Top 3 Reasons Why Many Unsigned Bands Fall Apart

The independent music industry can be just as tough as in the mainstream, if not tougher. Look around your local music scene and you will probably find tons of solo artists attempting to do their own thing. Get to know some of them, and you'll discover that a good majority of them came from musical groups that disbanded. The entertainment scene can be a fairly rocky place. This is because technology is making it extremely easy for independent artists to create, produce, and promote their own material without the help of external resources. One might think that given this new freedom within the music industry, that bands would have a better chance at success. But in reality, keeping a band together requires much more than having a few technological tricks up one's sleeve. There are tons of great bands the world will never hear of, because they have separated even before they could release their first single. Here are some of the most common reasons why many independent bands tend to fall apart.

#1 - Band Member Ego(s)

Oh, the beauty of being the front man in a hot band... When people mention The Police, Sting comes to mind. Grunge group, Pearl Jam's star was clearly Eddie Vedder. And the list goes on and on. Anyone who has been the lead singer in a musical group knows that this position always garners the most attention. Supporting band members must be very secure with their roles in the band so as not to feel overshadowed by the lead. But that is not where the troubles end. Very often, the attitude that fans and listeners have about lead singers can contribute to a lead singer's own over-exaggerated feeling of importance, better known as the "ego." This kind of conflict was observed in the 2000 film, "Almost Famous" in which band members from Stillwater felt slighted when the lead singer's image was more prominently shown on a magazine cover. Problems with ego don't just affect the lead. They also extend to the other players, who for whatever reason may deem themselves as a more critical part of the group.

#2 - Creative Differences