Musicians Union Launches Campaign to End Merch Cuts and Pay-to-Play

Four Standards for Venue Reform

United Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) has launched a campaign urging concert venues across the country to abandon business practices that artists have long criticized as exploitative. The initiative, called Raise the Bar, asks venues to publicly commit to four standards: contract transparency, no cuts taken from artists' merchandise sales, no pay-to-play schemes that require musicians to cover costs for the chance to perform, and no door-polling arrangements that tie an artist's pay to attendance counted at the entrance.

Live Nation Singled Out as Industry Driver

UMAW singled out large corporate-owned venues, including those operated by Live Nation, as a driving force behind the spread of these practices industrywide. A federal jury recently determined that Live Nation operated an illegal monopoly in a landmark antitrust case. Merchandise sales have become a flashpoint in the debate over touring economics, since many venues take a percentage of those earnings even when they play no role in producing or promoting the merchandise itself.

The campaign arrives as independent musicians grow more frustrated about the financial pressures of touring in the face of inflationary pressures. Declining per-stream economics, an increasingly crowded marketplace and the influx of AI-generated tracks have made recorded music an unreliable primary income source for many independent artists, forcing them to depend more heavily on touring, merchandise and direct-to-fan revenue. A recent survey conducted by the UK Musicians' Union found that 92% of members earned less than 5% of their income from streaming.

Independent Venues Already Leading the Way

The organization argued that many smaller, independent venues already avoid these practices and said the campaign is intended partly to recognize those spaces publicly, in hopes that visibility will encourage others to follow suit. UMAW shared a list of 21 committed venues in San Francisco, Philadelphia and other major cities. The campaign has drawn support from several allied organizations, including the Freelance Musicians Association of the American Federation of Musicians, the Maine Music Alliance, Vocal Kentucky and the Rising Artists Foundation.

Venue operators who want to participate in Raise the Bar can sign up through the campaign's website.