A band has slammed a popular Manchester music venue after claims they were forced to hand over 25 per cent of their merchandise sales after performing a gig.
Lancashire-based rock band the Lovely Eggs were supporting Pavement at the 02 Apollo on Thursday night (October 20) and had bought along their own merchandise seller.
But the husband and wife duo claim when they arrived, they were told by bosses that they would have to hand over 25 per cent of their sales and five per cent VAT to the Ardwick venue.
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They also claim they were told by management that they would have to sell their branded T-shirts for £35 instead of the £16 they usually charge fans.
Band member Holly Ross claims she asked managers to waive the rule as they are a small DIY group, but claims they were told if they didn't agree they wouldn't be able to sell their merchandise at all.
A tweet, detailing how the band were "robbed" of sales, has been shared thousands of times and prompted outrage from fans and people within the music industry.
It read: "We were robbed last night. By @O2ApolloManc who took 30% of our merch sales. Also forced to sell T shirts for £35. Found out last minute. Tried to fight it. But management wouldn’t listen. This s**t will kill DIY bands like us. O2 Apollo you should be ashamed of yourself."
Speaking to the M.E.N, Ms Ross claims the band never signed a formal agreement with the venue, and were only told about a portion of their sales being deducted an hour before their performance.
"In a sense we maybe should have known about this but nobody told us. Maybe it’s our naivety from mainly playing at smaller venues," she said.
"This practice is wide-spread but you don’t expect it to be put on a DIY support band. We rely on the sales of merchandise to keep the band going. It’s not fair for anyone to take 30 per cent. We don’t take 30 per cent of the bar sales.
"We pride ourselves on selling things for an affordable price. You shouldn’t have to be rich to watch music or play in a band but now it seems you do."
Ms Ross said she wanted to publicly call out the venue to warn other bands, and said she wouldn't sell her merchandise inside the venue during any future shows.
"We really wanted to highlight it because it goes on so much but I think a lot of people don’t want to rock the boat. We like to call out things that don’t feel right," she said.
"That was absolute b******t and shouldn’t have happened. We will be checking in advance now and if other venues do this we won’t be selling our merchandise there.
"These big venues need to exist but they need to be socially responsible and there needs to be fairness and equality. It is shockingly unfair especially for a support band. We love Manchester and we have a really big following here and we love the city. We just can’t turn a blind eye to this."
The 02 Apollo Manchester have been approached for comment.
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