_ANCE LABELS: Record lalrel- mer cnandising Uevenllnierchandise Ihe most continues revered indie-rock to thrive, sincelabels dancerarely Inspireones do. Ihe same kind of allegiance as weiring your of lelling■ Kyou peopleboy a label's you're merchandiseinto bouse or ifsgarage, a way Mil (orMerchandising example," explains (which créâtes Mark Dixon lines offor Impacl the flIVI:PMand Distinctive labels, among others). A 1 î" ""'sisette everyhody,But merchandising observes Lewisdoesn't Pennington, work (or the growing market for dance-related, logo-emblazoned merchandise suppliespartner in dance Merchandising labels including Mallers, has become ever more innovative and adaptable, says Peter Lyle i Positiva, Krr, Jackpot and 5 i soonStrictly discovered Rhythm UK. unless "We a iANCE ACTS: Conventional wisdom says thaï this year's merchandising companies such m label is of a certain size il _ landmost the prominent Mercury dancePrize-winning acts - the Roni chart-topping Size - willr Pulfnot inspireDaddy as Underworld and De-Luxe, simply tlnesn't have the Ihe same kind of dévotion as a rock band like Oasis n whichUnderworld includes the inband ils rosier(whose rangeprofile ot le merchandising," support a full U2.their Consequently loyalty by having dance their fans logosare unlikely blazoned to expressacross memb s double as design says Pennington. their chests. JamiroquaiJa[rcollectivecoll Tomato) (whose andlogo breakDixon an agréés,unknown "Ifs label. hard If theto Virgins and Our shirtîrtRock as longinnn fans as will that go T-shirfsT.chSrtv out in a gotndirty* Ihe pair logoi-.„„ of ijeans and■ a, dirty T- rone of the best fi Prices aren'l (amiliar with the product, they wail says Mark Dixon, sales executiven at Impact Merchandising. recognisedNinelies group). ol any The (or the slreet to create Ihe demand. We make "For dance, though, you can't jusl print a white logo on a bh acts _su sustained profiles of Cream,merchandise and now (or athaï new ifs label, being R.I.P. licensed Groove to BMG Ice tashionT-shirt and and expect more demandingit to sell. The about audience ils merchandise." is a lot more into HPsuch as Jamiroquai and and is seen ta fae doing well, there's suddenly a Nevertheless, the current status of Britain's most successful dancelance acts ' crealedcreatedChernic:Chemical a demandd Brothers from have live wider"Ifs demand about récognition,"ter the product." says Justin indicates that demand for rock and dance music merchandising may 1 audiences which may soon Alphonse, one of the co-ordinators of playconverging. live on mainThis sumraerstages on saw the more festival and circuit more sludio-basedwhere they would dance once ac aredictate wearing. what their club crowds &«3 includeAdrénaline Sema, Merchandising, Ninja Tune, IQwhose and clients been Seanconfined Johnston to specialist is artist tents. liaison tf lunclionalDorade. things manager for Underworld Merchandise, like T-shirts, record 'IIS tyteSK, designers■merchandisenciimaiiuiac and foriuimanufaclurers theme uneslikes uiof Ihe meof |11 ■MANCE iDance CLUECJ.UBS:T-sh When Biancaépisode from EastEndersof lhe BBC soap,wore athe World rave havebags andlasted slipmats sa well. anunwiu. ..«UnnVtin. H.n,,. ChemicalRoni Size. Brothers, He reports Daft that Punk the and 1 nextiUorganisers lorganisers day. It begged received the question an unprecedentcd of not oniy numberwhen a clubof inquiries should the : They get worn and MierâpS exceptionallylhe Ctlemical good business done at begin manufacturing merchandise but also what that merchandise ; used and they're 1 says about a club's ambitions. good for the label's Prtr.KS Sî®"i. ' famiUaTso®'" _ for example, Brothers'represents live an shows, Amanda Cole, who oversees merchandising at Bristol's L While no-one ° 5 eXpans|on 0f ibe market beyond quiteclub, theprovides profile some ol a Mînistryot the answers. of Sound, The Cream Lakota or might Renaissance, not yet have but F! anticipâtes a lUÎIll ffi®, ' I®® Iffi Cï6®®" 5- lhemail-orderlike