In a recent outburst following the ’93X Nutcracker’ event on December 8th, Ronnie Radke criticized Minneapolis’ The Armory on X. The singer revealed on social media that the venue demanded a 25% cut from the gross merchandise sales during the show, writing:
“93X Nutcracker was an amazing show with Daughtry. I’ll do it again next year if they want; amazing radio station, and I’m grateful for the support last night. I refused to sell Falling In Reverse merch in the venue we were playing in because The Armory demanded I paid 25% of gross sales to them.”
Disagreeing with the practice, he went on:
“So I told The Armory to go f**k themselves and just didn’t sell merch because it didn’t sit right with me to have to upcharge the fans 100 dollars a hoodie because the greedy venue thinks 25% of gross merch sales from a band is okay, for your information these venues taking a merch cut is criminal, there is no reason or excuse for venues to take bands merch %.”
Inviting Musicians To Fight
The Falling In Reverse frontman urged other bands to resist similar demands:
“They do it because we let them get away with it; it’s literally stealing. There’s not a single reason these venues have that makes this okay. So, to anyone out there ever wondering why merch is so expensive, it’s because these venues are stealing from the artist. Last night, I told The Armory to go f**k themselves on stage, and if any of you bands play this venue, I’d advise you do the same; the only way this bulls**t is gonna change is if we as bands all stand together, and f**k their bottom line up.”
He also mentioned the issues with the low streaming incomes and added:
“Streaming takes our money, the venue takes our money, the artist gets destroyed and disrespected by these greedy f**ks. So one more time, f**k The Armory in Minneapolis, but thank you to the fans, the huge show, and the radio station, and I’m sorry we couldn’t sell our merch!”
Do The Venues Deserve A Share?
Bands like Bad Omens, Architects, and Born Of Osiris voiced similar concerns about the topic in recent years. So, Radke’s tweets received a lot of support from the fans while fueling the ongoing discussions.
When some people defended the venues’ right to a share of merchandise sales, the singer repeated his call for a fight-back:
“There is no way in hell these venues can keep getting away with taking 20-25% gross merch sales to these bands. Imagine if every band just stopped touring for a year and caused these venues to hemorrhage cash… Why do you have a venue if nobody plays in it? The music industry’s power lies in the artist; it always has; we need to come together.”
Referring to the defenders, he shared:
“For all the idiots thinking that venues need merch % from us to help pay their employees, you have no idea what the f**k you are talking about? If that was the case, these venue employees would all be multimillionaires since they’re taking 25% from every band in merch sales every night of the week, 365 days of the year.”
The Sources Feeding The Venues
Detailing the revenue sources for the venues, he added:
“The venues make money off of bar drinks, food, and ticket sales. There’s no reason for them to take a % of bands’ merchandise. They do this because they can get away with it, the audacity that you get taxed by the government and then the state, and then the venue tries to tax you for no reason on top of it. But one more time, the power lies in the artist. No artist, no venue, remember that.”
Stressing that the venues were unjustly charging the bands for merchandise sales, he repeated:
“Lastly, people thinking the venue deserves even a small % of merchandise, they do not. The band pays for the art, prints the merch, ships the merch hauls the merch; the merch is copyrighted by the band, it is owned by the band. The venue is not owed a % of it. The venue makes its money off of you showing up to the show. So, the venue shouldn’t be allowed any % of your merch sales. That is not up for discussion.”
Financial Struggles Of The Artists
This discussion also tied into the broader talks about the financial challenges faced by artists, especially with streaming services’ low payouts:
“Somewhere a long time ago, they invented this rule, and over time % went higher and higher slowly. And now we are here. It’s not right; Spotify gives you .003 cents per stream. Venues take 25% of your gross sales. Think about that, gross meaning you still have to pay for the shirts that they are taking from you. Hahaga, they are taking so much from you.”
Radke’s comments brought attention to these trends’ impact on smaller bands:
“I can’t imagine the smaller bands coming up ever surviving. The greed is destroying the very fiber and fabric of music and touring. When will it stop when these venues own 80%?”
Announcing his plans to change the system, he added:
“I will start my own festival where the bands get 100% of their merch; mark my words.”
You can check out Ronnie Radke’s tweets below.
https://twitter.com/RonnieRadke/status/1733556352986087507
https://twitter.com/RonnieRadke/status/1733978759106318539
https://twitter.com/RonnieRadke/status/1733983375093080530
https://twitter.com/RonnieRadke/status/1733984909658821087
