Triple award hopes for Peterborough music merchandise specialist keeping new bands on the road
Business helps emerging bands to save money
A Peterborough-based music merchandise company which is helping new bands and artists to save cash and keep performing is celebrating after achieving three award nominations.
Bandmade Merch Co, based in Blenheim Court, has been named as a finalist in the ‘Early Stage Stand Out’ category in the Great British Entrepreneur Awards and are also a finalist of the ‘New Small Business’ award and the ‘Innovation’ award in The Peterborough Small Business Awards.
The company helps unsigned bands and artists and is co-owned by friends Loti Fuster-Bradley and Tim Willett after they spotted a gap in the market for merchandise on demand for musicians in the UK.
It makes clothing and accessories to help bands and emerging artists with their merchandise as about 70 per cent of an artist’s revenue is dependent on merchandise sales.
It also offers musicians the chance to open a store to sell their merchandise via Bandmade’s online marketplace.
Products are only made when they are purchased and the venture helps new bands save money, giving them an alternative to investing money into merchandise that might never be sold.
Bandmade has merchandise stores for the bands Afterdrive, Dan Knight and Loome, which have all featured on BBC Introducing.
It also has a store for Grace Calver who recently was a support act for The Lottery Winners and Toploader.
Tim, who has been a part of the East Anglia music scene for over a decade, said: “I know the trouble bands and artists have with finding room in someone's garage to store merch, not having anyone to look after the merch stand at gigs, and not being able to source low-cost quality merch with no minimum order quantities, so we hope to help with those problems."
Loti said: “We’re extremely proud of what we have achieved in just seven months of business with over 20 bands signed up for stores, some of which made their money back within hours of opening their online stores to fans.
"We feel our business offers something unique that helps unsigned artists and the planet.
"To have our efforts recognised by The Great British Entrepreneur Awards and The Small Business Awards is fantastic and we’re very grateful to be shortlisted.”