Music Glue founder Mark Meharry has told Music Week that he believes “music retail will be dominated by an artist-direct approach” within five years.
Now in its tenth year, Music Glue enables artists, managers, labels, merchandisers and promoters to control their online presence and e-commerce, own their data and sell product via any device, in more than 25 languages and currencies.
Its client list includes artists such as Blondie, Goldfrapp, Enter Shikari and Marika Hackman and it has offices in London, Sydney and New York.
“We [the industry] frustrate fans,” Meharry said. “Fans want to engage with artists and give them money. We know that because when we do it well the money comes in. We know the average amount a fan wants to spend and we know they want it to go to the artist. When you click on a band’s website, you’ll get sent to Amazon, or to a merch or ticketing company. For a fan, it becomes a difficult process, they get frustrated and walk away.”
Meharry believes Music Glue are “solving that problem by making it simple”.
“Don’t make the customer think,” he continued. “They’re ready to put money in the artist’s pocket, so make that as simple as possible. We believe that within five years, music retail is going to be dominated by this artist-direct approach. This is a multi-billion dollar industry not being serviced at all well.”
Read the full interview – in which Meharry discusses issues including secondary ticketing and the company’s early teething problems – in the latest edition of Music Week, out now, or click here to read it online.
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