Music Ecommerce on Shopify: Softlimit's Ben Lord on Label D2C

Honest Ecommerce · with Ben Lord · September 24, 2026 · 26 min

Summary

This episode dives into the unique challenges and opportunities of D2C e-commerce for independent music labels and artists on Shopify. Ben Lord of Softlimit explains how labels can leverage their inherently loyal fan bases by optimizing their online stores for better conversion, AOV, and customer retention, moving beyond "glorified merch stores" to create compelling brand experiences. It emphasizes the importance of owning customer relationships and data to maximize revenue and direct engagement.

Key takeaways

• Focus on optimizing your Shopify store for cross-sells and upsells, especially post-purchase, using the natural connection fans have to an artist's catalog.
• Prioritize owning customer data (email, phone, zip code) through your D2C channel to enable direct marketing for tours, new releases, and exclusive opportunities.
• Treat your music label's e-commerce presence as a brand, not just a merch store, by enhancing site functionality (e.g., advanced filtering) and overall user experience.
• Recognize that highly loyal fan bases are a significant advantage for music D2C; build experiences that allow fans to explore deeper content and offer relevant products.
• Invest in an optimized D2C strategy to ensure more revenue flows back directly to artists and labels, fostering sustainable growth and reducing reliance on third-party platforms.

Themes

Topics covered

Episode description

Ben Lord, Founder and CEO of Softlimit, has been in and around the music industry for over 30 years and in ecommerce for the last sixteen. A touring drummer (Falling Forward / Elliott / Sharon Van Etten / Mascott / Bird of Youth / Phantom Family Halo / Kilowatthours), he's also released records through independent labels (Initial, Revelation, Temporary Residence Ltd., Jagjaguwar), and worked in Atlantic Records' New Media Division during the launch of the first digital music store.He later led campaigns at Bond Strategy and Influence across entertainment verticals before spending the last decade building Softlimit, a Shopify Premier Partner Agency helping brands like Sacred Bones, Temporary Residence Ltd., Polyvinyl, Moon Juice, Misen, and The Perfect Jean grow their ecommerce revenue.Music still sits at the center of his life, and he works closely with label heads, agents, and artists.In This Conversation We Discuss:This conversation draws on Softlimit's January 2026 whitepaper, "Built-In Demand, Broken Infrastructure: The Music Industry's Revenue Gap," co-authored by Ben Lord and Martina England, which explores how independent labels can close the gap between fan demand and captured revenue by adopting DTC ecommerce practices.[00:00] Introduction[01:17] Helping the music industry master D2C[01:54] From touring drummer to agency founder[02:53] Why agencies walk away from music clients[04:03] Why label stores are glorified merch shops[05:59] When clients show up with the prescription[06:56] Conversion and AOV wins for music clients[07:24] Fixing broken filters and legacy platforms[09:23] The cost of selling through third parties[10:33] Why music isn't like other big catalogs[11:51] How labels lift conversion rate and AOV[12:31] Cross-sells built on product relationships[13:55] Label-cu

Related episodes

• The New Fundamentals of Brand Strategy (While Shipping Hundreds of Ads a Week), With Eugene Healey— DTC Podcast
• How To Increase Conversion Rate On Shopify in 2026 - CRO Guide - Part 1— Winning With Shopify Podcast: Ecommerce Growth for Shopify Store Owners
• Adam Schiff on AI regulation, free speech, and impeaching Trump one more time— Decoder with Nilay Patel
• Your Subscription Discount Is Too Steep (With Drew Marconi)— The Andrew Faris Podcast
• The Doctor’s New Role in an AI World | Behind the Numbers— Behind the Numbers: an EMARKETER Podcast
• #1200: Give us 3-4 hours and we can help anyone finds 1,000s of great products to sell on Amazon— Silent Sales Machine Radio

Frequently asked about this episode

What does this episode say about dtc strategy?

Focus on optimizing your Shopify store for cross-sells and upsells, especially post-purchase, using the natural connection fans have to an artist's catalog.

What does this episode say about shopify & ecommerce platforms?

Prioritize owning customer data (email, phone, zip code) through your D2C channel to enable direct marketing for tours, new releases, and exclusive opportunities.

What does this episode say about conversion & cro?

Treat your music label's e-commerce presence as a brand, not just a merch store, by enhancing site functionality (e.g., advanced filtering) and overall user experience.

What does this episode say about customer retention?

Recognize that highly loyal fan bases are a significant advantage for music D2C; build experiences that allow fans to explore deeper content and offer relevant products.

What does this episode say about dtc strategy?

Invest in an optimized D2C strategy to ensure more revenue flows back directly to artists and labels, fostering sustainable growth and reducing reliance on third-party platforms.

Listen

Listen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsShow website