch sales. However, what is unique to DIY musicians is the complete dependence on in-person sales at shows to fuel their creative output. From this insight, I identified a design opportunity to that aimed to promote these musicians through an in-person, rather than on-line system.

I think that with the dominance of e-commerce, advancements in on-demand manufacturing and use of social media as a personal branding tool there will be an increase in in-person, digital retail experiences.

Current examples include, pop-up retail stores for e-commerce sites, like the Warby Parker store, or the Carvana car vending machine. The design for “Merch Booth” tested out what these emerging experiences would look like for a specific community – DIY musicians. This project was limited by access to resources, technical know-how to develop a fully functional prototype and evaluation with a small group of users. However, the concept for “Merch Booth” resonated with DIY musicians. The feedback that this type of booth could be seen in many different settings aside from music venues support the idea that on-demand product booths could become a reality for many novelty or souvenir offerings.

It is interesting that participants thought this type of booth would work well in movie theaters, since film related merchandise was the first type of merch going back to Wizard of Oz t-shirts back in 1940s and entertainment / character related merchandise sales continuing to dominate merchandise sales to this day. Film and television related merchandise sales exceed 118 billion dollars in 2016, versus the music industry’s mere 3.1 billion (International Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association, 2016).

Exploring the applications of “Merch Booth” for Indie film versus corporate film warrants further research.

conclusion

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references

Popular Media and Blogs

365 Days of Horror. (2015). “Shirt Stains: Slayer Bootlegs.” [Blog Post] Retrieved from https://toiletovhell. com/shirt-stains-slayer-bootlegs Browne, David. (2018). Inside Music’s Merch Gold Rush. Rolling Stone. Retrieved from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/inside-musics-merch-gold-rush-199554 Gerber, Ross. (2017) How the Music Industry is putting Itself out of Business. Forbes.

Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2017/05/03/how-the-music-industry-is-putting-itself-out-of-business Guardian, The. (2016). “Moving the needle: the punk badges that defined the 1970s music scene” The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/culture/gallery/2016/dec/14/punk-pins-badges-1970s-music-patti-smith-clash Harrington, Richard. (1989). “The Selling of Rock on the Megabucks Music Circuit. The Washington Post.

Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1989/09/24/the-selling-ofrock-on-the-megabucks-music-circuit Li, A. (2014). “Thank you very merch: The Evolution of merchandise beyond the realm of music.” Hypebeast. Retrieved from https://hypebeast.com/2014/11/thank-you-very-merch-the-evolution-ofmerchandise-beyond-the-realm-of-music Music Network, The (Staff Writer). “The Beatles and the history of merchandising in music” The Music Network. October 27, 2015. Retrieved from https://themusicnetwork.com/the-beatles-and-the-history-of-merchandising-in-music Nielstein, Vince (2018). “Slayer’s Merch Company Files Lawsuit to Stop Counterfeits” May 22, 2018. Retrieved from http://www.metalsucks.net/2018/05/22/slayers-merch-company-files-lawsuit-to-stop-counterfeits Payne, Chris. (2015). “It's Taylor Swift vs. Taylor Swift Fans on Etsy.” Billboard. Retrieved from https://www. billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/6465325/taylor-swift-etsy-fan-sue-legal Peoples, G. (2010). The new D.I.Y. Billboard, 122(27), 17-19.

Ramirez, Erika. (2015). “Beyoncé Disapproves of 'Feyonce' Mugs Being Sold on Etsy” Billboard. January 23, 2015. Retrieved from https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/6450786/beyoncefeyonce-mugs-etsy Yotka, Steff. (2016). “It's official: 2016 was the year of merch—We've ranked the top 15 releases.” Vogue.

