Have you ever participated in a band-competition? You probably have. There are so many competitions, that you might think that every band must have won at least one of them!

Here the basic rules for a band-competition:

– Several bands participate, similar to a festival, but they don’t get paid.

– The audience come for one of the bands and listens to the others too.

– The audience likes the contest-element, it’s a way to participate as audience.

– Bands participate to reach a broader audience.

– If you win the competition, you not only win a price, you also gain a higher status.

Last month I read “Status Anxiety” by the UK philosopher Alain de Botton. His analysis of the concept of status was fascinating. If you win a competition, you gain status. That’s one of his points.

Is it good for you as musician to enter a competition? It depends on 8 things:

This band competition fits in your plan of investing in your band. You need more experience on stage. You want to reach a broader audience. You want to profit from the PR of the competition. You think that you can win the price. You think that you can win and gain a higher status. You know that it’s never a fair comparison of quality.

When entering a competition to gain a higher status, you are risking the status quo if you loose. You can’t predict it, because to win you need luck. It’s important not to put too much importance on winning.