Independent Australian merch company Soundmerch is thrilled to announce the arrival of their first ever retail store, slinging Melbourne’s favourite homegrown and international artists’ merchandise and music. The country’s most trusted screen-printing, band t-shirt and music merch supply company opened its Collingwood warehouse doors to the public last month, before officially cutting the ribbon with a triumphant post-lockdown launch this week. Now, the team of music lovers, musicians and industry professionals behind Soundmerch are stoked to be bringing in the New Year with a stacked calendar of upcoming in-store performances and intimate events.
Run by long-term industry veteran Tim Everist, who has worked at record labels such as Augogo, MDS, Zomba and Trifekta, releasing the debut 7’’ from The Avalanches, Soundmerch is a 100% independent Australian owned company, facilitating merchandise production, supply, POS hosting, logistics and distribution for over 150 artists and 50+ record labels across the globe. Tim established the company in 2009 as a partnership with a screenprinting business, Machine Industries, before taking over the reins as the company’s sole owner in 2017. He has continued to develop the business, honing in on the Soundmerch webstore and growing the company’s direct-to-customer album pre-orders with record labels like Virgin, BMG and Warner and has facilitated #1 records by Dune Rats and Joji and multiple top #5 entries.
In other partnerships, Soundmerch has teamed up with USA based company Merchbar, which allows the artists to include their merch on Spotify and Youtube and send daily sales information to ARIA to contribute to artist charting. They are also the major sponsors of the Soundmerch AMP, increasing the prize money to $30,000 in 2021, as well as sponsoring Triple R with a $2000 prize pack for their radiothon and The Music Victoria Awards with a $1,000 custom-made merch package for the 2021 Best Breakthrough Act.
“When Covid hit…..touring died off, and we found a massive increase with our online sales. The business flipped on its head overnight. The online store went insane and became the main part of what we do. Artists were pushing their merch online, for many it became their main source of income. We were the facilitator between bands and their fans. Previously we were all about the production of merch for touring. Then it turned and was all about the production of merch for online. With that came a massive uptake and demand for vinyl records. So we started stocking more and more titles. To the point where we could (and did) open a real life record store. We’re now selling more records than merch! We’ve seen an increase of 600% in vinyl sales” – Tim Everist
Soundmerch facilitates hundreds of records, merchandise and exclusive products across the world both in-store and online, as well as at live shows, festivals and events. Its massive range of clients includes the likes of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Julia Jacklin, Mac Demarco, The Presets, Divide & Dissolve, Marlon Williams, Montero, Angie McMahon, Woodes, Hope St Radio, Flight Facilities, Dope Lemon, Tame Impala, Pond and plenty more. Most Soundmerch employees are passionate music lovers who play in bands, run record labels or are graphic designers.
“We’ve been working with Soundmerch since the band started… I remember printing our first run of tees with them! Tim and Co have been a stalwart on the Melbourne scene for years and this new space and record store is the culmination of years of hard work. It’s so nice to see all the local artists they’ve supported over the years so beautifully presented in their new real life record store.” – Lucas Harwood, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
Open seven days a week from 11am – 5pm and until 7pm on Fridays, the Soundmerch showroom on Oxford St, Collingwood will be home to exclusive in-store performances, album launches and signings, listening parties, merch drops, and activities leading into this summer and beyond, with a gallery space opening in January to host visual art exhibitions. Their first official in-store performance will be the unstoppable live force Maple Glider. Be sure to mark this down in your calendar and in the meantime head down to the Soundmerch store or online and check out what this beloved institution has on offer.
Upcoming Events:
Maple Glider
In-store performance
Saturday 11 December at 4pm
All Ages welcome
Amyl & The Sniffers
In-store signing
December
Stay Tuned for more details via Soundmerch Instagram
All Ages welcome
Soundmerch
64 Oxford St, Collingwood VIC 3066
Open 11am-5pm everyday, 7pm on Fridays
or 24/7 online at sound-merch.com.au
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