According to blabbermouth.net, during an interview The Razor’s Edge, Fear Factory‘s Guitarist Dino Cazares discussed about post-pandemic touring and increased travel expenses.

“It’s kind of like just life in general. Anybody who has a normal job — you’re still getting paid 10 bucks an hour, but your rent went up, your insurance went up, food prices went up, gas prices went up, but your pay is the same.” said Cazares.

The guitarist adds: “It’s kind of like how it’s been for bands as well. Promoters are only willing to pay you so much, but everything else went up. Now the club owners and the promoters are taking a cut of your merchandise, so it’s making harder and harder for artists to survive out there.”

During the interview Cazares was asked if the merchandise cuts the promoters are taking from artists are getting larger than they were in the past.

“Yes. That’s been the whole debate, that it’s been getting larger and larger. Of course there’s always been a percentage that you have to give to venues. That’s just how it is. Merch percentage — we’re talking about merch percentage.”  said Cazares.

The musician adds: “But, of course, it’s getting higher and higher. So, unfortunately, the fans are the ones who have to pay for that, because once the merch percentages get higher that the venue takes, then you’re gonna have to raise your prices on a t-shirt. That’s just inevitable and that’s unfortunate, [but] that’s what happens.”

Also the host told Cazares that artists do not get any money from the  alcohol that are being  sold in the venues during a performance.

“It’s not just the promoters and the club venues; it’s also the ticket agencies. It’s all a big thing. It’s not one thing — it’s all of it. And you’re right — we do not get a percentage of the alcohol at all whatsoever.” said Cazares.

The artist adds: “But I did hear that there was one artist that did that, and that was Axl Rose. Axl Rose was putting  Guns N’ Roses in stadiums — in soccer stadiums and baseball stadiums — selling out 40, 50 thousand people, but he was, like, ‘If you want Guns N’ Roses in your stadium, you’re gonna have to give me a piece of the alcohol.”

Cazares continues with: “And I heard a rumor that he got a piece of that alcohol percentage, which is really good. Which probably evened out to what [the promoters] were getting from the merch percentage. But not a lot of artists in my genre have that kind of power, if at all.”

Several venues require bands to pay them a percentage of their merchandise sales. Normally that split is 20/80, which means  for every dollar a band makes selling a t-shirt, the venue gets 20 cents.