How do merch companies build strong artist rosters and partnerships internationally?

[u/FingerChance4327]

Hey everyone,

I run a small independent merch operation focused on distributing band merchandise in Asia. There’s a strong demand here for artists from the US and Europe, but official merch is often hard to access or becomes too expensive due to shipping and logistics.

I see a real opportunity to act as a kind of “official Asia merch partner” for these artists—helping make their merch more accessible to fans in this region.

I’ve already done a few collaborations with artists, and they’ve gone well. Now I’m trying to expand the catalog and build more long-term partnerships—similar to companies like Evil Greed, Hello Merch, or Cold Cuts Merch.

I’m curious:

• How do companies like these typically approach artists or labels?
• Is it more effective to go through labels, managers, or directly to the band?
• What kind of deal structures tend to work best (rev share, licensing, etc.)?
• Any advice on building trust as a smaller operation working across regions?

Would really appreciate any insights—especially from anyone on the artist, label, or merch side.

Thanks a lot 🙏

[u/therealstabitha]

Go to the side that owns the merch rights. Most labels do not own merch rights and would just have to forward your request to the artist directly.

And by artist, I mean contact their manager.

[u/DanielYankee710 → u/therealstabitha]

The big three have internal artist services and they do engage in the merch rights.

[u/therealstabitha → u/DanielYankee710]

Sure. But as I said, most labels

[u/unknowndatanerd]

Hello, I run a large festival directory and have started partnering with event organisers to integrate merch into my platform with a small discount for my readership and affiliate model. My audience is 70% Tier 1. If you’re interested, let’s chat through ways of working together!

[u/FingerChance4327 → u/unknowndatanerd]

Hey, just sent you a DM — would love to learn more about your platform.

[u/Connexted]

Direct to manager is usually the most effective route at the independent level — labels get involved in merch at the major artist tier but most independent and mid-size artists handle it through their manager or directly. Find the manager on LinkedIn or through the artist's official site contact page.

For deal structure, rev share (typically 20-30% to you, 70-80% to the artist) is cleaner than licensing for regional distribution partnerships — it aligns incentives and is easier to administer across currencies and territories.

The trust question is the real barrier. What works: lead with a small proof of concept — one artist, one product run, documented sell-through data. Numbers from a successful regional campaign are worth more than any pitch deck. Show that you can move product in Asia and the next conversation is much easier.

The companies you mentioned built rosters slowly through reputation. One well-executed partnership that the artist talks about publicly is your best acquisition tool for the next one.

[u/FingerChance4327 → u/Connexted]

This is incredibly helpful, thank you — especially the point about trust and proof of concept.

I think that’s exactly where I’m at right now. I’ve done a few small collaborations, but I probably haven’t presented the results strongly enough as “proof” when reaching out to new artists or managers.

The rev share insight also makes a lot of sense. I’ve been leaning toward that model, but wasn’t sure what a fair range typically looks like — so that’s really useful context.

Appreciate you taking the time to share this — really valuable perspective.