Band Partnership Agreements are like Prenups for Musical Groups
I listen to the radio as I work, most afternoons, and occasionally this will get me to thinking about my younger days. Like most young boys, I thought that when I grew up I was going to be a rock star (and a police officer, a firefighter, an astronaut, and a pirate).
photo credit: Mandi Maebe
It turns out that I’m essentially tone deaf. As a result, I have great difficultly learning music. I have to be satisfied with just being a fan, but a lot of people do manage to make a living playing music. Not everyone is a superstar, but there are a lot of working musicians who pound the stage 6 or 7 nights a week.
A friend of mine is on his way to becoming one of those musicians. He tells me a lot about the business side of being in a band. A lot of people tend to forget about this aspect of music—including a lot of musicians. It doesn’t have the glamor of actually being on stage performing, but it’s necessary for the band to actually turn a profit.
One of the big things that he told me about was the band agreement that everyone in the band signed. Basically, they drew up a contract that outlines how the profits are divided, what will happen if one of them leaves the band, and so on.
I’ve noticed that they’ve managed to avoid a lot of the growing pains that most bands face in their early days. There have been no fights about money, or about who is responsible for what aspects of the business.
Chemistry among the members of the band is, of course, a huge reason for this. The fact that they have all been friends since grade school, and share a common vision for their band doesn’t hurt either. But, I think the fact that they put the big money issues down in writing from the beginning—before they even had their first gig—helped a lot.
A lot of musicians say that a band is like a marriage. Finances are the biggest source of tension in most marriages, so I’d guess that it’s the same in a band. If you can be clear about the money situation, you’ll have a lot fewer problems.
In fact, a band partnership agreement is a lot like a prenup for a band. You can decide how the money will be shared, and what will happen if the band splits up. It’s certainly not the most romantic part of being in a band, but it’s definitely a good thing to have before you start making money—especially if you do become superstars some day.