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Alan Cross' A Journal of Musical Things

Alan Cross' A Journal of Musical Things

Filtering what is happening in music to save you time, money and effort.

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Swag

Music Industry 

Which artists make the most from online merch sales? (WARNING: Big numbers ahead!)

September 16, 2021September 16, 2021 Alan Cross 1 Comment Merch, Online Stores, Swag

Back in the day, buying a T-shirt or some piece of band swag at a concert was often an afterthought.

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Music Industry 

Fascinating: A history of music merch and concert swag

November 13, 2019November 12, 2019 Alan Cross 0 Comments Merch, Swag

Merch–that is, the t-shirts, posters, and other stuff you can buy at a concert–has become a vital revenue stream for

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Music News 

Gift Idea: A Pantera Baby Stroller. It’s a Real Thing.

December 11, 2017December 10, 2017 Alan Cross 0 Comments Baby Stroller, Merch, Pantera, Swag

With declining music sales and with no hope in hell of streaming replacing those lost revenues, artists are looking at

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Cool! 

Want Bespoke Merch from Your Favourite Artist? This Company Will Do It for You

November 9, 2017November 8, 2017 Alan Cross 0 Comments LyricFind, LyricMerch, Lyrics, Merch, Swag

LyricFind–a Toronto-based company that makes lyrics legally available for a variety of digital and online uses–has just expanded into a

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Music News 

This Queens of the Stone Age Merch is…Odd

August 28, 2017August 27, 2017 Alan Cross 0 Comments Merch, Queens of the Stone Age, Swag

Queens of the Stone Age released the Villians album on Friday to (so far) much acclaim. Josh also has an

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Music Industry 

Here’s How Important Merch Sales Are to Today’s Artists

May 23, 2017May 22, 2017 Alan Cross 0 Comments Concert T-Shirt, Dell Furano, Merch, Swag

Over the four decades Dell Furano has been selling concert merch, he’s seen the industry evolve into a $12 billion

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Music News 

Kid Rock Unleashes Pro-Trump Merch

December 7, 2016December 6, 2016 Alan Cross 0 Comments Donald Trump, Kid Rock, Merch, Swag

Finding musicians who are willing to declare their allegiance to Donald Trump are pretty rare, but there are at least

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Cool! 

A Box from Rush Arrived the Other Day…

November 27, 2016 Alan Cross 0 Comments 2112, Merch, Rush, Swag

With the 40th anniversary of the epic 2112 album in full effect, there’s some swag dribbling out. For example, this

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Music News 

Today’s Christmas Shopping Item #2: Iron Maiden’s Ugly Xmas Sweater

November 7, 2016 Alan Cross 0 Comments Band Merch, Christmas Sweater, Iron Maiden, Swag

Iron Maiden has tried really, really hard to come up with a truly ugly Christmas sweater (“jumper,” for our UK

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Music News 

Daft Punk Introduces New Summer Merch

July 9, 2016July 8, 2016 Nerhys 0 Comments Daft Punk, Merch, Swag

Daft Punk, everybody’s favourite French robots, have announced their new summer merch line. As with previous years, the announcement comes

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Music News 

The New Juno Awards Merchandise is Unabashedly, Unreservedly, Proudly Canadian

March 17, 2016March 17, 2016 Alan Cross 0 Comments Juno Awards, Justin Broadbent, Merchandise, Swag

With the Junos coming up in a couple of weeks, organizers have unveiled a new line of swag that rivals

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Ongoing History of New Music Podcast

Music Tech MeetUp

Each week, the podcast looks at something from the alt-rock universe, from artist profiles to various thematic explorations. Whatever the episode, you’re definitely going to learn something that you might not find anywhere else. Trust us on this.

Listen Here

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Podcast – The Backstage Project

The Backstage Project Podcast

The Backstage Project Podcast with Mark Silver focuses on the stories behind the biggest and best entertainment products, events, and companies. We go behind the scenes with amazing people who have done or are doing extraordinary things to entertain you, the audience. From sporting events to concerts, from cable tv to music apps; if it’s made an impact on the entertainment world, we cover it.

Listen Here

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RSS The Backstage Project – Sports & Entertainment Podcast

  • The Goldilocks of Canadian Production Companies – Mark Bishop in Conversation with TBP Podcast EP 037 November 25, 2021
    Our latest guest on The Backstage Project podcast comes to us from the world of Canadian television. TBP was thrilled to have a chance to visit and catch up with marblemedia’s Mark Bishop. Mark is an accomplished entrepreneur, brand-builder and trusted media industry advocate. In 2001 Mark and Co-Founder Matt Hornburg founded marblemedia, one of […]
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    Many of us – at one time or another – dream of being professional athletes. Most of us realize in high school that we won’t be making it to the big leagues – unfortunately. The lucky among us flirt with the minor leagues in hopes of that big break. But what happens when that big […]
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  • Being your Authentic Self – Richard Crouse in conversation with TBP Podcast EP 035 July 2, 2021
    You would be given a free pass if you forgot that before the rise of the social media influencer there were already pundits and personalities on TV, radio and print. There’s just been that much exponential change in the media business over the last 15 years. Yet today, those who were formerly the audience are […]
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