David Martin, CEO of the Featured Artists Coalition, on venues charging commission on merch sales, and supporting emerging artists with their Step Up funding

Music Ally Focus

Ep 117: We’re joined by David Martin, CEO of the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) – the UK trade body representing the specific rights and interests of music artists. We’re talking about two of the key needs that emerging artists have: that is to say – a guiding hand at the right time, and making money from merch.

Artists have become increasingly vocal about one particular reality of touring, namely some venues asking for 25% (plus tax) of all the merch they sell. The FAC has decided to campaign against this via its 100% Venues campaign, which is a public database of UK and North American venues that charge zero commission on artists' merchandise sales. David also talks about the needs of emerging artists who are hitting the cusp of success – and why the FAC is injecting cash and connections at what they see as the turning point in their careers.

The FAC's Step Up fund: thefac.org/stepup

100% Venue Directory: thefac.org/venuedirectory

Joy Division - Closer: youtube.com/watch?v=WYkA80GcnjE&list=OLAK5uy_lOlrsoFPaar3Ic4vpZb6qMCxk80tEmfnk

Most chokeslams in one minute: guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-chokeslams-in-one-minute-wrestling

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