Retrieved from https://www.vogue.com/article/2016-was-the-year-of-merch Music Industry, and E-Commerce Websites Bidwell, Emily. (2011) “Lady Gaga and Etsy: A Handmade Partnership for Charity [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://blog.etsy.com/news/2011/lady-gaga-and-etsy-a-handmade-partnership-for-charity Concertwear Etsy Store. “Slayer Black Guitar Pick Necklace. Retrieve from https://www.etsy.com/listing/274857142/slayer-black-guitar-pick-necklace Slayer Store (2019). “Official Slayer Store” https://store.slayer.net/ Walker, Ben. (2017) “2017: The year in stats.” [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://daily.bandcamp. com/2017/12/27/2017-the-year-in-bandcamp-stats DIY Venue Websites ABC No Rio. (2019) “About ABC No Rio” Retrieved from http://www.abcnorio.org/about/about.html

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Bakery, The. “About The Bakery Atlanta” Retrieved from https://thebakeryatlanta.com Merch Production Business Websites Busy Beaver Button Company. “History of Buttons” [Blog Post] https://www.busybeaver.net/history-of-the-button/ Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Burns, R. and Threadgold, S. (2018). Meaning and making: Merchandise practices in the Newcastle DIY scene. Punk & Post Punk, 7(1), 57-73. DOI: 0.1386/punk.7.1.57_1 Demers, Joanna. (2017). “Cassette Tape Revival as Creative Anachronism” Twentieth-Century Music.

14(1), 109–117. doi: 10.1017/S1478572217000093 Lindtner, S and Lin, C. (2017) Making and its promises, CoDesign, 13(2), 70-82, DOI: 10.1080/15710882.2017.1308518 Naveed, Kashif, Chihiro Watanabe and Pekka Neittaanmaki. (2017). “Co-evolution between streaming and live music leads a way to the sustainable growth of music industry e Lessons from the US experiences.” Technology in Society, 50(2017), 1-19.

Sklar, Monica; Donahue, Mary Kate. (2018). Process over product: The 1990s United States hardcore and emo subcultures and DIY consumerism. Punk & Post Punk, 7(2), 155-180. DOI: 10.1386/punk.7.2.155_1 Woods, P. J. (2017), ‘Ethics and practices in American DIY spaces’, Punk & Post-Punk, 6(1), 63–80, doi: 10.1386/punk.6.1.63_1 Books and Book Chapters Azerrad, Michael. (2001). Introduction to Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991. Boston: Little Brown and Company.

Berger, Arthur Asa. (2009). What Objects Mean: An Introduction to Material Culture. Walnut Creek, California: Left Coast Press Inc. Easby, Amber, and Henry Oliver. 2014. The Art of The Band T-Shirt. New York: Gallery Books.

Hebdige, Dick. (1979) Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Foley, Greg and Andrew Luecke. (2017). Cool: Style, Sound and Subversion. New York: Rizzoli.s Levine, F. (2014). In Betsey Greer (Ed.), Craftivism: The Art and Craft of Activism. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press.

Luvaas, Brent Adam. (2012) Introduction to DIY Style: Fashion, Music and Global Digital Cultures. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

O’Connor, Alan. (2008). Punk Record Labels and the Struggle for Autonomy: The Emergence of DIY. Landham, MD: Lexington Books.

Sklar, Monica. (2013). Punk Style. London: Bloomsbury Primary Source Data Future of Music Coalition. (2011). “Money from Music Survey: Artist Revenue Streams Data Portal”. http://arsdata.futureofmusic.org Prior Art: Atom Inc. F.I.D.O. Dog Tag Engraving Machine. https://www.atom-inc.co/Work/Kiosk-Industrial/fido/ index.cfm?&app=app1013&ssl=set

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appendix a.1 Semi-Structured Interview Questions 1. Briefly describe how long you’ve been playing music and what genres you mostly play.

2. How does your band / project make the most money?

3. What types of merch do you offer? What seems to be most popular with your fans? a. Follow-up: Do you offer digital download and physical recordings/merch bundles? b. Follow-up: Do you sell physical recordings? What do you sell most? c. Follow-up: Did this change over time?

4. Walk me through your design process when it comes to merch. a. Prompts: Do you do all the design work yourself or do you commission friends / visual artists? b. Do you have a logo or font that you use on all your merch? c. Do you use your album art on merch or make unique designs? d. Do you use digital design software or analog techniques? e. Follow-up: Is this the same for all types of merch?

