I just read about a new product coming out early next year that will be a massive help to performing musicians running into an age-old problem.  You have an excited fan who really wants to buy your CD, t-shirt, sticker, whatever, but they only have a credit/debit card.  For most of us, this means a lost sale.  However, this new product, called the Square will remedy this nicely!

The Square is a card-swiper that connects to your iPhone that reads credit and debit cards.  It’s from the guy who started Twitter, Jack Dorsey.  You don’t have an iPhone?  The best part is, this can be used with just about any phone (iPhone and Android phones right now).  The website says it can be used with any device with an audio jack, but I doubt your 80′s Walkman will help you much.  Even better: one penny from every transaction goes to a charity of your choice, so you can help improve the world and make more merch sales at the same time!  So now, your excited fan can swipe their card, confirm the transaction, and head home with piles of your merch!

Supposedly, they will be giving away the Square for free, you’ll just sign up for service.  There aren’t many details out there right now, but they say there are no contracts and monthly fees and your customers get an emailed receipt.  Many news sources are saying it will work like Paypal, with a per transaction fee.  As a touring artist who’s getting ready to print up physical CD’s, this solves a problem before I’ve even had it!