alt Hacker NewsThe truth that haunts the Ramones: 'They sold more T-shirts than records'
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I dunno, Seems like author of article is projecting, I feel like most people would be happy if they made that much of an cultural impact
I read that Aerosmith made more money from Guitar Hero game royalties than from their albums. And it's been true for a long time that most acts make more from touring and merch than song sales.
If the Ramones put their name on all sorts of merchandise does that make them sellouts?
I joke, of course, and I'm a big Ramones fan. I've had numerous iterations of that shirt over the years. I often use them as an example when discussing "what is good art?" They are one of the most influential bands of all time and yet they were terrible musicians.
I was wondering the same thing about Iron Maiden the other day - they seem more of a merch company than a heavy metal band these days.
You can get Iron Maiden beer, Iron Maiden wine, Iron Maiden sunglasses etc. let alone the common merch like T-shirts.
Given many more people can buy merch than can buy a concert ticket (which has inherently limited numbers) I wonder how the two revenue sources compare.
I get a lot of content about "how to promote your band"* and it's almost ALL about finding "superfans" you can sell merch to - so the actual art is reduced to ads for t-shirts
* I've been in the same (unsuccessful) band since 1987 - obvs I have a day job too
They're played every day on the radio, on streaming services, etc. Billions of listens vs. thousands (?) of shirts.
Shawn Stussy printed shirts to promote his surfboards and ended up being the originator of “streetwear”
Fascinating! Always love these backstories. The Ramones were brilliant - I don't have a favourite album but my most-watched DVD is The Ramones Story
Seems like The Ramones were way ahead of their time, whether they knew it or not. Before the digital age, most bands made the bulk of their their money from record sales. Concert tours were just promotional events for the latest album. That model has since been flipped to what The Ramones were doing 50 years ago - "music sales" earns little compared to concerts and merchandising. Now that's punk rock! LOL
I don't mean to be crude, but how can it haunt them, when they're all dead?
Made my day. Thank you
Isn't it normal and typical for musical acts to make more money from concert tours and merchandise sales than the music itself?
[dead]
The Ramones sucked. can we just all finally be real about this?
Well, Brian Eno said of Velvet Underground's first album that it didn't sell many copies but everyone who bought it started a band.