Businesses fail due
to the following reasons:
a) The price of the product exceeds the demand:
As a band, you and your team need to
create and maintain the demand. For some
people, this is their outlet for creativity.
Also remember that if your product sucks, then there will be NO demand
for it. (well... unless Universal pumps
all kinds of money into it and teams you up with Ashlee Simpson) Price it as low as you want, but after your
friends and family all have a copy, the other 950 copies will sit in your
basement. Also, the demand for your
band will dwindle unless it is being refueled by new material. How many copies of your CD is any given
person going to buy, after all? How many
times will they come out to see the same show?
Fortunately, though, if your goal is to get signed and release an album
with major label support, the industry is on your side. The record companies know that the industry
is very flavour-of-the-week oriented, and they approach the business that
way. If you get signed, there will
likely be language that the label will want to include into the contract that
will suggest an option for them (not necessarily you!!) to re-evaluate the
contract and choose to (or not to!!) renew it after seeing how the first album
does. (remember the entertainment
lawyer??) When they sign you, they are interested in making a quick buck and
moving on. Few artists survive in the
industry long enough to have what is traditionally considered a
"career."
b) Mismanagement:
This is where a lot of mistakes that
should be avoided aren't. Here is a
classic example. Your band just played
and got paid $200. Great! Now what?
The bass player drives in from Brantford and won't be able to get home
unless he gets at least part of his $50.
The singer has to take his $50 because his girlfriend rang up his phone
bill and Bell will cut them off if it isn't paid by Monday, etc. After six months of this, you're still
digging into your own pockets for rehearsal space, recording a demo, etc. Does it make sense to use 100% of all gross
revenue to pay salaries? Duh! You HAVE to re-invest in your product!! Create a budget - rehearsal space, promotion,
guitar strings, gear, equipment rental, etc. might all come out of this, but
these budget areas will all depend on the goals and visions of the members. Plan in advance, and be in agreement
with where the money from gigs, CD and
merch sales, etc. is going to go. This
will also prevent arguments later. Get
a bank account for the band, and have an agreement in place between you and the
bank regarding how the money will be accessed.
The more money that is made, the more contentious this all becomes. Best to plan early!
c) The team breaks down:
This is often related to
mismanagement. People get tired of
paying their own money for stuff, even after months of gigging. As a result, they start to get down about
it. Not always, but it happens. Also consider other things that happen to
wear down the spirits of the band members.
Inequities in participation - people skipping rehearsals, or showing up
consistently late; not pulling their weight in promotion (posters, etc.),
bruised egos from creative issues, etc.
The more agreements that can be in place, and the sooner they can be in
place, the better your team will operate.
Be careful of micromanaging things though. There needs to be room for flexibility. People respond better when they are valued
than when they are just automatons working within inflexible parameters. Consider regular "closed" meetings
where people are comfortable to voice things - positive and negative - but in a
constructive manner.
Oh, yeah... did I
mention the importance of re-investing?
Good management = smoother and more purposeful sailing.
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