Merch & Promo is a set of design and link tools for promoting a release. Everything exports as files you can host, print, or post, and none of it needs a team plan or a connected social account.
The five tabs
- Smart Links — design a one-page fan page for one release: cover art, a button for each place to listen or buy (streaming, website, merch, tickets), an optional email sign-up box and, for a pre-save, a countdown to release day. A new link starts with your campaign's release title, artist and release date; you paste in the button links yourself. A button stays off the page until it has a web address (until they all have one, the link's card says how many are linked, like "1 of 4 buttons linked"). The email box stays off until you paste the address of a form service such as Formspree, which you set up yourself.
- QR Codes — generate styled QR codes for any link, with an optional logo, and download them as PNG or SVG
- Flyers & Playbills — the Flyer Generator (see its own article)
- Merch Mockups — put your artwork on shirt, poster, and other product templates, export a PNG, and jump to print-on-demand services (separate companies, not part of MusicLaunch)
- Stickers & More: design stickers and pin-back buttons from genre kits or classic shapes, with your own fonts, curved text, outlines, textures and a die-cut border, and export print-ready PNGs at real sizes (300 PPI) (see Stickers & Buttons)
Sharing a Smart Link
MusicLaunch designs the page and saves it in the campaign. It doesn't put the page online, and it doesn't count visits or clicks. To share it, click Export HTML to save the page as one .html file, upload that file to your own website or a free web host (such as Netlify or GitHub Pages), then share that page's address in your bio, posts and emails, or in a QR code from the QR Codes tab. If it's the only page on that host, rename the file index.html so it opens at the site's main address. Copy HTML copies the same page as code. PNG saves a picture of the page for posting; its buttons can't be clicked. After an export, a note tells you if a button or the email box was left off.
Quick Pre-Save
Quick Pre-Save makes a Smart Link set up for a release that isn't out yet: pre-save button wording, your release date and a countdown that turns into "Out Now!" at midnight on release day, wherever each fan is. It doesn't do the pre-save itself. Paste in the pre-save links from your distributor's tool (for example CD Baby's free Show.co pre-save), or from Spotify Countdown Pages if your album or EP qualifies. The Apple Music pre-add button only works once your distributor has set up an Apple Music pre-order. On release day, swap in your normal streaming links and export the page again.
With a release date set, "Create Pre-Save Draft Posts" adds up to four draft Instagram posts in Social Hub: 14, 7 and 3 days before release, and on release day. Nothing is posted: finish and schedule each draft in Social Hub. Clicking it again only adds drafts that aren't there yet.
Pictures: Choose file, From Media Hub or Take photo
Every picture spot in Merch & Promo (the QR Codes logo, flyer artwork, Upload Your Own, mockup and sticker artwork, and the Smart Link cover) has three buttons. Choose file opens a picture on your Mac, in the Open window that reaches any drive your Mac can see, including iCloud Drive, or Google Drive if its Mac app is installed (dragging a picture onto these spots does nothing). From Media Hub lists the PNG, JPG and WebP photos attached to the campaign selected in the sidebar, plus your Gear receipts. Take photo works with any camera your Mac offers, including an iPhone through Continuity Camera. Pictures you choose or take here stay in that design: they aren't attached to a saved item, so they don't show up in Media Hub afterwards.
Flyer Generator
Generate show flyers and promotional graphics directly in the app from 12 classic templates and 23 genre styles (Country, Rock, Folk, Hip Hop, Pop, EDM / DJ, Solo Acoustic, Jazz) — type in your show or release details, add artwork (Choose file, From Media Hub or Take photo), and export as PDF or PNG. The same designs also make a Bandcamp header and a YouTube channel banner with your name on it.
Merch sales and stores
Merch & Promo doesn't connect to Shopify, Printful or Printify, and it doesn't track merch sales, orders or stock. To keep count of what your merch earns, log it by hand on Budget's Revenue tab: click "Add Revenue" and pick Merch as the source. Your Merch Manager (included for your first 30 days, then with a team plan) can see the Merch entries for the campaign selected in the sidebar.
