Band Fund? Good Idea? Bad Idea?

Allmanfan456 · #1 03-04-2009, 02:28 PM

Hello fellow bassists. What are your thoughts on band funds? Are band funds a good idea so you can save money incase you need recording time, recording equipment ect.? Or should everyone get an even emount of money from the money you earned? Thoughts? Input is appriciated!

gnasher1993 · #2 03-04-2009, 02:34 PM

If you want a band fund, I suggest that you and the other band members agree on what it is you want to buy in the longterm. I would also recommend getting a written agreement from each member of the band. My band tried creating a fund about a year ago but as soon as we wanted to spend the money on studio time our pianist claimed that he was under the impression that the money would be split equally when a certain total was reached. I've learnt from that experience! At the time we were only doing small 'background' gigs so the money in question wasn't exactly present in huge amounts. I hope I've helped!

Gasman · #3 03-04-2009, 02:35 PM

Don't do it.

Allmanfan456 · #4 03-04-2009, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gnasher1993

If you want a band fund, I suggest that you and the other band members agree on what it is you want to buy in the longterm. I would also recommend getting a written agreement from each member of the band. My band tried creating a fund about a year ago but as soon as we wanted to spend the money on studio time our pianist claimed that he was under the impression that the money would be split equally when a certain total was reached. I've learnt from that experience! At the time we were only doing small 'background' gigs so the money in question wasn't exactly present in huge amounts. I hope I've helped!

Yeah that did help alot! I know we discussed getting some stuidio time and getting our drummer a drumrack for his cymbels so he would be able to set his kit up faster without the hassle of adjusting them. But anyway thanks! Im definatly going to talk to them about that written agreement thing.

Allmanfan456 · #5 03-04-2009, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gasman

Don't do it.

any reasons why not?

midnightsin · #6 03-04-2009, 02:42 PM

I've had alright experience with the band fund. My band takes the money we get from the gig and we pay our sound guy and whatever other things we may have. (ie. rental lights or other equipment) then we each get a cut of the money for whatever we decide we want to use it on. The rest goes into a band fund that will pay for our recording, new sound equipment, trailer, etc etc. I think it's a good idea for a band fund if your band is serious about gigging.

jaywa · #7 03-04-2009, 02:44 PM

ALWAYS make sure that at least TWO people in your band have the rights to write checks on the band fund and access all the records pertaining to the account. The last thing you want is one member having sole access to the checkbook with no one else able to track what is going in and coming out. And/or, bolting the band and taking all the band fund money with him. "Trust but verify."

RobertPaulson · #8 03-04-2009, 02:45 PM

I've had no problem with them as long as they are used for "whole band" purchases, not specific things for one person (drum rack). This causes problems when the band breaks up or someone leaves etc... I think it's fine for things like recording and merch, just go into with an agreement that if the band is ever dissolved it will be split equally. Also decide how it's handled if someone quits/is fired. I've always said if that happens they get their share of the money and we move on.

Allmanfan456 · #9 03-04-2009, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by midnightsin

I've had alright experience with the band fund. My band takes the money we get from the gig and we pay our sound guy and whatever other things we may have. (ie. rental lights or other equipment) then we each get a cut of the money for whatever we decide we want to use it on. The rest goes into a band fund that will pay for our recording, new sound equipment, trailer, etc etc. I think it's a good idea for a band fund if your band is serious about gigging.

I should take them up on that one. Getting a small cut of the money for ourselfs and the rest of the money to the band fund. But anyway yeah we are serious about gigging.

EBodious · #10 03-04-2009, 02:53 PM

in general, the bands i have been in split the money between each member and the band fund (so, 4 members would split it five ways, make sense?). this is good for petty cash in the short term (making flyers, demos, etc), but does add up to studio time after a while. when we have a clear (and understood!) goal of something big, like studio time, we may all take less so as to grow the pot faster. it is also generally agreed that when the band breaks up, we split the pot. i did have a band that bought p.a. equipment together, when we split, we sold the gear and split the cash.

however, i don't think its a good idea to use the band fund for one member's equipment needs. that, to me, is a slippery slope. each musician will have different ideas of "needs." not to mention, some gear costs a lot more than ohers (drummers need lots of pricey stuff).

i have never had a problem with members getting "weird" over the cash. bands thrown together for a gig will just split the cash evenly and go their separate ways. bands that i have been in that see an extended future together are usually mature enough to handle money reasonably well.

prokfrog · #11 03-04-2009, 02:58 PM

It's going to turn into a "fight fund"

Split the money. if you have an expense, fund it with the next gig's pay.

