Band Shirt Day charity event set for 9.16 with Blondie, Mac DeMarco, Tori Amos & many more

On the inaugural Band Shirt Day, dozens of artists will donate proceeds from merch sales to causes of their choosing, including Planned Parenthood, Children of Ukraine, The Ally Coalition, MusicCares, ACLU, TransLifeline, and more.

Blondie, Mac DeMarco, Tori Amos, Sargent House, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, The Maine, The Tragically Hip, The Format, Urge Overkill, Flipper, Monophonics, and The Estate of Jóhann Jóhannsson are among the artists joining forces on September 16th to raise funds on behalf of their chosen organization.

Behind BandShirt Day is the non-profit MerchFriends, a coalition of merchandise makers working to build a sustainable independent music merch ecosystem. This celebration of the iconic “band tee” and fundraising initiative has garnered support from Spotify, Bandsintown, Hello Merch, Rough Trade NYC, and WASTOIDS. 

“Independent music has a deep history of sustainability through community focus, fundraising, street teams, and guerilla marketing. MerchFriends, through Band Shirt Day,  is bringing together communities to help solve problems we face every day,” says MerchFriends and Hello Merch co-founder Sam Means.

In New York City, Band Shirt Day will extend through the weekend as part of Rough Trade’s two-day celebration of independent music outdoors at Rockefeller Center on September 17 and 18.

It’s not too late to get involved!

Artists can still register to be part of Band Shirt Day here, and a full list of participating artists, merch, and causes can be found here.  

Bruce Houghton is Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.