A career selling merchandise for touring bands, often referred to as a merch manager, is a competitive, fast-paced job within the music industry. This role offers a unique opportunity to travel and work closely with artists, acting as a direct financial lifeline for the tour. While the lifestyle can appear glamorous, the job requires significant business acumen and physical stamina. Developing the specialized administrative, sales, and logistical skills necessary for this position is key to creating a long-term path in touring.
Defining the Merch Seller Role and Required Skills
Core Duties
The primary function of a merch seller extends far beyond simply handling transactions at a table. The daily routine begins with a precise inventory count, known as a “count-in,” where the touring stock is reconciled with the venue’s initial sales sheet. Throughout the event, the seller is responsible for the visual presentation of the merchandise, managing the flow of sales, and ensuring the security of the stock. The night concludes with the “settlement,” a detailed reconciliation process where all sales, credit card fees, taxes, and venue commissions are calculated before the final reports are delivered to the tour manager.
Essential Skills
Success in this role depends on financial and organizational proficiency. Strong mathematical skills are necessary for calculating sales and commissions quickly and accurately. Trustworthiness is essential, as the merch manager is solely responsible for handling thousands of dollars in daily revenue. Organizational discipline is needed to manage constantly shifting inventory and to set up a professional, appealing display in a different location every night. Effective interpersonal communication is also needed for customer service with fans and diplomatic coordination with venue staff.
Starting Local: Gaining Foundational Experience
The most effective way to enter the touring world is by building a verifiable track record in your local music scene. Offer to volunteer or work for free for small local acts, which provides a low-pressure environment to practice inventory management and settlement procedures. Seek out small-to-mid-sized venues in your area and inquire about “house merch” positions, where you sell merchandise for various touring bands. This experience allows you to perfect your count-in and count-out processes and provides exposure to different tour managers and their settlement styles. Once you have this experience, create a resume that quantifies your accomplishments, such as “Managed inventory and cash reconciliation for over 30 events” or “Averaged 15% increase in soft merch sales through optimized display.”
Strategic Networking and Career Advancement
A full-time touring job is rarely posted on a traditional job board and is secured through reputation and personal referral. Building your network requires a deliberate strategy, focusing on both horizontal and vertical connections within the industry. Horizontally, focus on building professional relationships with other local crew members, such as sound engineers and stagehands, as they often hear about openings first. Vertically, your goal is to make a positive impression on touring professionals like band managers, booking agents, and the tour managers themselves. This involves consistently proving your reliability at the local level and providing your contact information to the touring merch seller at every show you work.
Finding Touring Opportunities
While networking is the primary method for securing a job, specific channels exist for actively searching and applying for touring roles. Niche job boards dedicated to the music industry often list positions with smaller bands or merchandising companies. Professional Facebook groups, such as those dedicated to touring crew or roadies, are also a common place where job openings are informally shared. You should also monitor the career pages of large merchandising companies, such as Merch Traffic or FutureShirts, as they frequently hire touring staff to handle logistics for their artist rosters. Reaching out directly to smaller bands that are actively preparing for a tour, particularly those moving up from club venues to theaters, can also open doors.
The Realities of Life on the Road
The touring lifestyle presents significant logistical and physical challenges. The job involves irregular hours, with days often starting with an early load-in and ending well after midnight following the final settlement. Physical labor is required, including the repetitive lifting and moving of heavy boxes of stock and setting up displays in cramped or poorly lit areas. Compensation is typically structured as a day rate, which can range from $100 to $200 per show for a beginner, often supplemented by a small commission, usually between 2% and 5% of gross sales. Living conditions can be demanding, with crew members often sleeping in small, stacked bunks on a tour bus, requiring strict adherence to shared space rules and an ability to sleep while traveling long distances.