Allmanfan456 · #12 03-04-2009, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EBodious

in general, the bands i have been in split the money between each member and the band fund (so, 4 members would split it five ways, make sense?). this is good for petty cash in the short term (making flyers, demos, etc), but does add up to studio time after a while. when we have a clear (and understood!) goal of something big, like studio time, we may all take less so as to grow the pot faster. it is also generally agreed that when the band breaks up, we split the pot. i did have a band that bought p.a. equipment together, when we split, we sold the gear and split the cash.

however, i don't think its a good idea to use the band fund for one member's equipment needs. that, to me, is a slippery slope. each musician will have different ideas of "needs." not to mention, some gear costs a lot more than ohers (drummers need lots of pricey stuff).

i have never had a problem with members getting "weird" over the cash. bands thrown together for a gig will just split the cash evenly and go their separate ways. bands that i have been in that see an extended future together are usually mature enough to handle money reasonably well.

Oh yeah. I keep forgetting to mention were using it to make t shirts, flyers, cds all that stuff. hopefully for our upcoming shows we'll get paid so we can do that stuff.

jaywa · #13 03-04-2009, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prokfrog

It's going to turn into a "fight fund"

Split the money. if you have an expense, fund it with the next gig's pay.

That's worked out best for us. For example, last summer we had some expenses related to our new band Website, and about the same time we also had a low-paying gig coming up so since the take for each guy would have only been $25 or whatever, we just decided to apply the gig check to the Website expense. No beefs from anyone in the band on that decision. The less $$ you have parked long-term in some collective account, the less temptation there is for someone to make a bad decision with it (or the less the rest of the band is out if he/she does).

Unless your band is a full-time business entity that is the sole source of income for its members, I have found that the more you can keep everything on a pure cash basis, the better.

ForSix · #14 03-04-2009, 03:06 PM

Our experience with a band fund has been good. We do play a lot of gigs, though. We used it to finance our first CD, and all the proceeds from CD sales go back into it. Then we use it for posters, website expenses, advertising and more studio time.

Anyone can examine the books at any time, but no one does. I think that's because we play a lot and always get our price.

I think if your band is successful, it works. And you have to be together for a good while before you even start it.

But given the right situation, it is the way to go.

Allmanfan456 · #15 03-04-2009, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaywa

That's worked out best for us. For example, last summer we had some expenses related to our new band Website, and about the same time we also had a low-paying gig coming up so since the take for each guy would have only been $25 or whatever, we just decided to apply the gig check to the Website expense. No beefs from anyone in the band on that decision. The less $$ you have sitting in some collective account, the less temptation there is for someone to make a bad decision with it (or the less the rest of the band is out if he/she does).

Unless your band is a full-time business entity that is the sole source of income for its members, I have found that the more you can keep everything on a pure cash basis, the better.

Thats true... I dont want the band to save up a bunch of money only to have it get wasted on a bad decision.

Luke19Boarder · #16 03-04-2009, 03:10 PM

my band has one. it works well for our situation, but could understand how it could go terribly wrong.

two of the members of the band have "real" jobs, whereas myself and the one other guy are still college students, so can't afford to put as much into the band fund, but everyone is ok with it.

Allmanfan456 · #17 03-04-2009, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luke19Boarder

my band has one. it works well for our situation, but could understand how it could go terribly wrong.

two of the members of the band have "real" jobs, whereas myself and the one other guy are still college students, so can't afford to put as much into the band fund, but everyone is ok with it.

exactly. So far my band fund is going good. but as you said i see how it can go wrong.

EBodious · #18 03-04-2009, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allmanfan456

Oh yeah. I keep forgetting to mention were using it to make t shirts, flyers, cds all that stuff. hopefully for our upcoming shows we'll get paid so we can do that stuff.

using a fund for group stuff like that has always worked fine for my bands. thogu, you really need to have an agreement about people leaving or band split up and having gear/merch left.

i agree with the post that said that if someone leaves/is fired they should get their fare share of actual cash on hand.

i have never experienced the band fund becoming a fight fund. maybe i am lucky? maybe its cause million dollar contracts have never been on the table?

jaywa · #19 03-04-2009, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EBodious

i have never experienced the band fund becoming a fight fund. maybe i am lucky? maybe its cause million dollar contracts have never been on the table?

Don't assume it has anything to do with the amount of $$ on the table... I've seen band members almost come to blows over a $100 mic.

Allmanfan456 · #20 03-04-2009, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EBodious

using a fund for group stuff like that has always worked fine for my bands. thogu, you really need to have an agreement about people leaving or band split up and having gear/merch left.

i agree with the post that said that if someone leaves/is fired they should get their fare share of actual cash on hand.

i have never experienced the band fund becoming a fight fund. maybe i am lucky? maybe its cause million dollar contracts have never been on the table?

I agree with that post too. Im glad I havent experienced that too. Its probably because not an extreme amount of money is involved.