5. How do you get your merch produced? a. Prompts: I make it myself, friends make my merch, local businesses make my merch, online services make my merch). b. Follow up: Please list specific merch producers, businesses or on-demand websites that you use. c. Follow-up: Is this the same for all types of merch?

6. If you make your own merch, what techniques do you use a. Prompts: screen-printing, embroidery, stenciling, etc.)? b. Follow-up: How did you learn these techniques? (from friends, workshops, online, books, formal education) 7. What are your considerations when making merch or having merch produced? a. Prompts: cost, ethics, process. b. Does the who and how of how your merch is produced matter?

8. Where do you sell most of your physical recordings and merch? a. Prompts: Retail (record stores, mail order), in-person (at shows), or online (website, Bandcamp, Big Cartel)? b. Follow-up: Did this change over time? c. Follow-up: Please list specific stores, venues or websites.

9. Have you ever made limited edition merch or merch for a specific tour?

10. Have you ever run out of merch while on tour?

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a. Follow-up What did you do?

11. Have you ever traded/bartered/exchanged merch with other touring bands? a. Follow-up How do you value these types of exchange?

12. What is the most interesting merch that you have seen from another band?

13. How would you describe the relationship between merch and your band’s identity and/or message?

14. How do you use the internet and emerging technologies when it comes to creating, producing, and selling merch?

15. Please share an example of your merch and describe it in your own words.

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appendix a.2 Interview Transcripts Emily / Gabbie Rotts Q: How long have you been playing music and what genres you mostly play?

I have been playing in bands for approx. 14 years. Currently, I'm in a folk/americana duo and a riot grrll/rock trio.

Q: Walk me through your design process when it comes to merch In every group, we have used a unique t-shirt design that is not connected to an album. I am blessed to have many artistic friends whom I can approach with an idea and they can turn it into a shirt (e.g. cats playing with a ball of yarn that spells the band name, letters with emoji's embedded, a possum holding a "garbage party" invitation). Our hats have featured a few different song names which are also entertaining when taken out of context ("MILLENIAL SCUM" and "STOP TALKING TO ME") and were handembroidered by a friend.

Q: How do you get your merch produced We typically buy shirts/hats in bulk online and then pay our friends to hand embroider and/or screen print.

Q: Where do you sell most of your physical recordings and merch?

We almost exclusively sell physical cds/tapes at shows- I've maybe mailed 5 to people who have requested them. In one of my old bands we did an indie gogo campaign which included mailing copies of the album to all the backers.

Q: Have you ever made limited edition merch or merch for a specific tour?

The rock trio has used our tours as impetus for new t-shirt designs (and the one-time tapes), which then becomes hometown merch when we get back haha. Gabbie (our frontwoman) once made THE FUTURE IS FULL OF RATS shirts. which I think only 20 were printed and we only sold to people who were not cis men.

Q: How would you describe the relationship between merch and your band’s identity and/or message?

Gabbie Rotts likes to joke about having "brand practice," and in general has a large awareness of capitalism in our songs and stage presence, so I think the merch for that band in particular is tied to a larger image. It straddles the line between embracing and criticizing trends. Gabbie is also a stand up comedian so there's a veil of irony over most things she does :) Q: How do you use the internet and emerging technologies when it comes to creating, producing, and/or selling merch?

We order blank shirts/hats on the internet, and instagram usually builds a lot of buzz for merch (and friends/fans dm orders when applicable). Venmo makes cashless selling much easier than having to get a card reader.

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Shelby / Richard Album Q: Do you sell merch? What types of merch do you usually sell?

Uh… occasionally. For my band, Richard Album, its always tapes, CDs and we have headshots. Glossy headshots with my head on them.

For a little while I sold lathe cut 7” singles, like picture disks. I sold them until I didn’t have them anymore.

Richard Album used to have buttons, but we don’t do that anymore. My bandmate Brian worked at Busy Beaver Button Company, so when he worked there, we could make buttons for free.

