How To Make Your Band Successful If You’re The Only Serious Musician In Your Band
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If you often feel like you’re the only serious musician in your band …
… this article will show you what to do to change this and make your band successful.
When you are surrounded with the right people in your band, there’s almost nothing you cannot achieve together.
Unfortunately, find in the right musicians for your band can be very hard.
In fact, many bands are filled with outright lazy band members – musicians not pulling their weight.
There’s one guy who seems to do most of the work.
And when it comes to the right people in *your* band – the person doing all the work is probably you.
Music Instead Of
Downloading It
Illegally
EMAIL TO GET ACCESS
By submitting your info, you agree to send it to Tom Hess Music Corporation who will process and use it according to their privacy policy.
After all, YOU are the one reading this article … what are the rest of your bandmates doing right now? Exactly.
That said, there is a few simple things you can do to ensure musicians in your band begin pulling their weight.
As you start doing these steps, 2 things will happen:
1. The right people in your band (the serious band members) will step up and work harder to help make your band successful.
2. The musicians not pulling their weight will realize that your band is not for them and will quit.
Here is what to do:
Of course, everything starts with doing your best to find the serious band members to begin with. Finding serious band members from the start is rare, but possible. (Unfortunately, most musicians you’ll find become lazy band members who won’t do much to make your band successful.)
But beyond simply “hoping” you found the right band members who will help make your band successful…
… here are additional things you can do to make sure you’re not the only serious musician in your band.
Step 1 For Making Your Band Successful: Establish Clear, Specific, Written Long And Short Term Goals
How does setting specific & clear goals help make your band successful?
Lots of ways:
- The right people in your band will have a vision to motivate them. (And those who are NOT the right musicians for your band will be repelled by goals that seem too ambitious.)
- It will make it clear what musicians are not pulling their weight.
- It makes it more clear what actions you must take to make your band successful.
- It helps you track progress in your efforts to make your band successful.
Note: there is a big difference between a “goal” and a “wish”. A “wish” is simply a desired outcome. As in: to make your band successful in some specific way (e.g. go on a world tour, get a record deal, etc.)
But a mere wish does nothing to help make your band successful or attract the right musicians for your band.
If you want to solve the problem of musicians not pulling their weight and attract the right people for your band…
… you need to back up the outcome you want with specific steps for getting there. That’s what a goal is (the outcome you want + the steps for its attainment).
For example: let’s say, to make your band successful you want to get a record deal. That’s your long-term goal for 3 years into the future.
Break down this goal into smaller steps that act as milestones guiding you towards the bigger goal and help make your band successful.
Step 2 For Making Your Band Successful: Draft A Band Agreement
Like it or not:
A band is a business. And that means:
To make your band successful – you must treat it like a business.
One of the ways you do this is by drafting a band agreement.
When you do – you won’t be the only serious musician in your band anymore.
Other people – who make the right musicians for your band – will sense this attitude and be attracted to it. (While the musicians not pulling their weight will leave the band, as things will start to feel too “intense” for them.)
Here are the most important parts of your band’s agreement to pay attention to if you want to make your band successful:
The Direction Of Your Band.
It goes without saying that, if you want to make your band successful (and not be the only serious musician in your band), everyone has to be rowing in the same direction.
So, ask yourself (and everyone in your band):
- Is this an aspiring (or actual) professional band? (i.e. Are you looking to put out records, get a record deal and tour?)
- Or is this a jobber band (i.e. where none of the musicians have a long-term commitment to the band)?
There is no right or wrong answer here. That said, an important part of what will make your band successful is getting everyone on the same page. This makes it easy to tell when some musicians are not pulling their weight and who are the serious band members.
Define The Positions, Responsibilities And Compensation Within The Band.
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The easiest way to tell you DON’T have the right musicians in your band is when everyone in the band just wants to play the music.
But when it’s time to buckle down and do some real work – the tasks that actually make your band successful?
They are nowhere to be found.
As your band grows – the number of band members won’t be enough to get all the business tasks done (even if you have all the right people in your band).
That’s when it will be time to hire staff to fill the additional roles and help make your band successful.
But in the beginning, this band agreement will help to ensure to attract only the right musicians for your band (who are “all in” on making the band successful) and solve the issue of musicians not pulling their weight.
Band Member Changes
To make your band successful, you have to be prepared for anything.
This includes having to fire band members (e.g. musicians not pulling their weight) or members quitting (such as when they decide they don’t want to do what it takes to make your band successful).
So, in your band agreement, do your best to answer questions, such as:
- How will band member firing/quitting be handled? (Specifically think through things like: compensation of said band member and breaking the news to the fans.)
- How will replacing band members be handled? For example: the audition process, filling the previous band members’ (non-musical) roles, etc.
- Who has final say over firing a band member?
Once you have an agreed-upon band agreement, three things need to happen next:
All members sign it.
All members honor it and their roles and responsibilities to it.
Everyone understands what happens if the band agreement is not honored.
At this point, you have every right to expect everyone in the band to do their part, pull their weight and help make your band successful. And you won’t be the only serious musician in your band anymore.
Having clear, specific and written expectations is one of the very best things you can do to avoid lazy band members not pulling their weight and dumping it all on you.
Step 3 For Making Your Band Successful: Define & Delegate Clear, Specific Written Positions
Every band member ought to have a role to play and a set of things they are responsible for.
You don’t want bandmates uncertain on what their position is and what is expected of each of them. This should be ultra-transparent.
And this transparency will help to weed out the lazy band members (musicians who are not pulling their weight) from the serious band members.
Step 4 For Making Your Band Successful: Decide How To Deal With Band Members Not Pulling Their Weight
Just because a band member is underperforming doesn't automatically mean he/she is one of the “lazy band members” (musicians not pulling their weight).
Sometimes people have temporary, short-term challenges that prevent them from fulfilling their role. You can choose to invest the time and energy to help them, but only up to a point.
If things turn around after a short time, great!
But if not, it’s time to replace them (yes, even if they are your friend). It’s not personal, it’s business (if you want to make your band successful over the long term).
And finally:
Don’t put off the inevitable. Fire the weakest link in the band. 95% of the time, if a bandmate is not honoring his end of the deal, if he’s not committed, has a bad attitude, or is too busy partying, fire him.
Don’t wait. You’re not doing him, yourself or the band any favors by prolonging the inevitable. Fire and replace him. It’s usually best for everyone.
Now that you know how to deal with lazy band members if you are the most serious musician in your band…
… the next simple step you can take to build your career in music is to discover how to get your band’s fans to buy your music instead of downloading it for free. I can help you with this in my free eGuide about how to sell your music. Download it today and discover music promotion secrets most musicians will never know.
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