While it’s often the stuff of great rock legends, no one really wants to see their band break up.  At least, not before it’s time.  Far too many bands over the years have fallen apart thanks to drama getting out of hand.  

If your band is going to succeed, good interpersonal relations between the band members is essential.  

Tips For Keeping Your Band Stable And On-Course

1 – Split the money fairly.

Money is possibly the most common cause of rifts within bands, especially since it can drive so many other issues.  Even if you’re just a garage band, we’d suggest writing out a quick contract guaranteeing equal shares of the profits in some way.  

This can go a long way towards preventing problems in the future.   You might even consider doing as Queen did and assigning all rights to your band -rather than individual members- so that your royalties can be split evenly.  

2 – Let everyone have their input.

Keeping egos under control inside a band can be difficult, and one of the best ways to do so is ensuring everyone has input.  If one member is shooting down every idea but their own, that’s a problem that’s only going to get worse as time goes on.  

A lot of bands have simply combined material from all the artists involved, even if it’s not always totally cohesive.  

3 – If tempers are flaring, take a break.

Nothing says a band can’t take a vacation from each other for awhile.  Often, it’s one of the best ways of finding new musical inspiration.  When the band comes back together a month or year later, they’ve always got new ideas.  

Just don’t do it too often, or the fans will get worried.

4 – Remember that SOs are not bandmates.

We’ve undoubtedly all got our favorite stories of bands that got derailed because someone’s boy/girlfriend got controlling.  Don’t let this happen to you.  If they’re not in the band playing an instrument, they should have minimal input. Otherwise, it’s just asking for trouble.

How do you keep the peace inside your own indie band?