Musician’s Notebook

In part one of Establishing Your Band, we discussed the themes and concepts in your music and the impact you want that music to have on the world. The second part of this series will look at these aspects of the planning process a little more clearly. If you don’t have these things cemented in mind before you get started then all your efforts will be in vain.

Turn on the radio and listen to the songs. 9/10 of them are about nothing. They have no substance. The reason these artists receive constant radio airplay and TV appearances and seem to be so popular comes down to the marketing dollars that large companies pour into them. They’re marketing vehicles in themselves. Since they lack the substance and personality that a truly popular, lasting artist has, they fade away once media consumers have seen their face once to often.

What is required to not only gain true loyalty and popularity but last for a long period of time in the music business is substance and personality. The band, its members and its music should each possess these qualities. The type of substance and personality can be as varied as the stars, but they have to be there.

Substance: clearly discernible intellect and responsibility in stances taken on various issues in songs, copy, media relations, and all related band content.

Personality: likeable qualities found in the band’s branding and its members through the use of either manufactured characters* or member’s natural personalities.

* Some may take exception to the concept of manufacturing a character. This is about keeping a private life as well as a public life. It might not seem necessary before you have hordes of fans in the street, but if you don’t start from the beginning with privacy in mind you’ll never get it.

These two factors will be strongly influenced and even decided by the values you adopt as a band. Are you going to be wild or mellow? That may depend on your stances on say, the Iraq war or global warming, if you’re a ‘situational political’ artist. Or maybe your stances on the state of the world and society if you just want to write meaningful songs without tacking any stereotypical roles onto the band.

Whack out the pen and paper (or word processor) and make a qualitative list of what you (and your band) stand for. What are the loves and hates of your band? What values? When you have a good, substantial list of values, you’ve got a start.

If you want your band to last the distance, decide your values now and stick to them in songs of great substance.

music, bans, songwriting, marketing, market research, personality

The Establishing Your Band Series
Part One: What Direction Are You Going In?
Part Two: What’s This Band About?
Part Three: What You Need in Band Members
Part Four: Governing Models
Part Five: The Band Agreement
Part Six: Building Repertoire
Part Seven: Recruiting New Members
Part Eight: Learning & Arranging Repertoire

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