I’m not much of a Metallica fan, but they have some great promotional merchandise. This belt buckle features their “ninja star” logo, and even though the band’s name doesn’t appear anywhere on it, anyone can recognize that the wearer is a Metallica enthusiast. Having a recognizable logo opens up a whole new realm of merch possibilities for a band–not just belt buckles, but jewelry, pins, and other small items can be attractively branded.

On the other hand, when bands try to make belt buckles out of album covers, the results often look a little silly. The illustration has to be shrunk and simplified until it’s just a bunch of colorful blobs. Those designs work much better as t-shirts or patches, where all the details and colors can be appreciated.

Finally, an ice cube tray worthy of the high-end beverage brands pouring out of the hip-hop scene! The trend Diddy–more famous these days for his frequent name changes and entrepreneurial ventures than his music–began by promoting Ciroc vodka is taking off in the hip-hop luxury circuit, with Jay-Z endorsing the Armandale brand right before dropping his latest #1 album, The Blueprint III. Gama-Go’s “HipHopsicles” are just begging to be personalized for music merch tie-ins.

While bar accessories like this might be a little silly for the “scene,” they still work as effective promotional materials. This tray lets you eschew the boring cube for microphones, turntables, boomboxes, and dollar signs, making high-rollers out of even the simplest glasses of water.

This guitar-shaped spatula isn’t associated with any particular band, but I still think it’s a pretty cool example of music merch. Even rock stars like pancakes and eggs for breakfast, after all!

It might be a little cheesy for a band to come out with their own customized guitar spatula, but the blank space on this one is just begging for personalization. I wonder if any bands have picked rock’n'roll kitchen utensils as their preferred form of merch?

[via SuburbanGothic]

For a musician with as many identities as David Bowie has, how can you stop at having just one around? You can’t. Hence this Matryoshka (Russian Nesting) Doll set. Twenty years of Bowies, all in layers…sounds like a dream come true.

[Unfortunately, it seems only this one set was ever made...Maybe next someone could do an extra-cuddly Bowie stuffed animal, or even an uber-retro beanie baby-style toy...]