So here’s something not a lot of bands want to consider – that is getting a credit card. This one sucks I know. I know that a lot of you guys are just against the idea of a credit card in general and you feel that credit cards are a scam meant to hold you back and prevent you from going anywhere in life. This is frequently the case because many people who get credit cards dont know how to use them. I ‘m not going to claim to be a financial expert, but I am goig to make the case for the importance of having a credit card for your band. It’s a great way to move yourself forward and to make sure that your project is going to have the funds that it needs in order to get the attention you feel it deserves. Again – I know this might be against your ethics but when it comes down to it, as SLC Punk taught us, sometimes we need to be willing to work within the system if we want to subvert it and create some truly great and renowned art.
So let’s start from the top, maybe like a do over – if you want to get a credit card for your band, make sure that, first and foremost you already have good credit and furthermore that your band members fucking know how credit cards work and can be trusted to contribute to the minimum payments. This is a big part of why it’s important to be in a band with people who are fucking adults – it means that when it comes time to pay for shit you can count on it being paid and you don’t end up funding everything on your own. Even if you are paying for everything on your own it does mean that you have more money available to you than what you might normally have in your bank account available for the band. I know this sounds like it could get tricky fast but again – being a fucking adult. And yes – normally it does depend on your band being able to make the minimum payment.
Assuming you know how a credit card works then the basic idea is going to be that you won’t have to worry about pissed off wives and girlfriends potentially getting upset because you are draining your resources. Instead you have a finite number you can use and pay off over time. The advantage here is that it turns being into a band in to just another bill. Of course you do need to be aware that interest payments can kill you. This is a big part of why we need to always hustle if we are trying to grow our bands. We want to be able to pay off those minimum payments. This being said – if you are a reasonably big band and you can clear $500 on a quarterly local show then the odds are that money will be more than enough to cover at least a decent portion of those credit card payments. Make the credit card the priority and it is surprising how easily other aspects of your band are going to fall right into place.
One thing it is important not to forget in this case though is that if you start to fuck up your payments your band is going to rapidly go south. It’s going to make it very difficult for you to find people who extend you more lines of credit if your band has a bad credit score. Simultaneously – make sure that when you do set up your credit card it is through your band LLC so that way when someone fucks up and your whole band is screwed you can just declare bankruptcy and move on. Otherwise, if you don’t have an LLC you are going to quickly find your personal life in a lot of danger due to your poor credit score, especially (obviously) if you rely on your credit card. I’ve seen bands open up personal lines of credit because they thought they were ‘brothers’ only to have one guy sue the rest of them. I know it sucks but that’s how it goes sometimes – there is simply no way forward, you just need to be fiscally goddamn responsible.
If you want to access the opportunities that your band deserves you need to be willing to spend money. We have discussed this at length. Of course it’s hard to always have that money too hand. This is why credit cards are a great idea for bands. I would make sure though that if you are at the point where you think you are going to need thousands of dollars to fund things you set up some sort of contract with your bandmates to ensure nothing as discussed above will happen to you. Instead you can hopefully use your credit card the way god intended and with a reasonable amount of success. By embracing this you are growing your band as a small business and getting more respect that way. Remember to treat your band as a business with the same ethics and fiduciary concern and you will rapidly find things starting to fall your way.
I know this is hard to get cooking. I know that you got involved in this whole world because you wanted to stay young forever and just dick around. I did too. Now I’m way more responsible than I ever wanted to be. I don’t blame you for bebing pissy about it. However you need to make a point of making your band have the best business presentation possible. It’s not just the only way to grow your reputation as a group but also is going to make you be taken more seriously by major players who might, for whatever reason take an interest in your project. Perception is reality, so make those in power perceive you as great.
