How to sell merch on Spotify with Shopify and allthe

The people most likely to buy your merch are the ones already listening to you, and a lot of them are listening on Spotify. Since Spotify opened merch to every artist with a Shopify store, your profile can work as a merch table that is open every hour of every day, sitting right under your top tracks. This guide covers how to set it up, what Spotify will and will not accept, and how to have every order made and shipped automatically without a single box of stock in your spare room.

What is Spotify merch?

Spotify merch is the Merch tab on your artist profile, plus the merch slots Spotify shows alongside your music. Products are not uploaded to Spotify directly. They are pulled from a Shopify store you connect through Spotify for Artists, so Shopify is where your listings, prices and orders actually live, and Spotify is the shop window. You can publish up to 250 items, and you can feature merch in your Artist Pick when you want a particular drop to get attention.

What do you need to sell merch on Spotify?

• Spotify for Artists access. You need to be on the artist's team with admin rights, on the web version of Spotify for Artists.
• A Shopify store. Spotify's merch features connect through Shopify only. If you are new to Shopify, Spotify points artists to the Starter plan, which is enough to sell on Spotify without building a full website. A Basic plan makes more sense if you also want a proper standalone store.
• At least one published product. Spotify only shows products that are live in your Shopify store.
• Someone to make and ship it. Either you pack orders yourself, or a print-on-demand service makes each item when it sells and posts it to the fan. The second option is what the rest of this guide sets up.

How to set up Spotify merch, step by step

1. Create your Shopify store. Sign up at Shopify and choose a plan. Use your artist name for the store, because fans will see it at checkout.
2. Connect allthe to Shopify. Install the allthe app on your store and approve the connection. Our Shopify setup guide walks through it, and most stores are connected in under fifteen minutes.
3. Design your merch and push it to Shopify. Pick garments and accessories from the catalogue, add your artwork, set your retail price and push. The app builds each Shopify listing for you, with every colour and size, the product images and a size chart.
4. Set up payments and tax in Shopify. Turn on Shopify Payments, set your shipping zones to the countries allthe currently delivers to, add your shipping rates, and set up sales tax or VAT for the places you sell to. You are the seller, so these settings are yours.
5. Link Shopify to Spotify for Artists. Log in at artists.spotify.com, open the Merch & Events tab and select Connect store. Enter your store address (your-store-name.myshopify.com) and choose Link shop. Shopify then opens: add Spotify as a sales channel, accept the terms and pick the artist to link.
6. Publish your products to Spotify. In Shopify, open a product, find Sales channels, choose Manage, tick Spotify and save. Spotify says products can take up to an hour to appear on your profile.

What happens when a fan buys your merch on Spotify?

The fan taps a product on your profile and checks out through your Shopify store. The paid order lands in Shopify as normal, and from there it is copied into our production queue automatically. We print the item, pack it and send it to the fan. The tracking number is written back to Shopify, so your fan gets the shipping email your store would normally send, under your name.

Nobody touches a spreadsheet or an export file, and you never hold stock. You set the retail price, the fan pays you through Shopify, and your cost for each item is written onto the Shopify variant, so Shopify's own profit reports show what you are actually making on every sale.

How do you get merch approved for Spotify?

Spotify has its own merch guidelines on top of Shopify's, and the ones that catch people out are simple:

• Plain text and static images. No videos and no rich formatting. Before you tick the Spotify channel, read your product description in Shopify and make sure it still makes sense as plain text.
• It has to be your merch. Products must belong to the artist the store is linked to. One Shopify store links to one artist profile; a store selling for several artists uses one collection per artist.
• Clean product images. Fans browse on a phone at thumbnail size. A flat mockup on a plain background reads far better than a busy lifestyle shot.

If you sell personalised products with a fan's own name or message, keep those on your Shopify store and put your standard designs on Spotify. The Merch tab is built for products a fan can buy in a couple of taps.

What merch sells best on Spotify?

Start small and obvious. A heavyweight tee with your album or single artwork is the bestseller for most artists, because it is the band tee people already know how to wear. Add a hoodie for the fans who want the bigger commitment, and a tote or a cap as the lower-priced option for someone buying on a whim. Four products done well beat twenty nobody can choose between.

Because nothing is made until it sells, you can tie merch to the music itself without risk: a design for each single, a tour tee with the dates on the back, a limited colourway that disappears when the campaign ends. Retiring a product costs nothing, and you never pay to find out a design did not land.

How should you price Spotify merch?

Work up from your real cost, not down from what a high-street tee costs. Your price has to cover the item, your Shopify plan and the card fee on each sale, and still leave something worth earning. Fans are buying a piece of something they care about rather than a t-shirt, so merch can carry a fair margin. With your cost already on every Shopify variant, you can see exactly what each price leaves you before you publish.

How do you promote merch on Spotify?

• Feature it in your Artist Pick when you launch something, so it sits at the top of your profile.
• Drop merch with the music. Release day is when attention on your profile peaks, so have the matching design live before the track goes out.
• Send everyone back to one place. Your socials, your newsletter and the QR code on the merch desk at gigs can all point to your Spotify profile or your Shopify store, whichever your audience uses.

Where should your merch be printed?

As close to your fans as possible. Local production means a shorter journey, fewer customs surprises for a fan to pay at the door, and a replacement that is days away rather than weeks if a parcel goes missing. A merch order is often a fan's first purchase from you, and the delivery is part of how it feels. allthe prints in the UK today, with production in more regions planned as we grow. We cover the trade-offs in more depth in local vs overseas print on demand.

Spotify merch: frequently asked questions

Do I need Shopify to sell merch on Spotify?

Yes. Spotify's merch features connect through Shopify only, so your products need to be listed in a Shopify store you link through Spotify for Artists.

How much does it cost to sell merch on Spotify?

Connecting your store to Spotify is free. You pay for your Shopify plan and the usual card fees on each sale. With allthe there is nothing to pay up front and no stock to buy: an item is only made, and only charged to you, when a fan orders it.

Can independent artists sell merch on Spotify?

Yes. You do not need a label. You need Spotify for Artists access for your profile with admin rights, and a Shopify store.

How many products can I show on Spotify?

Up to 250 merch items can be published from Shopify to Spotify.

How long does merch take to appear on my Spotify profile?

Spotify says up to an hour after you publish a product to the Spotify sales channel in Shopify.

Do I need to hold any stock?

No. Every order is printed when it is placed and posted straight to the fan, so every size and every design can stay listed permanently.

Ready to put merch under your top tracks? Open a free allthe account, connect your Shopify store, and order one sample of your first design before you announce it. Your fans will be holding the same thing you approved.