Hey Chris

This is Marc Gunn. I play Sci F’Irish music and I’m also host of the multiple, award-winning Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. When Kevin left, you asked for ideas to share on the CD Baby DIY Musician Podcast. So I thought I’d share mine.

Over the past couple years, I’ve been transforming my business to reflect the changing customer interests. I think my CD sales account for just 40% of my merch sales. I know CDs aren’t going away forever, but that number will continue to decrease. So I’ve been looking for new ways to keep bringing in merch sales that are not as bulky and size-temperamental as t-shirts. 

I found one and I figured out how to market it—the album pin or the musical pin.

Selling enamel pins is nothing new. But the challenge is how to sell them and link them to the music. That’s why I started promoting the term “album pin” last year, and just recently pivoted to “musical pin”. Sales of the pin effectively returned my depressed CD sales back to a “normal” level from 10 years ago.

So how does this work?

First, let me talk about the names. I like the term “album pin” because the idea is to create an enamel pin that is themed to a specific album. You get a digital copy of the album (via Bandcamp), and you also get to wear your album on your sleeve (he says pointing to his sleeve for a visual reference). That little pitch has gone over really well.

Recently, I started using the term Musical Pin at some of the sci fi conventions I perform at. While at a convention, people are likely to look at enamel pins to buy. The term “Musical Pin” makes them take an active interest in asking, “What that’s all about?” That said, both terms seem to work pretty well. 

Naming the Musical Pins is an important part of the equation. Fans need to understand that the pins are indeed linked to an album. I have 25 solo albums. So it helps a lot in this situation. But that is only a part of the equation.

Another important aspect of the Musical Pin is the design. Like with shirts, you need a design that will capture someone’s eye. I do not recommend you use your album cover unless you only want to appeal to fans. 

Personally, I try to reach outside of my fans and make new ones. So at conventions, people are likely to stop and look at the pins even if they don’t know the music. Then they get a free album download. It’s a big bonus. They discover new music in the process.

The pin design could be anything technically, but I prefer to link the design to a specific song or theme from the album. One of my pins is based on my Scottish kilt and my song “Kilted”. It includes the text “Kilted For Your Pleasure”. Another features a dragon inspired by my 1977 Rankin & Bass The Hobbit movie and the inspired song “Come Adventure With Me”. A Brobdingnagian Bards-inspired pin includes the words to our song “I Will Not Sing Along”. My most-popular Musical Pin features my Celtic Cat logo which is linked to my Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers CD. 

The next step is to make an Album Card. This is basically a postcard with the album cover and a complete track listing of what’s on the album. I also include a brief description of the album, a URL and QR code to take people straight over to Bandcamp. I print download codes from Bandcamp and glue those to the back of each card.

Customers can use the QR code and go straight over to Bandcamp if they want to sample the music. Or they can buy the Musical Pin and get a free download for $20. Or they can buy two and get one free for $40. I also sell CDs for the same price and the same special offer.

Early on, the question for me was why can’t they buy one pin and get a different album. Technically, they can. But no one ever asks about that. 

I don’t know about you, but I’ve tried selling other items before with a download code. I tried selling the CD Baby download stickers. I’ve never had success. I feel like the primary reason for the success of this project that is the Album Card.

Customers want to know what’s on an album. So a download code by itself is kind of worthless. But a code with a card makes all the difference. Well, that’s my hypothesis. 

I have not yet tried selling other products in a similar fashion. But I would assume most any product would do. I like the Musical Pin though because, much like t-shirts, it gives fans a way to passively engage with non-fans. “Can I read your pin? Oh! That’s interesting.” I have a couple fans who told me they’ve done that already. 

Any case, I am a big fan of the Musical Pin. So much so that I changed my business model to focus on selling the pins with download codes, because we are in a new era. So far the results are great.

I would love to share this idea with the CD Baby DIY Podcast listeners to help the idea go further.

Let me know if you’d like to talk or just publish this.

Email works best, but my phone number is 512-470-4866.

Slainte!
Marc Gunn, The Celtfather

PS. I love your marketing. Been a subscriber of yours for a few years. “There’s a Bird” is on my kids family playlist. 🙂