Looking for Advice on starting a cover band

CormacBass

I've been trying to raise the money to start a cover band of my own for a while now, Big rig, band van, proper mics and such..
I've been talking to a few banks, social job facilitator and citizen information about what is my best course of action for getting a lump some to help me get going.
I've been told to register the band as a business and apply for a small business loan but its getting very complicated. I've also tried the back to work scheme with social welfare but they don't consider a cover band a real job so i'm kind of going around in circles.
Has anyone else been through these start up problems? Any solid advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.

kieron89

go and work and get money while hopeing to win the lotto haha

CormacBass

Thats what ive been doing, its taking ages though...

kieron89

yeah man i was just messing, dunno not much advice to give yat.
Do as many gigs with what you got and put the money aside for upgrade of equipment and all that stuff.

hope it works out for you

CormacBass

Cheers.
Has anyone registered a band as a business and if so have you taken out a busniess loan?

rayjdav

Very dodgy thing to do imho. You act as sole guanantee?? Get a bunch of musos to go joint guarantee??:eek::eek:
As said above, gig with what you have, like we all did, and work your way up and spend monies earned back into "business". In this day and age, equipment can be got cheaply..
Will be hard to find a bunch of lads/ladies who will willingly spend gig money on equipment for covers band as lifespan of this kind of band is short lived, as we are a very transient bunch in all honesty. I wouldnt agree to that personally anyway.
Hard enough to get money off banks for orthodox business venture, bank manager wont open door to a music venture like this, imo.
Learn your covers well, gain exposure, more exposure = more gigs = more money = buy your own equipment with your share.
My 2 cents for what it's worth..;)

raindog.promo

I heard of a guy doing a covers band and was getting a grant to do so, basically drawing the dole at the same time. I can't give you more info than that as I didn't ask any further, thou shall not mooch off thy neighbours racket and all that.

Perhaps he set himself up as the manager also? Anyway, it is possible and I'm sure there's many hoops you have to jump through to get it. Best of luck.

Sergio

I know of two very good coverbands who are now legit businesses run properly paying tax the whole hog.They are around yrs though and have worked there way up gigging hard.
Ye got to be a very good coverband playing the songs very well to get to this level.
Best of luck with it.

CormacBass

Thanks, its nice to know someone has already done it.
I do already play in cover bands for a living but I want to get my own going.
Getting a grant would be excellent but im not holding my breath.

CormacBass

DOes anyone else have some advice on this?

rarens

Unless you have contacts to get gigs..I wouldn't bother.There are plenty of great cover bands out there that are just sitting at home doing nothing because they don't have the contacts to get gigs.Just because you have a great band..people don't start ringing you for bookings out of thin air.

auti

I am an accountant.

You will not get any kind of grant for starting a cover band, be realistic here. Music is grossly underfunded in this country as it is but at the very top of the pecking order are the underprivilaged and the 'artists'. A cover band just doesn't cut it I'm afraid.

A bank will not give you a loan to start a cover band, again, realism is necessary here. Banks have only begun to loan money to established businesses again, a cover band is not seen as a good investment. The fact of the matter is that music is not quantifiable. If you could prove to a bank that you earn and have been earning x amount for a suitably long period of time then they might consider providing you with a personal loan but a business loan for a new start up? Not on your life!!!

As people have already said here you need to gig gig gig and get the cash together yourself. My band are renting equipment until we can afford to buy something. Renting isn't that expensive so this makes sense for us. We gig every weekend and have been for the last two months. We will be in a position to purchase a PA by the end of the summer. We all agreed to save the money rather than divide it out. You need to invest in your own career, if a bank sees you doing this then you might stand a chance in the future.

Take baby steps and try not to get into debt is the very best advice I can give you. Oh yeah, make sure your band is up to scratch - competition is fierce!!!!

CormacBass

Thanks for the constructive criticism auti.
I play in cover bands for a lving at it is, at least 4 gigs a week, cruise ships from time to time; I intend to start as a two piece and eventually work up to a full band. A few repected promoters and music agencies have approach me asking if i do my own band, I have also had offers from investors to fund my own band. I think my best choice right now would be a credit union loan to get the business off the road, I think I'll avoid the offical side of things for a while and get a personal loan rather than a business loan as you recommend.
I like that you are paying for the equipment as a group, I would prefer to go alone for various reasons.