Q: Can you tell me about the headshots?

Yeah, so Richard Album is my alter ego. The conceit is that Richard Album is famous, so I wanted to have a kind of gimmick where I sold glossy black and white headshots a really dramatic picture of myself where I looked intensely famous. It’s a very dramatically lit picture, so just seeing the picture is like “wow, that’s a real headshot.”

I feel like it plays into rock and roll fandom a little bit, where people can be like “this is a reference to something that famous band do, I appreciate the reference, I think this is funny” It’s interesting because I almost never take money for the headshots, they cost very little to make, but they have the biggest reach, of anything I do. People talk to me about the headshots the most. When the headshots go up somewhere, they tend to stay up and people will say then people will say they saw my headshot in say Brooklyn, for years, people will continue to see the headshots. It’s something I wanted to do when I started the band and people reacted really well to it, so I just kept doing it. There is some irony with Richard Album because the idea that Richard Album is famous is pretty absurd because there’s no metric to show that Richard Album is famous. Even compared to similar bands, or bands from the same neighborhood that started at the same time as us, Richard Album is profoundly unsuccessful.

It’s interesting because I put out these ideas and people interpret them how they want. So, if I really commit to the idea that Richard Album is famous, other people play along with it. And I think when they take a headshot from me, or when I sign - I usually sign the headshots, dedicate them to the person and just write something cheesy on them like “follow your dreams”. When they take the headshot from me, they’re suddenly part of the con or become part of this fantasy world where Richard Album is famous.

So, I think to give the audience an opportunity to play, where they can pretend, I think engages them on a different level. Where, I think just buying a t-shirt because you like the band and you want to where the shirt because it has the band’s name on it is a more pure, sincere exchange. I think this [the headshots] is a little more maybe post-modern or esoteric, where it requires a deeper level of imagination. So, I think that’s why people like it. And, I think because even if you don’t understand our music you still get the headshot thing, you know? I think it has a bigger appeal than like genre or the way I sing, or anything else that limits our following – limits our reach. People like the concept of Richard Album and the headshot is more a product of that concept than the music, really. It drives homes the point that Richard Album is a persona and its fun.

Q: Do you sell more merch on tour or at local shows?

I think, generally, people are more willing to buy stuff from the touring band because you only have the one time to buy it. When they leave, it will be a lot harder to get their merch - this is the best opportunity to buy this recording so I might as well just do it. And, it’s a souvenir of the live experience. Personally, I really like buying merch at shows. If I’m at the merch table and the band just played I’ll be like “yeah! let

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me get that tape” but if I see their tape at Wreckless Records (a Chicago record stuff) a month later, I’ll be like “yeah, they were good” I won’t have the same desire to buy the tape. So, I think that applies for my band or many other bands. If it’s a touring band its more of a rarity or its more special to buy the merch at the show.

Q: Do you think music has lost its political power in the digital era?

I think the way that capitalism has shaped what it means to produce and share music, in the past few years - from social media being a tool that we use to share parts of our lives but in a lot of senses promote ourselves. Where everything is “come to my thing” “buy my thing” “listen to my thing” - it is so normal to do that now - where every exchange is “I want something”, “I’m putting this out there and I want you to give me something back”. I think that did not exist, in the same way, even 10 or 15 years ago.

I also think that our access to music and media has made us consumers, in a way, in that we’ve lost a personal connection to people that produce music or even labels that put it out. Where it’s like “oh, here’s a product that’s available for me to stream for free”. You lose the sense that a human being made this, a human being designed the cover and a human being screen printed the cover for this. I feel like none of that matters anymore. It does matter, in the micro sense but in the bigger picture it’s like that’s almost like a footnote to being in a band now. Whereas your brand is like the only thing. So, it’s tough.

