Being part of a successful band has evidently always been one of the most sought-after professions in popular music since its beginning. The internet and social media has made it laughably easy to team up with other musicians and create what you may think is “the next big thing”, however there are many other unavoidable factors outside of “talent” alone that go into the success of any band such as image, promotion and knowing who to trust and what to sign.
As far as academic and professional qualifications go, there are no set-in-stone grades that you need to achieve success and recognition, however, to rub shoulders with other like-minded musicians, studying music at an educational institution and receiving a certificate such as a GCSE, Level 3 Extended Diploma or BA (Hons) will definitely offer a much more structured learning approach to better you as a musician both technically and socially, making you more desirable to work with and increasing your chances by a great deal to excel in the industry given that you focus and make the best use of your time and facilities.
Consistency is key when building an audience; consistently rehearsing, looking for and playing as many small gigs as possible and posting frequently on social media is guaranteed to gain you at least some form of traction, especially nowadays with platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook being such vital networking tools.
On top of this, personality and branding is of paramount importance when trying to stand out in the modern world of music and it seems that any publicity is positive if it results in you getting a few streams and videos about you online. Take for instance this video of Shirley Manson (lead singer of “Garbage”) showing a distaste for an audience member’s beach ball; Video Link Here (Strong Language). I had personally never heard of the band Garbage before, however, when I saw videos of this outburst all over TikTok and Instagram (some even from news sources) I did some more research and found a large amount of content creators discussing it. I naturally decided to listen to some of their material on Spotify too. Having seen the amount of content that exists about this incident, imagine the amount of people who will have also given this band some listens on their preferred streaming service. Outbursts like this are often speculated to be staged, such as the recent Garage Flower incident that had many indie rock fans from all over the country debating whether or not their actions were genuine or it was a ruse to gain followers and traction; Instagram Reel Here (Strong Language). Genuine or not, this video catapulted Garage Flower’s following (as of writing this, they now have over 15,000 followers on Instagram alone) and I’m sure that number will continue to grow with how active they are on social media.
I am not suggesting that all musicians have meltdowns on stage, however it shows that having a striking demeanour can boost your band’s reach and encourage people to listen to your music, go to your gigs and talk about you to friends or online followers. Just to reiterate, many positive attributes can grow your audience without having to create a tense or negative atmosphere (because while it may get you some followers, realistically you want to stir as little controversy as possible and maximise your approachability to promoters, managers, A&R or anyone who could choose to boost your musical career). Humour has always been a proven way to bridge the gap between audience and artist, specifically in a live setting, this can be by cracking jokes in between songs or enunciating words slightly differently to normal which is guaranteed to make any performance feel genuine and well-thought-out. The most extreme example of this would be punk rock icons blink-182. While many of their deliberately childish stunts may seem outdated and uninteresting now, they made an extremely successful career out of it for many years and are still using that formula to this day even though they have aged, giving them what was an immature edginess in the 1990s-2000s turned into a charming, novel irony in recent years. Great Example Here (Strong Language).
Since the main way that bands excel in this day and age is through the use of social media, it is also important to be interactive with your existing audience by posting frequently (reels, posts and stories) and allowing your fans/followers to give their opinions on your work, by occasionally including question boxes and polls on your stories. This not only makes your audience feel heard, but also allows your group to potentially lean into certain aspects that the majority want more of, this could make decision-making a lot easier when discussing with your band what songs to prioritise recording and releasing, what style of content best fits your brand and image, and general creative ideas that you may not have thought of without the help of your audience (especially considering that many comments and votes will be from fellow musicians, possibly in the same situation as you).
Being a performer in a band, there are a lot of admin parts of the job that you need to take care of. Reading the Bandzoogle blog post titled “A day in the life of a full-time musician” (which was written by full-time independent artist Joy Ike) https://bandzoogle.com/blog/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-full-time-musician gave me some insight into some of the things that bands need to be on top of while working in this industry and, whether you’re a solo artist or part of a band, signed or independent, a day’s work can involve organising things such as: website maintenance, designing artwork, finance and costs and answering and sending emails. Organisation is of paramount importance when off stage, and that is just the admin side of it. Your band won’t gain any success without growing and pleasing your audience by consistent social media activity. As I have mentioned before, it is categorically important. This is one reason why having a team to help your band deal with admin while you focus predominantly on creating, promoting and generally pleasing your audience is a sound idea and makes your career a much faster growing one.
There are many financial and legal factors that bands and musicians alike are bound to face. Visiting the “Musicians’ Rights and Legislation” section of the musicians’ union website https://musiciansunion.org.uk/legal-money/rights-and-legislation, the things that stood out to me as potential financial and legal hazards discussed on the site were as follows: low streaming royalties, unfair revenue splits, copyright infringement, contract disputes, tax obligations (especially touring), IP ownership (master vs. composition), licensing complexities (digital/live), unpaid fees, business structuring (self-employment vs. company), and managing AI threats. The website also detailed that if an artist with the MU is to be offered a contract, then they will arrange for a specialist employment lawyer to review it and provide the artist with sound advice. This is definitely advisable because if you and your band sign a contract that you do not read or understand fully, you could end up losing a very large sum of money over the course of however long the contract lasts for. The same could be said for the rest of these legal and financial factors. I would personally recommend and practice contacting a business expert to pick their brains on any pre-requisites that I should take into consideration before signing any contracts or structuring any big business plans that involve money and potential legal repercussions.
