Friends Don’t Pay the Bills

A lot of bands start out with a few friends getting together to jam. Sometimes friendships are formed after a few acquaintances get together to jam. The point is that sometimes, in band situations, we form or strengthen friendships with our fellow band members. That’s nice, especially when it works to everyone’s benefit. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case.

If you want to succeed in the music business then it goes without saying that you need to treat it like a business in order to maximize your potential for success. I think most people would find that to be a reasonable statement. Therefore, if it is to be treated as a business, then we must consider the profitability of the venture. That means money. The bottom line is money. How do you make money, as a band?

A band really only makes money in one of two ways. It is either by live performance or merchandising. Merchandising can be anything from CD’s, T-shirts, posters and other items. Live performance is self explanatory. So the idea is for a band to begin making money from those two sources as soon as possible. That means that you need to get out there and play.

Obviously, to get out there and play, you need songs to play. This requires that all members of a band learn enough songs to play an evening full of music. Most bars or night clubs require four hours of music. That’s a significant amount of material. I have found that the average running time for most songs is actually around 3 ½ to 4 minutes. In most cases a band will perform three 45 minute sets with 15 minute breaks in between and ending the night with a full hour long set. That comes to a total of 195 minutes of music. Divide that by the 3 1/2 minute average run time of a song and you get about 56 songs.

Now, it takes a while for a band to build a repertoire consisting of 56 songs or more. So it is important that all members of the band have a certain amount of discipline as it would apply to learning the material they are to play out. Since the overwhelming majority of material the band will be playing out is usually cover material, each member can learn the songs from CD’s, sheet music and other sources.

So what happens if one of the band members doesn’t learn the material as he should? What if he shows up late to rehearsals all of the time? What if he shows up at gigs late all of the time and you start losing gigs as a result of it? You have somewhat of a problem don’t you? Now it interferes with your potential to make money.

Money is the bottom line in any business venture. Whether it is in the music industry or any other business. Money is what you need to pay your bills. As a band, you want to make money. Maybe you want just a little extra spending money or you want to make the big time. In either case, you need to get rid of the dead weight or the problem band member if he significantly impedes the band’s progress. That is a matter of business related necessity. So this is therefore a business related decision.

Now the personal aspect of it comes into play. Mike is a great guy. Hey, he’s the one that hooked you up with one of his girlfriend’s friends. Now she’s your main squeeze and you’re in love. He’s the guy who gave you a lift to work when your car was in the shop. He’s really one hell of a nice guy. Now you see how hard it can be to get rid of Mike. Yet, you must remember one thing. Is it fair to the rest of the band to keep him around just because he’s your best bud? Is mike going to pay your electric bill if you are short this month? Probably not. In most cases, our friends do not pay our bills for us.

Wouldn’t it be nice to be out there playing and making a little extra money to make it easier to pay your bills? Unfortunately, your good friend Mike isn’t learning the songs fast enough for you to get out there and start playing any time in the foreseeable future. Maybe you’ve already had band meetings with the other members to discuss the issue of replacing him. Now it’s time to follow through, you just have to get up the nerve. To get up the nerve, you should consider the following points:

1. This is a business decision and not a personal decision. You should explain to Mike how, although you may not be together in a band anymore, that you still would like to be friends.

2. Mike needs to understand how his behavior has affected the other members of the band.

3. Mike needs to know that this decision is unanimous. If you go to Mike and say that the other guys wanted to get rid of him, he’ll just say “why didn’t you stick up for me?” or he may just suggest that you go with him and start another band. Then you have to tell him the truth anyway. Telling him it was a joint decision on the part of all of the other members also prevents him from trying to pit one person against another.

4. You must remember that if Mike is really such a good friend, then he should not want to be a burden or inconvenience to the rest of the band members. He should understand, even if his feelings are hurt, that the right thing to do would be for him to step aside and accept the determination made by the other band members.

5. If Mike fails to see the connection between his bad behavior and the outcome then maybe he’s not the easiest person to reason with anyway. Maybe he’ll be resentful no matter how well you approach the situation. You just have to remember that if that is the case, it’s on him not you.

So if you’re in a band situation similar to the one outlined in this article, I hope this will be of some help to you. There is no way to really handle any situation flawlessly. Getting rid of a band member who is a friend is probably one of the hardest things you may have to face in a band situation. However, it is often a matter of necessity. So, since Mike is probably not going to pay your bills for you, you should probably go give him the bad news. I’ll tell you what, I’ll leave now so that you can tell him in private. No need to make it any more awkward than it needs to be. Good luck, and tell Mike I said hi.