ICP, Inc.: How Two Clowns Keep Their Followers Clothed And Entertained

Last week, the Insane Clown Posse’s The Tempest debuted at No. 20 on the Billboard 200, selling 33,000 copies and shocking those of us who’d forgotten that they were still around. As it turns out, the duo serves as the public, painted faces of a small corporate army. From Reuters:

A smaller, more underground version of Kiss and its “Kiss army,” perhaps, ICP feeds its juggalos and juggalettes a bevy of products, from board games and lunch boxes to lighters and watches, and stages its own multiday convention of sorts (the Gathering) every July. Dates have not yet been set for this year’s event, but last year’s fest — staged outside of Columbus, Ohio — featured such performers as Too $hort, Digital Underground and Drowning Pool. The Columbus Dispatch estimated last year’s attendance in the 7,000 range.

“We do everything but the actual manufacturing of the CDs,” Violent J says. “That’s the only thing we don’t do yet, but we’re getting a damn pressing plant one day.”

For now, the act will have to settle for about 30 full-time employees manning its own studio, office and 25,000-square-foot warehouse space. ICP also started an extreme wrestling league in the JCW (Juggalo Championshit Wrestling), and works such artists as Twiztid, Blaze and Boondox under the Psychopathic banner. A recently launched imprint, Hatchet House Records, will release lesser-known acts.

It makes sense; ICP’s Juggalo-base is too small to make a major-label balance sheet’s cut, but considering that they’re rabid enough that they attend conventions, the possibilities for revenue are far-reaching. And ICP’s been smart^*–the side businesses they enter are particularly tailored to their fans’, um, peculiarities (yes, it really is called Juggalo Championshit Wrestling). We only have one question: When do they buy a controlling interest in Faygo?

^* We never, ever thought we would write this sentence. Ever.

Insane Clowns prosper even as album sales wane [Reuters via Hypebot]