ZAZZpay is now opening a small trial and the MU is sharing it with members who tour the EU. Photo: Shutterstock.
Merchandise is one of the most dependable sources of income on the road. For many artists it can be the difference between a profitable tour or one that loses money. And due to Brexit, many UK artists touring the EU have a new problem at the merch table: taking card payments.
In-person card payments are tied to where you're based, meaning what works at home won't necessarily work on tour. While EU artists can use their home terminals across Europe, independent UK artists cannot. UK-issued terminals may work briefly, but often fail with prolonged use abroad.
The workarounds that artists fall back on — cash only, QR codes, a friend's EU account or a borrowed reader — are clunky at best and can create serious compliance risk at worst.
ZAZZpay's founder and CEO Zoe van Havre says: "Across a tour, missed sales can add up. Worse, we've heard from artists whose accounts were frozen mid-tour, cutting them off from their own money at the worst possible moment. And this problem lands hardest on smaller acts without a label or merch company to sort it out."
What is ZAZZpay?
ZAZZpay is a payment app built to close that gap. Because it is set up inside the EU, a UK act can take the card payment locally at the show, the same way a local European act would.
The app turns modern phones into a payment terminal, no extra hardware needed. Once signed up, taking a payment is easy: set the price in the app, the fan taps their card or phone, and the sale is done in a few seconds. It works wherever the tour goes across the EU, with VAT and currency matching each location. Payouts typically reach your own bank account within 2 to 3 business days.
ZAZZpay's app and dashboard provide an indicative VAT figure as a helpful reference point for your accounts, though VAT filing remains your own responsibility. ZAZZpay offers a reliable payment solution built on Stripe's regulated infrastructure, with funds safeguarded by Stripe.
The ZAZZpay trial for MU members
ZAZZpay is now opening a small trial and the MU is sharing it with members who tour the EU. It is deliberately hands-on, so the team can give support and learn from your feedback.
If you take part, you get access to:
- A short introductory call so setup is easy
- A direct line to the ZAZZpay team for anything that comes up on the road
- The ZAZZpay app to take payments for all your EU shows.
Onboarding and support come at no cost, and the trial group gets an introductory rate of 5% commission per transaction while helping shape the service. This covers all transaction costs such card and contactless fees, authorisation fees and payout fees.
Chargebacks and refunds remain your responsibility. You'll get paid out in EUR or GBP. Payouts in EUR are included free of charge, for payouts in GBP there's a supplementary 2% conversion fee.
Who is behind it?
ZAZZpay is a small female co-founded company based in Amsterdam, built by people from inside music and tech. It's a new company that's on a mission to take away payment complexity for artists, so no merch sale gets left behind.
"Selling merch should be the easy part. We built ZAZZpay because we kept seeing artists needlessly lose sales” says Zoe van Havre.
How to take part
Places in the trial are limited and the team is onboarding artists ahead of their next run. If you tour the EU and want in, register your interest at www.zazzpay.com/trial or email hello@zazzpay.com.
MU Disclaimer
The Musicians' Union (MU) is passing on details of a trial payment scheme ("the ZAZZpay Trial") being offered by ZAZZpay, an independent third-party company, to MU members who tour the EU. The MU has no commercial, financial, or referral arrangement with ZAZZpay in connection with this trial, and receives no fee, commission, or other benefit for passing on these details. The MU is not a party to any agreement a member may enter into with ZAZZpay and does not provide, operate, endorse, guarantee, or take responsibility for the ZAZZpay app, the trial, or any of the services, commercial terms, or representations described above.
The MU is not in partnership, joint venture, or any other formal business relationship with ZAZZpay, and members should not assume any such relationship exists from the fact that the MU has passed on these details. Nothing in this communication constitutes a recommendation or endorsement of ZAZZpay or the ZAZZpay app by the MU.
The information about the trial, including details of pricing, commission rates, payout timescales, and VAT handling, has been supplied to the MU by ZAZZpay. The MU has not independently verified this information and gives no warranty as to its accuracy, completeness, or currency. The MU has not verified ZAZZpay's regulatory status, including whether ZAZZpay holds any authorisation required by the Financial Conduct Authority or any other regulatory body in connection with the services it offers.
Members are encouraged to satisfy themselves on this point before registering. Members should read ZAZZpay's own terms and conditions, privacy policy, and any other documentation ZAZZpay provides before registering or using the app, and should take their own independent financial, tax, and legal advice as appropriate, including in relation to VAT reporting obligations, which remain the member's own responsibility.
Members should be aware that any payment service involves inherent risks, including the possibility of delays, service disruption, or restrictions on access to funds. The MU has no control over ZAZZpay's operations and cannot intervene if issues arise.
Members who wish to take part in the trial will register their interest and deal with ZAZZpay directly, whether via the website link or by email. The MU is not involved in, and has no visibility or control over, any personal data a member provides to ZAZZpay as part of that process. To the extent that the MU's role is limited to passing on ZAZZpay's information to members and the MU does not otherwise collect, store, or process members' personal data in connection with this trial, the MU does not consider itself to be a data controller or data processor in respect of any data provided by members directly to ZAZZpay. Any queries or concerns about how ZAZZpay collects, uses, stores, or shares personal data should be directed to ZAZZpay in accordance with its own privacy notice.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the MU accepts no liability for any loss, damage, cost, or expense of any kind (including but not limited to financial loss, loss of income, frozen or restricted funds, data protection or privacy issues, or any dispute with ZAZZpay) arising out of or in connection with a member's decision to register for, participate in, or use the ZAZZpay app or trial, or arising from the referral itself.
Participation in the trial is entirely at the member's own discretion and risk.
This disclaimer is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.
This disclaimer does not affect any statutory rights a member may have.