MerchFriends—a non-profit organization dedicated to building a sustainable ecosystem for independent music merchandise—has announced that it will be hosting a new celebration called Band Shirt Day. Similar to Record Store Day, the event brings artists and musicians together to commemorate the power of the band T-shirt, raising money for charity in the process. The inaugural Band Shirt Day takes place on September 16, 2022.
Blondie, Mac DeMarco, and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are included in the first round of participating artists, with more to come later this year. Proceeds from Band Shirt Day T-shirt sales will go to charities including Planned Parenthood, Children of Ukraine, The Ally Coalition, MusicCares, TransLifeline, and the ACLU.
“Independent music has a deep history of sustainability through community focus; fundraising, street teams, and guerrilla marketing,” MerchFriends and Hello Merch co-founder Sam Means said in a statement. “MerchFriends, through Band Shirt Day, is bringing together communities to help solve problems we face every day.”
Participating artists include Blondie, Mac DeMarco, Tori Amos, Sargent House, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, The Maine, Tragically Hip, The Format, Urge Overkill, Flipper, Monophonics, The Estate of Jóhann Jóhannsson.
The event is presented in partnership with Spotify, Rough Trade, and BandsInTown, among others. As Heather Ellis, product marketing manager with Spotify for Artists, said in a statement:
MerchFriends is also the official merchandise partner for Rough Trade’s upcoming Indieplaza festival, bringing Band Shirt Day to Rockefeller Center for an entire weekend (September 17 and 18) filled with exclusive goods. Indieplaza will feature performances by A Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Yaya Bey, Mary Lattimore, Claud, Horsegirl, Automatic, King Hannah, and more.
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