The conceit that’s hardest to believe is that you need to charge a certain amount of your band’s merch to make a profit. Which to me, belies the whole desire to put your art into the world as something to be experienced. I get that if your make a profit you can put it into making more merch or pay yourself the labor that went into. But for me, asking $8 dollars for the lathe cut singles [that cost $5 to produce], nobody wanted to pay that much, nobody saw that as being worth $8. So, eventually I would just give them away or I just kept marking down the price until I was basically making nothing on them. But, it was like, ok. So, I can make a total of $2 or $3 profit for this? $2 or $3 dollars? I’ll just pay the money pay the money so that someone can have it, I’ll just pay the money so that it’s out there. It seems kind of contrary to what art means to me. The purpose is to share space and share ideas - to build and grow ideas together. To try to make a buck off each other is something I don’t believe in.

Jesse + Jeremy / Sontag Shogun Q: Briefly describe how long you’ve been playing music and what genres you mostly play.

I’ve been playing music for over a decade, mostly in experimental, improvisational, neo-classical, and pop rock.

Q: What types of merch do you sell? What seems to be most popular with your fans? How has this changed over the last five years, if at all?

We mostly sell our music on various formats (vinyl, cd, tapes) and we just released an art book as a companion piece to the new record. We have also made t-shirts and tote bags. our fans seem to mostly buy music (apparel sells much slower). Depending on where we are (japan vs. Europe vs. Canada/us) we sell vinyl vs. cd's more in one place than another. While US and Europe has some vinyl collectors/listeners, Japan has much less and CD's are a much easier sell.

In the last five years we have noticed a resurgence in interest for tapes (cheaper and since everyone is listening on Spotify it just becomes a cheaper antiquated artifact for fans to purchase and a way to support without purchasing 180 gram vinyl.

Q: Walk me through your design process when it comes to merch.

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it’s been a real mix. we often reach out to artists we know and like to produce work for us whether it be promotional (flyers and album art) or for merch (t shirts and totes and books). we often take a hands-on approach, so we'll work closely with the artists and at times do the labor (screenprinting/binding) ourselves. we rarely use the same font or logo because while our sound constantly changes and evolves, so do our visual identifiers. plus, we like to keep collaborating with new artists and don’t want them to be limited by a predetermined aesthetic.

Q: How do you get your merch produced? it varies from item to item. our vinyl is produced via the label which we work alongside of but they take care of all the production costs and arrangements. on our newest release we brought in artist China Marsot-Wood to submit a photograph for the cover. For the companion book piece, we asked our friend, artist Thad Higa, to design a book that consisted of the work of about a dozen artists that we commissioned (directing the work to be a "response" to the record). While the design work was done by Thad, we hand-bound and cut the book in Jesse's home in Queens, after printing the majority of the pages at an eco-friendly printer in Gowanus. Ultimately i think we are looking to collaborate and work with other artists and businesses that are progressive and rad.

Q: If you make your own merch, what techniques do you use? How did you learn these techniques? we made t-shirts and bags by learning how to screenprint from various friends who had access to labs/materials. so far we've mostly made things via screenprinting and diy book making. we learn these techniques from artists and friends who are eager to share their craft (in exchange for some merch gifts and beer).

Wendy / Pussyfoot Q: Briefly describe how long you’ve been playing music and what genres you mostly play.

I started playing music when I was quite young, about 5 or 6. But I didn't start playing in a band until about 2014/15? I mostly play post-punk/punk/sludgy stuff but nowadays am drumming in a sappy pop-rock band so there's that.

Q: Can you describe your most recent tour experience? (Prompts: Why did you go on tour? What was the best show? What about the worst? What types of venues did you play? Where they the same sorts of venues you'd play local shows?)

My most recent tour was 4 months ago. My band was breaking up since my best friend/guitar player was moving across the country, so we decided to go out with a bang. The best show was in St. Louis at Off Broadway with The Funs and Glued. Two bands I have wild amounts of respect and admiration for! It was packed and I got very drunk and my hand was bleeding and I sang my heart out. There truly was no "worst show", but Nashville was certainly odd! I'd say we played about half and half house shows vs venues/bars which feels similar to what we did at home.

