Insights from MIDiA’s merch and ticket purchaser survey

Expanded rights are rapidly changing into the expansion engine of the recorded music trade. The class – which incorporates labels’ participation in income streams like merch and reside – grew a formidable 21.5% in 2025, in response to MIDiA’s recorded music market shares report, leaving all different income segments within the mud.

But what acquired fandom monetisation right here will not be the identical as what’s going to drive its subsequent period. As new generations age up, their diverging preferences will more and more form the marketplace for fan merchandise and experiences. To this finish, MIDiA not too long ago surveyed 1,000 US followers who had purchased both merchandise, bodily music, or reside live performance tickets within the final 12 months. The outcomes, explored in a 44-page report out subsequent week, level in the direction of a rising bar for music merch and experiences – and recommend that two genres specifically could also be neglected.

Sophistication

Whereas band t-shirts would be the market’s bread-and-butter right this moment, youthful patrons count on a greater variety of merchandise than ever. In truth, 16–24-year-olds under-index for favouring t-shirts, however over-index for choices like hoodies, posters, keychains, and jewelry. It is sensible – for those who develop up in a world of algorithmic feeds and the power to order just about something on-line, why wouldn’t you count on merch to be equally tailor-made and accessible?

Youthful followers additionally worth subtlety and “if you recognize, you recognize” indicators over extra apparent artist branding. Collectively these information factors mirror a rising urge for food for bespoke merchandise tailor-made to the artist and fanbase – take into account Earl Sweatshirt’s incense, Sabrina Carpenter’s pajama set, or Bon Iver’s dwelling perfume. This implies extra effort, however the potential reward is excessive, and there’s a rising market of boutique merch companies trying to assist. 

Fragmentation

As listenership fragments, so does fandom. The result’s that slightly below half of respondents say they primarily buy merchandise from bigger, extra well-known artists and bands. The shift turns into extra pronounced with every youthful age cohort. Whereas teenagers are sometimes extra prone to search underground tradition anyway, the continued development of fragmentation means that this shift is generational, not simply demographic. Mainstream artists might drive increased spend, however by way of total gross sales quantity, merch that is now not solely a superstars’ recreation. A proliferation of on-demand merch startups are serving to artists of many sizes meet fan urge for food.

The hip hop and R&B candy spot

A normal rule of thumb is that the extra area of interest the style fandom, the upper the spend. Nevertheless, hip hop and R&B stand out. These genres occupy a novel candy spot – not solely do they depend greater than 50% of merchandise, bodily music, and live performance ticket patrons as followers, however these followers additionally spend above-average on these respective classes. The one different style for which that is the case is rock, and solely on the subject of tickets (not merch or bodily music).

The takeaway: Whereas fan monetisation has historically revolved round “mainstream” genres like pop and rock, hip hop and R&B could also be neglected. That is very true as youthful generations age up. Hip hop is the third hottest style amongst world customers in MIDiA’s This fall 2025 survey, however rises to the primary hottest amongst 16–19-year-olds and second amongst 20–24s.

A rising bar

The merch, reside – and even bodily – markets are thriving. But this doesn’t imply the music trade can sit again. The competitors for fandom (and fan spend) is intensifying, and expectations are rising with it. Success will hinge on how nicely artists and their groups perceive their audiences, and the way exactly they’ll design merchandise and experiences that genuinely resonate.

That begins with nurturing fandom, not speeding to monetise it. Alarmingly, slightly below half of survey respondents agree that merch is changing into unaffordable for them, and 39% say they generally really feel their fandom is being exploited. On this setting, each launch, drop, and activation carries extra weight. The chance is to not extract extra worth from followers, however to construct worth with them – taking a thought-about, considerate strategy that reinforces belief and connection moderately than eroding it.

That is only a snapshot of the report findings, with many extra layers to the story. For a deeper take a look at purchaser preferences, distributors, discovery strategies, reported annual spend, future spend expectations, and extra, purchasers can look out for the complete report coming later this month.

In case you are not a shopper however want to discover out how one can entry this report, contact us at enquiries@midiaresearch.com.

Picture credit: Curated Life-style / Nick Fancher / Dylan Mullins through Unsplash+