Okay, so yeah…decision-making. Sure, it’s one of those “responsible” words that isn’t cool and doesn’t fit your mode of being. Well, guess what? If you don’t know how your band makes decisions then you’re probably going to regret some of the choices you do make further on down life’s road.

Take Biff and his band Moonsliver, for example. (Yeah, I just made that up, by the way.) Biff is the lead singer for his rock band; together with his fellow musicians they’ve been practicing like crazy but they haven’t played a gig yet. Then, out of nowhere, a man in a magical white suit shows up offering them a couple hundreds bucks for their first show at a local club. Going with the flow, they agree to play the gig. Friday night rolls around and they show up only to find out it’s a country bar, with line-dancing and peanuts all over the floor. At the end of the night, Moonsliver gets stiffed, goes out to the parking lot and find their van’s been stolen. Come to find out this “promoter” sets up other “green” bands like Moonsliver to rip them off, then goes *poof* on to the next city. Sucks to be Biff, eh?

Common sense would say that you should probably check out anyone who approaches you with a gig, that you should go to the club beforehand, see if fits your band fits the club you’re playing at and check out things like transportation, security, headcount, etc. Unfortunately, common sense isn’t all that common.

When you’re excited and eager to get up on stage, common sense can get thrown out of the window. Why? It’s exciting to be in a band, but it’s even better when you get to perform in front of other people! Even though mistakes can happen, it might be a good idea to sit your bandmates down and say, “Hey! So, how do we want to go about making decisions?”

Ways Your Band Can Make Decisions

By figuring out how you and your band makes decisions, you’re headed in a “smart” direction. Trust me. Knowing how you’re going to make choices will help your band figure out what you’re all going to do a lot faster. More importantly, designating a simple “this is the way we do things” helps remove blame and decrease band drama, which gets in the way of your music.

Rule By Committee — All for one and one for all, right? Everybody in the band gets a feel for what’s going on, and has their say-so. This type of decision-making can work well for your band — just depends upon how good your band’s mojo is. Sure, you can groove and jam together, but would you trust your bandmates to buy a house or a car with you? What would you trust them with?

Hit Up a Neutral Party – Ah, the elusive band manager. So here’s the thing, hitting up a neutral party can be really good for you and it can really suck. You might want to consider doing a little background check on your newly appointed “decision-maker” though, before you go through with it. Have they managed other bands? Are they into the music scene? Are they trustworthy? Will they provide you with paperwork and receipts?

The trick is, even if you do have a neutral party, you still might want to consider having a point-of-contact in your band to work with the manager. You know, to make sure that communication is flowing in the right direction.

Follow the Leader — Do you think you have what it takes to make decisions for your band? GREAT. Then what? Are you a natural celebrity? Leadership isn’t about being on stage or enticing fans, it’s about leading by example and inspiring others to do great works. As a leader, you also have to know how to talk to different kinds of people and take it from me: creative folk sometimes don’t give a flying guitar about the business side of things, they just want to keep on performing and playing.

A good decision-maker can be less glamorous and more practical, because they’re living in the “real world.” So if you know someone like this in your band, you might want to go this route. Be careful about picking someone too careful or too negative, though. You want someone who’s going to explore every opportunity and let you and your band know about them before moving forward. Leadership can also involve taking a bit of risk sometimes, putting you and your music out there in new and unusual ways.

Once you know how your band makes decisions, you can graduate on to the next level: figuring out what’s right for your band.

Next week I’m going to talk about your band’s image and how you can start putting your decision-making to good use. I’m sure many of you already have some of these basics covered and if you do? Feel free to share your tips in the comments below for the new guys!

Until next time…practice well, play hard and have fun!