Iradilional t,ie specialists. record retailer "Bands and given that ils summer schedule featured dates by dominancechallenge to of the DJ |QÏ lll® S" fflaïM., niunnHslR®8 brought Chemical a lot of kids Brothers into dance have Healy,Mercury Andrew Music WeatherallPrize-winner as Roni well Size,as the Jeremy danceculture-specilic merchandise he says. "Somusic we're over now the designing past few years,"for two superclubRenaissance status. and NYCD"We first tours, tried it maymerchandising soon achieve j lookinglike bags, for culting-edge ways to enhance companies Ihe basic are product. always second,audiences; the first, coolertanbase." the mainslream, and slartingabout two again years now ago," with says a bigger Cole. elfort. "But we'reIn the past, There'srecord bags, a leeling (or example, in the industry have reachednow that plain thisIn two-lier the r syslemof the iChemical Brothers, wepromised, wouldn't or get the deliveries fabric we'd on agreed the dates on wouldwe'd been saturationAdrénaline point. recently sourced 5,000 rucksack straightforwardone hand, some reproductions T-shirt designs of arerecord around,suddenly locally be out and ol stock. across Now, the country,we're shopping trying to manufacturerrecord bags with and pockets customised from thema Japanese for clients. skateboard-stylecovers while others tashion. are more "Designer inspired Chris by had before. It's a lot of work, but we're doing it ImpaclIl now offers is also a continuallyrange of rucksack examining add-ons. différent bandPriesl and discussed then converted a sériés theof ideas hand withgrenade lhe becauseClubs withwe know an eye the on demand the wider is there." market must take a anglesstyles, fasteningsfor old approaches. and fabrics, and devising new single into a stencil, to deviseFlockin' something Beats' wellmanufacture thought-out ol their and merchandise.realislic approach Logically, to the therefore,design and any ciun stapleYel, item.despite As IheSteve (rends, Lucas, T-shirts senior remain salesperson a wear,"much more says in Johnston the vein -fil — superthat doesn't league. know "You what can itspend wants six may days not on be a quite job trying ready to for source lhe atatmerchandisersGreen a T-shirt like a blank canvas. Island, Yousays, can "We do look détailThe andhigh professionalism level of cai things,"real saysdrain Justin on resources Alphonse if peopleof Adrénaline. are indecisive." "So it can be i virtually anything you like with it. demanded by lhe faiggest dance awareClubs that wanling putting to makea unique their slamp mark on must merchandise also he does"When not clients necessarily ask for mean something resorting 'spécial' to gimmicks. it's ofter The Way Ahead Group really expensive and time-consuming. But there ar bea lotvery of crealivenew printing at low techniques cost," says which Alphonse. allow you to • Merchandise mail order services (24 hr branded Clubs looking to merchandise to promole them f k crédit card hottines,• storage,Internet despatch) facllitles says Lewisintemationally Pennington shouldof Merchandising be aware that Matters. lastes "The diller UK abroad, is into • ■ UltraDatabase cheap collationmailings tinyBut logos, Adrenaline's whereas Alphonseabroad they is reluctanlwant everything to go too big," far downhe says. Ihe • The UK's blggest music box office opération fashion road. "Dance and club merchandise has always got ta be , • The UK's biggest coach to concert operators practical,"Mark Rodol he points says. out, And, "In as terms Minislry of crédit of Sound's control, MD {f •• MailingInformation list provision services sales and distribution, club merchandise and • Clients include - MTV, Britannla Music, NME, Fantazia, tashion are slill entirely différent types of Virgin/Emap/Xfm Radio, Gatecrasher. Blue Grape continuesBut if dance's to grow, eftect those on différences contemporary may fashion ! A Marketing Dream - One Stop Shop lade away. Call 0115 912 9211 now! _Ji I § f | col CO « pours cotg POE; Enal £3