Tim Burgess reveals Nottingham's Rock City waived merch sales cut for The Charlatans show

Burgess, who expressed respect for "venues that don’t take a percentage of a band’s merch sales" in December last year, shared a positive update following The Charlatans' show at Nottingham's Rock City venue on Saturday (14 May) via Twitter, writing, "An amazing thing happened last night. Rock City usually take a percentage of band merch income, just something they’ve always done. But they’ve listened to what artists are saying and as we left they returned the cash to our merch guy, saying they felt it was only fair."

An amazing thing happened last night. Rock City usually take a percentage of band merch income, just something they’ve always done. But they’ve listened to what artists are saying and as we left they returned the cash to our merch guy, saying they felt it was only fair

— Tim Burgess (@Tim_Burgess) May 15, 2022

"I’ve said before that this isn’t about money for The Charlatans but about fairness for artists and their fans - allowing them to keep an important part of the income from gigs," Burgess continued. "So many venues don’t take a percentage and we think the others should follow their lead."

He added, "The Ritz in Manchester have waived their merch commisssion for an upcoming show that The Lovely Eggs are playing. Common sense and fairness is starting to prevail."

The Ritz in Manchester have waived their merch commisssion for an upcoming show that @TheLovelyEggs are playing. Common sense and fairness is starting to prevail

— Tim Burgess (@Tim_Burgess) May 15, 2022