French avant-garde metal artist Igorrr has poured further fuel onto the ongoing debate around merchandise sales at gigs by refusing to sell his own merch at a recent show in London.
The 38-year-old producer/musician, whose real name is Gautier Serre , is currently in the middle of a European tour, and headlined London's O2 Forum in Kentish Town on Saturday night (March 11). Hours before the show was due to start, however, Serre announced that no Igorrr merch would be sold at The Forum, citing what he claims is a 25% cut on merch sales demanded by the venue.
"We'd like to inform you that we won't sell merch at our London show tonight," explains a post on Igorrr's official Facebook page. "The venue, O2 Forum Kentish Town is asking for a 25% cut on our merch sales.
"We could have raise-up the prices of our t-shirts and hoodies," the statement continues, "but it doesn't seem fair to us to have our UK fans paying more than they should, especially because the venue is asking for a spectacular percentage for no particular reason.
"We tried to negotiate with them, but they are not interested in helping us at all. For those of you who would like to purchase some merchandise online, our webshop will be updated with new designs after the tour. You can check our website www.igorrr.com for more infos. Thanks for your support."
The news comes following intense debate around merch prices at venues and the relationship between venues and touring artists. Last month, Gojira's merch prices were under scrutiny following a photo from the band's merch booth at a show in Belfast going viral. Less than a week later, Architects led calls for bands to go on strike in protest at what drummer Dan Searle described as "insane venue merch cuts".
Metal Hammer has reached out to The Forum for comment.
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