Creed Singer's Merch Business Looking To 'Screamline' Sales

Amusement Business, September 17, 2001

From the vantage point of a small, boutique concert merchandising firm, principles in Screamline Merchandising see a lot of greed and a lot of need in the industry.

Founded in December 1998, Screamline provides merchandise for about 10 bands currently, the largest being Creed. Creed front-man Scott Stapp co-owns Screamline with Thad Thompson.

The company expanded this year, adding Chris Tanner, former booking agent, and Jeff Schmidt, formerly with artist management, in Atlanta. Screamline is headquartered in Orlando.

The company's origins are classic rock and roll. Thompson and Stapp went to Florida State University together and when Creed was formed, the band needed someone to do merchandise.

"They were getting offers from some of the bigger companies. Everyone likes to throw out a lot of money up front and give a bad percentage in terms of what they're looking at down the road," Thompson said. So Creed formed its own company and now is reaching out to others.

Thompson questions the practices of some of the bigger companies, saying too often the advance is against a percentage of the net and all sorts of expenses are backed out before determining that net.

"They might back out shipping costs. Some of the bands that were opening for Creed would run out of merchandise and their company would Fed-Ex overnight boxes with huge shipping bills on the road and all that comes out of the band's cut," Thompson said.

"It's sad to see these bands get snapped up by these large companies and then get lost in the shuffle," Thompson said. "It kind of works that way through the whole industry, from big record labels to the back-end needs. A lot of bands sign for cash up front because they need tour support to stay on the road."

Creed gets a percentage of gross sales. "If we have to overnight merchandise to the tour because we weren't tracking our inventory closely enough, that comes out of our pocket," Thompson said.

For example, he noted that Madison Square Garden, New York, "is known to take one of the biggest cuts out of merchandise," and when Creed played MSG "they got their guaranteed percent of sales, Madison Square Garden took theirs and Screamline actually took a loss on that show."

Tanner agrees that baby bands without label support or large bands with huge production costs often settle for bad deals. They need the advance to get on the road. "Then there are the bands that want a lot of money up front because they want a lot of money up front; it's money guaranteed in their pocket similar to a publishing deal," he added.

Thompson sees a great opportunity for bands to make some money, especially small bands, if they can keep themselves out of a bad deal. "I hate to see a band sign a deal for $50,000 up front and then have to sell $500,000 in merchandise before they recoup."

Tanner has a long-standing theory about the state of the business that encompasses, but is much broader than, merchandise. There's no artist development, he says.

"Everybody wants their money before their artist goes away. even if they believe in them. The problem absolutely positively is that the record companies sign too many bands. You have to make sure you're constantly selling records. They won't sign a band and let it flourish like Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel, still here 25 years later."

"If there weren't so many bands getting record deals and things weren't moving so quickly, they wouldn't make as many mistakes because these bands would be out on the road doing it themselves, talking to merchandise companies they can get on the phone," Tanner summarized. "They would know how much to charge, what they can make money for. They don't have time now. The whole industry is quick -- go get it, go get it; people are missing the fine points."

.Linda Deckard