Q: Have you ever made limited edition merch or merch for a specific tour? yes! for this last tour we made a special batch of t-shirts. they weren't tour-specific design-wise but we made a small run intentionally made for that tour, in hopes that we'd be pretty much out at the end of it since the band would be no longer (2 left still haha).

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Q: Have you ever run out of merch while on tour? What did you do? yes! we ran out of the split tapes we made with our pals DROOL on a tour a few years ago. we made more when we got back to chicago but it was a bummer to be out of them!

Q: What types of merch do you sell? What seems to be most popular with your fans? Follow-up: How has this changed over the last five years, if at all? cassettes, tshirts, pencils, patches, sweatshirts, tank tops. cassettes and t's def the most popular! when we first started a pal of ours designed us a little logo and gifted us with a silkscreen with it. it was unexpected and very novel to us so we were happy to make prints on just about any weird thrifted plain object we could find. but we pretty quickly realized that mixed assorted merch like that can be kind of overwhelming/confusing to folks! they'd be like "can i get that weird pink tank top in a medium?" and we'd be like "no! it only comes in this one xxxl!" and folks didn't love that.

Q: How do you get your merch produced? duplication.ca for tapes! modest merch for our last run of tshirts - diy'ed them prior to that Q: If you make your own merch, what techniques do you use? How did you learn these techniques? silkscreening - just watched a lot of youtube tutorials lol. also learned how to emboss using youtube vids for the j-cards of our first tapes!!! they were beautiful.

Q: Where do you sell most of your physical recordings? What about merch? bandcamp.com and just on tables at shows Q: What is the most interesting merch that you have seen from another band? i recently saw embroidered fuzzy slippers!!!! i think there should be more underwear.

Q: Please share an example of your merch and describe it in your own words.

[Flounder Eye Migration T-shirt] So while we were in the studio recording our last tape, it was super late and we were very loopy and somehow we got into a conversation about flounder eye migration (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flounder#Eye_migration) and then we started talking about how the whole topic felt very metaphorical and oddly important?! we thought it was an interesting take on what happens when one becomes myopic. we also thought it was weird how they migrate due to camouflage attempts so like, in attempting to hide (for both protection and to attack!) they also kind of limit the ways they can view the world?! Anyway its all really wacky and wild. so we found this open source image a scientist had drawn for a research paper (https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Metamorphosis-of-the-summer-flounderParalichthys-dentatus-A-Hatched-yolk-sac-larva_fig4_235369960) and then my friend michael who does graphic design made it so it looks like theres a whole school of em! We made I believe 40 or 50 of them?

And are now down to like 3 XXL's. We sold them on our last tour and on bandcamp and i posted on personal social media so local friends could just come n grab em!

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appendix b Venue Observation Coding Sheet Date:

Time:

Venue:

Location:

Venue Capacity:

Venue Type: Bar Music Club

Non-Profit Arts Space Bar / Gallery

DIY Arts Space House Venue

All Ages?

Cover:

Crowd (# of People):

# of Bands on Bill:

# of Touring Bands:

Genre(s):

Venue Description:

Show Description:

Flyer # of Tables: Recordings Apparel

# of Bands Selling Merch: Band 1

Band 2

Band 3

Band 4

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appendix c.1 ACCESS FM Coding Sheet Participant 1: A: Aesthetics – What do you think about the look of the booth?

C: Customer – Who would buy or use this booth?

C: Cost – How much does the product cost to buy? Does it offer value? How much does it cost and is it good value for money?

E: Environment – Where would this product be used or stored?

S: Size – What do you think about the size?

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+ I like it a lot

-

It’s a little dangerous/edgy

Score One

One

$5, definitely,

One

$5 without a music download at least once In a movie theater, use even beyond music

I could see it being better received in a record store [than a venue] Topper to a jukebox / enhancement for a jukebox

Half

Half

S: Safety – Do you think the booth is safe to use?

If I saw this in an establishment, I wouldn’t think twice about it

The laser seems dangerous, off gasing, run hot sometimes

half

F: Function – Does the booth work as expected?

Collectibles, limited time offerings

Half

M: Material – What do you think about the materials of the booth and the button?

