Behemoth bassist Orion talks about the loyalty they have with their crew, the visual aspect of the bands live show and the unfortunate new trend, where some venues expect a cut of merchandise sales. Yes! The venue now wants bands to give up some profit of merchandise sales, as well as taking their door cut and getting punters through the door to pay for their overpriced f*cking drinks!
This is a growing trend in the music industry today, everyone is struggling to make a dollar. That applies to business/club/pub owners as well, and we certainly don’t begrudge them making money. BUT, there is a time and place. If one side is take-take-take, the other will fall. There will be no band onstage to bring in the crowds and live music venues will be ghost towns. In 10 years’ time we’ll all be walking around in a daze getting stupider by the minute, pumping dollar coins into poker machines all night for something to do!
This is not just a Behemoth issue, this problem exists for the grass roots bands, the bands that are at the level Behemoth were 12 years ago. It’s a constant battle for most bands to stay afloat and to take away part of their income by pure greed is not in the interests of the bars and clubs themselves and the bands certainly and punters are the big losers.
Merchandise has always been an important part of any bands arsenal, even more so in today’s age of downloads and streaming. Orion talks below about the growing trend of profit sharing from shows and why it’s not sustainable for a band of any size.
Anchors to Asphalt is presented by Decibel Magazine.
