Merchandising is playing an increasingly greater role as a
revenue stream for musicians. In light of disruptions faced by the
music industry with many live performances being cancelled or
postponed since March 2020 due to COVID-19, Triple J and Support
Act brought forward their annual Ausmusic T-Shirt Day to April 17
this year (traditionally held during Ausmusic month in
November).1 The campaign encouraged music fans to wear
their favourite Australian music artist's t-shirt on the day as
a way to support musicians, but the campaign also highlighted that
merchandising is an increasingly important revenue stream for
musicians going forward.
This campaign and recent examples of product releases by
musicians, including Ariana Grande's 'Thank U, Next'
perfume and My Chemical Romance's face masks, raise broader
considerations around musicians' intellectual property rights
for creating or selling merchandise. Band names, logos and album
artworks commonly applied to