I think it looks good

the whole machine would work without making the pin ondemand

I like my pin

One

Participant 2 A: Aesthetics – What do you think about the look of the booth?

C: Customer – Who would buy or use this booth?

C: Cost – How much does the product cost to buy? Does it offer value? How much does it cost and is it a good value for money?

E: Environment – Where would this product be used or stored?

S: Size – What do you think about the size?

S: Safety – Do you think the booth is safe to use?

F: Function – Does the booth work as expected?

M: Material – What do you think about the materials of the booth and the button?

+ Layout does a good job of moving attention

-

Score One

Like the primary color scheme pretty much anybody wearing a jean jacket would be interested

One

$5 with a music download

Half

Bars

One

movie theaters It potentially could be taken apart easily Repurposed

One

You could tie it into a ventilation system

Liked the analog “Show it to the bartender and you drink for free” I like the look: two tone black on gold

Half

One

Could be heavier / more durable

Half

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Participant 3 A: Aesthetics – What do you think about the look of the booth?

C: Customer – Who would buy or use this booth?

+ Blend of old technology meets new technology

-

Retro Vibe plus new vibe with the flexi 16-24 using it

Score One

One

I think it would be appealing

C: Cost – How much does the product cost to buy? Does it offer value? How much does it cost and is it a good value for money?

E: Environment – Where would this product be used or stored?

S: Size – What do you think about the size?

S: Safety – Do you think the booth is safe to use?

F: Function – Does the booth work as expected?

M: Material – What do you think about the materials of the booth and the button?

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$5 and its playing the song

do you get a discount to the show, or get into the VIP section, some enhancement of the show to come?

Record Store

Half

One

Dive Bars One Laser have damaging effect to eyes

Zero

Can you reach in?

People in dive bars are used to things being sold, interaction with things other than the establishment

Why do you have to get the thing and

Half

then feed it back in? Why can’t it just come out?

I would prefer a full metal pin Feels very county fair

Half

appendix c.2 Focus groups responses to questions about the booth’s discovery, promotion and support potential Q: Would this booth help you discover new bands?

Participant 1 Participant 2

+

-

Score

Yes, at a record store. then yes, depends on situation / context, curated, genre Could be a cool tool to preview different bands by listening, scanning and looking for bands I’ve never heard of.

I don’t think I’d wanna buy a button from this machine if I didn’t know the band already

Half

Display could be hierarchical, or spotlight bands

Half

One

more in-person than just looking at top downloads or top playlists on spotify Participant 3

If I didn’t know any of the bands, I would pick based graphically

Participant 4

Yes, I’d see bands I didn’t know who there were seeing visually who they are

one

Pressing button and getting exposure to how the band sounds half Not really, my way of Participant 5 If I sawbands a cool/design I might Would this booth help promote touring musicians? snap a picture and then look up discovering new bands is sitting down- and listening to them later + Score Not directly, have to listen to band Participant 1 Getting in the button machine could One be a good thing for a band.

Participant 2

Sharing name with more wellknown bands – “I’m two down and 3 to the left of this other band” 100%

One

Participant 3

Yes definitely Instagramable / snapchat moment,

One

we had this great experience, we got this fun thing on our night out Participant 4

I think so – the schedule on the display

one

Especially if it’s a neighborhood bar

Participant 5

Touring band that looks cool, friends band is in it Yes, definitely.

Oh, shoot so and so has a button

one

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+ Participant 1

-

Score

no, almost exclusively promotional, which is valuable in certain respects, could be a non-profit for the arts

Zero

doesn’t seem like a thing you’re going to make money off of.

Participant 2

Participant 3

big promotion value, make you money in the larger sense but not from the button, its like an attraction

Half

One

Potential to monetize it.

I like the idea of tying it into the jukebox, bars with hoppin jukeboxes, waffle house hoppin jukebox,

Participant 4

I think so,

depending on how the cuts go

half

It seems like it would help Participant 5

I think it could, bands definitely depend on merch sales Especially without having to depend on upfront bulk costs

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one