Streams alone don’t pay the bills for most indie artists, but merch does. And when you add it to your Spotify profile, fans can grab your stuff right from the app they’re already streaming your music on.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to sell merch on Spotify – from getting your setup right to picking products and promoting your drops.
What is a Spotify merch store?
The Spotify merch store is the Merch tab on your Spotify artist profile page. It pulls products straight from your connected Shopify store, so fans can browse your merchandise while streaming your songs.
What do you need to start selling merch on Spotify?
Selling Spotify merch requires three things.
Spotify for Artists account
This is your gateway to Spotify’s artist tools. Unlike a regular Spotify account, you’ll get more features to manage your music, track audience data, and add merch to your profile.
A Shopify store
The Spotify Merch tab connects exclusively via Shopify integration, so a Shopify account is required for this whole thing to work.
Merch items to sell
Spotify’s merch guidelines allow you to sell music recordings, apparel, bags, and handmade items.
Not sure where to source your band merch? Print-on-demand services like Printify offer tons of print-ready, customizable products.
Just sign up for free, pick a product, add your design, and list it for sale – no upfront investment and no inventory to manage. Whenever a fan makes a purchase, we’ll print and ship their orders worldwide, so you can focus on creating more cool music.
How to sell on Spotify: Step-by-step merch shop setup
Once you have all the essentials – a Spotify for Artists account, a Shopify store, and merch ideas – setup only takes five steps.
Step 1. Set up your Printify account and create products
Create a Printify account to use our free merch maker – no upfront costs needed.
Browse our Catalog of over 1,300 products and choose a print-on-demand item that fits your sound and fanbase. We’ve got everything from t-shirts and hoodies to mugs and posters.
After that, go to our Product Creator and:
- Upload your band logo, album artwork, or lyric art.
- Use free graphics from our library to build a design from scratch.
- Access premium visuals from Shutterstock for a polished look.
- Create custom artwork using our AI Image Generator.
Once done, select the product variants to sell and set a retail price that covers costs and your desired profit margin.
For step-by-step instructions, read our guide on how to use the Product Creator.
Step 2. Create a Shopify store
Next, set up a Shopify store to host your products. Check out our ultimate guide to starting a Shopify store for the full walkthrough.
A few tips for selling Spotify merch with Shopify:
- Start with Shopify’s cheapest plan and upgrade once your merch sales pick up to access more features.
- Keep your store branding aligned with your Spotify profile page so fans recognize it instantly.
Once your store is live, connect it to Printify from Shopify’s App Store. Your print-on-demand products will then be published straight to Shopify, ready to be pushed to Spotify.
Step 3. Connect Shopify to Spotify for Artists
With your Shopify store and products ready, let’s link it to your Spotify for Artists account.
- Sign in to Spotify for Artists and open the Merch & Events section.
- Hit Connect store, paste in your Shopify store URL, then choose Link shop.
- Sign in to your Shopify account, add Spotify as a new sales channel, agree to the terms, and assign the store to your artist profile.
Step 4. Publish new merch to your Spotify profile
Now, let’s publish your merch to your Spotify artist profile. Make sure your products use plain text and static images, and follow Spotify’s merch guidelines. Then:
- Sign in to Shopify and head to Settings → Products → All products.
- Open the merch item you want to publish.
- Under Sales channels and apps, hit Manage.
- Tick the box next to Spotify, then hit Done and Save at the top of the page. The listing can take up to an hour to appear on your Spotify account.
Step 5. Pin and tag merch to your music releases
Pinning and tagging are how you get Spotify merchandise in front of loyal fans.
Pinning puts up to five items at the top of your Merch tab. Tagging links merch items to a specific release, so they surface on the album page and in the Now Playing view when fans stream your songs.
To do either, sign in to Spotify for Artists, open Merch & Events, and hit Manage item under your desired product. Then, do one of the following:
- To pin, tick Pin item and click Done. Pinned items appear in the order you set.
- To tag, search for the release you’re tagging, then hit Done.
Tips to successfully sell merch on Spotify
Publishing merch is the easy part. The real question is what to make and how to price it in a way that makes sense for Spotify listeners.
Start with apparel and proven starters
Your first merch drop should reflect what fans already buy from their favorite artists.
Apparel is the go-to. Custom t-shirts, hoodies, and sweatshirts double as concert souvenirs, everyday wear, and walking advertisements for your music. It’s the same reason many YouTubers lean on clothing first when launching their merch website.
Other proven bestsellers are accessories people use every day, like mugs and phone cases.
Stuck on what to make? Check out our list of branded merchandise ideas.
Price for both fans and reinvestment
Pricing merch is a three-way balance – what fans will pay, what covers your production costs, and what leaves enough left over to fund your next release, music video, or tour.
Keep these pricing tips in mind:
- Check what other artists at your level charge. Indie musicians usually price t-shirts at $25-$35 and hoodies at $50-$65.
- Beyond base production costs, the price should also cover marketing, platform fees, and store operating costs – while still leaving money for profit.
- Round to clean numbers ($30, not $29.99) – it reads more like merch and less like retail.
- If you’re selling Spotify merch for a nonprofit cause, price transparently and mention the split (for example, “$10 from every shirt goes to…”).
We recommend a 40%-50% margin. Read our guide to pricing print-on-demand products for more information.
How to promote your Spotify merch
With your store live, the next step is to drive traffic to it from Spotify and your existing marketing channels.
Feature merch in your Artist Pick
Notice how your favorite artists have something pinned on their Spotify profile? That’s called an Artist Pick. Besides pointing it at a new release, you can use it to feature merchandise, like:
- New release merch – A limited-run drop tied to your latest single or album.
- Tour merch – A design that’s only available during a specific run of shows.
- Bestsellers – The item fans keep coming back for, especially if you’re between releases.
Tie drops to tour dates and releases
Fans who already care about a release date or concert are primed to buy something that marks the moment.
- Publish tour designs 7-10 days before the first show so fans know what’s coming and can budget for it.
- Announce merch drops at least 48-72 hours before your release goes live, so you can integrate it in the same social posts and press cycle.
- Cap limited runs at a fixed number or a set end date, and make this clear on the product page to give fans a reason to act soon.
Point every marketing channel back to your Merch tab
Most fans don’t get to your Spotify merch store on their own, so you need to give them a reason to visit. Work these tactics into your social media, music video descriptions, and email marketing:
- Take advantage of TikTok trends – Film get-ready-with-me clips, tour vlogs, or song covers while wearing the drop.
- Use lifestyle shots – You, your friends, or actual fans wearing the drop work as testimonials that convert better than plain product photos.
- Add a call-to-action to your video descriptions – Something like “SHOP THE DROP → [link]” pinned near the top.
- Segment your email list – Lead with scarcity (“last 40 pieces”) for repeat buyers to push a quick purchase decision, and with the story behind the design for new subscribers to give them a reason to buy.
Selling merch on Spotify: FAQ
Turn your Spotify streams into merch sales
Now that you’ve learned how to sell merch on Spotify, the only thing left is to put your first product in front of your listeners.
With Spotify, Shopify, and Printify working together, you can go from a design idea to a live Merch tab in a single afternoon – no inventory, no upfront costs.
Create your free Printify account now and design merch your fans actually want.
