TesseracT Drummer Jay Postones Feels Tips To Merch Sellers At Live Shows Should Be Shared With The Band & Crew (Updated)

Jay Postones, drummer for British progressive metal outfit TesseracT has spoken publicly on a new policy the band plan to enforce regarding tips made to their merch staff at future live shows.

The decision was apparently made in response to the band being unhappy with the amount of money in tips being pocketed by the merch person at their shows on their fall North American tour with Intervals and Alluvial, which launched earlier this month.

Taking to his personal Instagram, Postpones stated:

“On this US tour, we’ve discovered an imbalance that I wish to shed light on.

As a touring musician, we put a huge amount of energy into bringing our music to our fans. It’s our pleasure and it’s our passion – but believe me when I say it costs us everything to do this. Touring at our level breaks even. Everything goes toward production, crew, and travel costs.

When you purchase merch from a band at a US show and leave a tip – as is customary – you’re not tipping the band. This tip goes to the merch seller.

From speaking with fans, we know some of you thought you were tipping the band. Firstly – thank you. Secondly, we apologise that your tip hasn’t reached us – we didn’t have vision of this system/ culture until now.

From speaking to peers, we have discovered that some merch sellers are generating in excess of $30k in tips over the course of a 5-6-week tour – which is insane. No one else on a tour at our level makes anything close to this. The band members certainly do not. The other crew members are on agreed fees, nowhere close to this.

We understand that in the US service industry, tipping culture is normal. It brings low-paid jobs up to a, hopefully, liveable level. The job we’re hiring though is not a low-paid job.

While it goes against the grain, our suggestion is that all tips taken at the merch desk should be shared across the entourage – band, and crew. We’re all here, working hard all day to bring the show to you. It seems unfair for one person to own the monopoly on tips for the entire package.

While it’s too late to make this change mid tour, we have set up a digital tip jar that will be shared between the band and crew at the end of the tour. Scan the ‘tip the band’ QR code at our merch desk if you’d like your tip to reach all of us.

As always, thank you for your continued support. We can’t wait to see you out there ♥”

Postones‘ comments have sparked some discussion amid several industry professionals and musicians, including merch sellers Jaide Alicia & Thaddeus Gavura, along with I Declare War, Brendan Murphy (Counterparts/END), Plini, Nicko Calderon (Knocked Loose), Ryan “Tuck” O’Leary (Fit For A King), Devin Shidaker (The Acacia Strain), Chris Kael (Five Finger Death Punch) Alicia Taylor (Cherry Bombs) and former Chelsea Grin guitarist Jake Harmond.

With Intervals and Alluvial:

10/17 Montreal, QC – Corona Theatre
10/19 Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall
10/20 Grand Rapids, MI – Elevation
10/21 St. Louis, MO – Red Flag
10/23 Denver, CO – Summit Music Hall
10/24 Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
10/26 Seattle, WA – The Showbox
10/27 Vancouver, BC – Commodore
10/28 Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory
10/29 Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
10/31 San Francisco, CA – Regency Ballroom
11/01 Los Angeles, CA – The Regent Theatre
11/03 San Diego, CA – Observatory North Park
11/04 Phoenix, AZ – Nile Theater
11/05 Albuquerque, NM – Revel
11/07 Dallas, TX – The Granada Theater
11/08 Austin, TX – Emo’s
11/09 Houston, TX – Warehouse Live
11/11 Tampa, FL – The Orpheum
11/12 Atlanta, GA – Buckhead Theatre
11/13 Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl