It’s sad, but the musical roadside is littered with bands who tried… and just didn’t quite make it. While there’s no telling, exactly, what causes a band to fail, they usually help contribute to the process themselves.

Making smart decisions is necessary to succeed in music, or else you’re likely to just get chewed up and spit back out.

Three Mistakes To Avoid In The Indie Music Business

1 – Spendthrift Ways

Lots of people want to live the “rock and roll dream,” which mostly involves conspicuous consumption and chemical abuse. Well, if someone can pull it off, good for them… but most of the time being spendthrift is only a good way to end a musical career.

To make it in the music business, you have to treat your music like a business. That means budgets and planning and boring things like that. Far too many bands get their first signing bonus and go nuts, but honestly… that’s usually a one way ticket to burnout, depression, suicide or, worse yet, retro-nostalgia cable TV.

2 – Temper Tantrums

Let’s not point fingers – tempting though it is – but I suspect we all have our “favorite” stories of bands that got ripped apart by internal tensions, or bandleaders who refused to take “no” for an answer, even when they should have.

Professionalism is paramount in the indie music scene. Leave the tantrums to the kids with the momagers.

3 – Signing Away Your Rights

In rare situations, if a major label is waving a “can’t refuse” sized check, it may be warranted to sign over your music rights in return. However, in ANY other circumstance, you should not deal with organizations that make any claims to your Intellectual Property.

Indie artists need to keep their options open, and be able to promote their music in as many outlets as possible.

What Mistakes Have You Seen?

If you’re on the scene, you’ve undoubtedly witnessed (or been part of) some mistakes in progress. Do you have any particularly good stories? Share them below!