A good way to deal with this side of the industry within a band is with an interband contract. This is a legal document created by only you and your bandmates that defines the rules, responsibilities, and finances for members of your group, functioning like a business partnership to prevent disputes over songwriting credits, income splits, band name ownership, and dissolution, especially when the band becomes successful or in the event of disbandment.
Now that we have discussed the financial and legal challenges associated with being in a band, there are a lot of potential personal issues that come with being a professional performer too. Justin Grome from Forbes wrote a piece on this that you can find via this link: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2023/12/28/common-challenges-in-the-music-industry-and-how-to-deal-with-them/ and I was presented with a list of issues that are linked to both your brand as a band and your own mental health as a musician. These included: Saturation and Competition (ensuring that listeners have a reason to keep following you and listening to your material), Evolving Industry Dynamics + Tech (keeping up with modern advances in technology in the music industry), Industry Demands and Pressures (feeling under pressure to keep yourself in the loop and continue pumping music and content out into the world which can be very taxing on your mental health), Networking and Relationship-Building (some people are naturally more socially adept to meeting new people in different social settings and it can be quite a difficult line to walk if you are less of a naturally social person) and the unpredictable nature of success (meaning if you were to gain success and traction through your work, then it can become a lot more stressful to please a wider demographic, and there may also be many business-oriented people contacting you such as promoters, managers and A&R leaving you with more administrative tasks that may also take a toll on your mental health). A lot of this can end up in burnout, which many artists and band members face, and it can be very detrimental to your career. Mental Health UK states that: ‘Burnout’ is recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an ‘occupational phenomenon’. While it is not a medical or mental health condition, it has been classified as a syndrome, meaning a collection of symptoms or signs associated with a specific health-related cause. Burnout is a state of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. It can occur when you experience long-term stress and feel under constant pressure. https://mentalhealth-uk.org/burnout/
A big example of burnout heavily impacting a career would be the sad story of Andy Nicholson, original bassist and founding member of The Arctic Monkeys. I read in a newspaper article by Manchester Evening News titled “Unrecognisable Arctic Monkeys star finally reveals why he left band in rare interview” that Nicholson suddenly left the band in 2006 after “experiencing fatigue following an intensive period of touring” and he only wanted to take a hiatus from the band as he was also dealing with family issues, however, the rest of the band decided to move forward with the bassist that they were playing with (Nick O’Malley) while Nicholson was taking time away from the band. This is a heart-breaking story, especially when Nicholson went on to say that he was in tears when watching Arctic Monkeys headline Glastonbury on TV in the year 2007 and how he felt betrayed by his former bandmates for leaving him behind. https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/unrecognisable-arctic-monkeys-star-finally-33033207
While obviously productivity is a massive factor in success when working in the music industry or any industry for that matter, but once you feel yourself starting to burn out, it’s very important to follow these steps to avoid over working yourself and actually becoming burnt out, since that can heavily affect or even reverse the trajectory of your journey as a musician. “Change Mental Health” states that the best ways to remain grounded and avoid burnout include: setting firm boundaries between work and life, prioritising self-care like sleep, exercise, and healthy eating, incorporating stress-management techniques (mindfulness, hobbies), building strong support systems, and managing your workload by taking regular breaks. https://changemh.org/resources/how-to-spot-and-avoid-burnout/
Bibliography:
Youtube.com (2026) Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAk78IEBLes [Accessed 18/12/2025].
Instagram. (2025). Garage Flower on Instagram: ‘@thebreadshedmcr are soft #viral #livemusic #liveband #band #britpop #reels #viral #active’. [online] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/reels/DQpLejqjQth/ [Accessed 5 Jan. 2026].
Youtube.com. (2026). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaHtcvZmEbM [Accessed 21/12/2025].
Ike, J. (2016). A Day in the Life of a Full-time Musician. [online] bandzoogle.com. Available at: https://bandzoogle.com/blog/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-full-time-musician.
musiciansunion.org.uk. (n.d.) Guidance on Work Rights and Legislation for Working Musicians. [online] Available at: https://musiciansunion.org.uk/legal-money/rights-and-legislation.
Grome, J. (2024). Common Challenges In The Music Industry—And How To Deal With Them. Forbes. [online] 12 Aug. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2023/12/28/common-challenges-in-the-music-industry-and-how-to-deal-with-them/.
Mental Health UK (2024). Burnout. [online] Mental Health UK. Available at: https://mentalhealth-uk.org/burnout/.
McInerney, L. (2025). Unrecognisable Arctic Monkeys star finally reveals why he left band in rare interview. [online] Manchester Evening News. Available at: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/unrecognisable-arctic-monkeys-star-finally-33033207 [Accessed 5 Jan. 2026].
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