RE: Music Industry Blog: a Band is NOT a Business
Hey Matt, nice to finally meet you. I know you through @bonvivan, I'm his drummer and I remember him showing me your comment complimenting my playing, so first of all: I LOVE YOU! <3
;)
hahah, but jokes aside,
I guess that art and business can't be opposing forces since they intertwine often. Living in a society built around money and success, which mostly gives a wrong picture of overall cultural quality - an artist or a band at least has to be aware of it's surroundings. A band doesn't have to strive towards bigger venues or more money, but It has to reevaluate what have they done in some time (how many shows are they playing, how many people are attending the shows etc.) and make aware decisions of their future. - which is sort of making a business model i guess..
One thing I can say for sure is, thinking about the business aspect is really counter-productive for the creative process (unless that's your subject), those parts shouldn't mix too much. But there is undoubtedly a great number of bands that were just focusing on their art and experimenting with sound, and unfortunately they stopped existing after a long time of stagnation. A band has to keep on moving and have some goals and plans, otherwise it deteriorates.
You are right that the two things intertwine. It just feels like a lot of it is common sense, like you have to put out a new record each year and tour as much as you can. Then you make some merch and try to collect your royalties.
But a lot of these ultra successful bands are terrible at business! I was listening to an Animal Collective interview the other day and the guy was like "yeah I have no idea how much money our music generates, I just know we owe it all to our label"
So it's like, I dunno... maybe there's just not enough brain space to be both awesome at business and awesome at music. Maybe it's just a semantic argument
Yeah, it's like you said. Smart people get other people to help about the things they can't or don't want to deal with. If you are in a position to do that, it definitely keeps your focus on the main thing - music.
And the fact that if you are dedicated to creating your original music and playing it, things wont stand in place, at some point the whole business part starts happening on it's own even if you want it or not. If you're sure of your talent, work and craft, you wont spend your brain-space thinking how can a new business model enhance your art :)