BusinessTN

It's been a trying decade for the music industry. Online music availability and the attempt to control and monetize it has been an ongoing headache for labels, licensing outfits and royalty trackers alike. Fortunately for companies like Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based Richards & Southern, not every profit-generating mainstay of the industry has been torpedoed.

The third-generation, family-owned merchandise design firm also specializes in manufacturing, tour support, sales and licensing for entertainment brands, not to mention businesses, schools, nonprofits and tourism clients. Formed in 1959 when Bob Calonge and wife Betty merged their souvenir business, Southern Post Card Co., with screen-printing operation, Richards Novelty Co., Richards & Southern celebrated its 50th anniversary this year.

In the beginning, success stemmed from Nashville's once up-and-coming country music scene and array of tourist landmarks. "We started developing relationships because a lot of our business downtown in souvenirs, postcards and pennants was around the Ryman Auditorium," says Terry Calonge, son of the founders and current co-owner alongside wife, Sheri. That exposure helped land clients like Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and many more.

"Touring and merchandising have always been the best way for an act to get out there and generate revenue," says Nathan Lux, music and media coordinator for the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission. "Merchandising itself is really an indicator of success and a good way to validate tickets sales and air-play."

Even when the days of active touring and radio airplay are past, "legacy acts" live on through official products and memorabilia. Last year, Richards & Southern launched a licensing campaign with a number of clients, including Kenny Rogers, the Charlie Daniels Band, George Jones and others, selling over 60,000 vintage T-shirts at Wal-Mart stores.

For those still on the road, the company assists in merchandise inventory control, logistics, transportation, accounting and other tour support. In return, clients gain profits and important branding and marketing tools. "The fans become a walking billboard. They are paying to advertise for you," Lux says. "For smaller acts, merchandising isn't just the icing on the cake -- it's the cake itself."

Technology, arguably a bane to the bottom line of many music-related endeavors, has not bothered Richards & Southern's balance sheet at all. In fact, Calonge points to a positive "viral effect in sales" for the company in the online market thanks in large part to the popularity of Facebook and other social media. "Years ago, we opened our first Web store for Kenny Chesney. Now, we have over 80 online stores for Taylor Swift, Rascal Flats, Gretchen Wilson and others, where everyone benefits from everyone else's traffic," Calonge says.

Like many businesses, the current anemic state of the economy has blunted growth that was once a dependable 10% to 20% each year; however, when one takes into account the record highs of past years, "It’s been flat, but a big flat," Calonge says.

At a time when sales of so many once-dependable commodities have plummeted, "big flat" isn't bad at all.