Merch Cat was founded in 2015 by Vanessa Ferrer, a NYS CPA, and alumna of N.Y.U. and Berklee College of Music. Ferrer has been a successful businesswoman for over 15 years in the financial and music business fields.
Armed with the heart of an artist, the belief that she could make a difference, and the drive to make it happen, Ferrer founded InFocus Artist Management in 2009. After managing several touring clients & consulting with high profile industry professionals, she realized a market need for a tool to help emerging artists and their business teams better manage live show merchandise sales and data. Using her multi-faceted background she developed Merch Cat, which launched on December 1, 2015. Following on Merch Cat, Ferrer launched Merch Cat FAN, a connected direct to fan app to help artists further capitalize on the artist-fan connection at live shows.
To date, Merch Cat has had artists across all levels and genres in its ecosystem, ranging from emerging artists Hannah Wicklund, Hollis Brown, and Jared and the Mill, to seasoned artists such as the Marshall Tucker Band, George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic, and Jesse Dayton. Merch Cat’s mission is to empower artists and their teams to maximize the merchandise revenue stream through technology, resources and intel, and make merch management accessible to all artists.
Merch Cat has become a familiar brand, and Ferrer a familiar voice, at both artist and industry focused conferences. Passionate about education, Ferrer has spoken on over 20 panels about the importance of merchandise as an artist revenue stream and fan engagement tool in today's music landscape. Conferences include South By Southwest, Music Biz, AmericanaFest, NAMM, and A2IM’s Indie Week.
Ferrer is a member of the Recording Academy, the Music Business Association, Women In Music and the Independent Record Label Association (A2IM).
