Choosing the right band for a wedding can make all the difference in how your reception comes together, but selecting the right band for your needs can be really confusing. In our industry, different bands can have extreme price differences while making very similar promises about what they can deliver. Understanding the real differences can be next to impossible, especially if you aren’t a musician or an expert on the party band business.
We want to simplify this for anyone looking for a band right now. In this post, we’ll break down the different business models and methods of assembling bands. Once you understand what we call the ‘Traditional’, ‘Progressive’, and ‘Agency’ band models, you’ll better understand what drives the price and other deciding factors. Hopefully, this will make choosing the right band for your wedding a little simpler.
For starters, let’s break down the types of party bands and wedding bands into three distinct categories:
Traditional Bands
When most people think of their favorite “band”, they think of the songs the band plays, and the people in the band. In short, that’s ‘traditional’. Simply put, the traditional band is one where the band has a set lineup. The band name inherently defines the size, style and personnel of the band.
This model is easy to understand, and comes with its own particular set of advantages and disadvantages:
Intensity Entertainment offers 3 unique bands in the Traditional Format:
Agency Bands
We chose the term ‘agency’ because these bands are more like a booking agency for individual musicians than a ‘band’. At least in the mind of most buyers, when you book a band for a wedding, it is a group of people that perform together regularly.
An agency band, however, is one that is put together ‘on the fly’ by its company, and the musicians and vocalists are made up by selecting available people from a massive database of performers who happen to be open for the required date. This means many of the band members may not have even met before, let alone performed together.
When you see huge bands for $5,000 or less, you’re most likely looking at an Agency model band. There are multiple companies in DFW that offer this format, but we don’t choose to, for reasons we’ll explain below.
Think of it this way: If a traditional agency helps clients find bands (a fading concept in today’s world), companies that offer bands of this nature are basically agencies, but for individual musicians instead of bands. This allows for some good qualities, but they come at a cost:
We are not saying these bands are bad, and you certainly get more musicians for less money. When you’re considering a band for a wedding, cost certainly does often factor in. The bottom line is that while this model is growing in popularity, we just couldn’t be happy sending out bands of unrehearsed musicians, while crossing our fingers and hoping for the best.
We still take old-fashioned pride in the quality and flexibility of our product. If you take a look at our bands, our videos, or see us live, we believe you’ll see the difference and the value that Intensity offers.
ProgRessive Bands
Is there a middle Ground?
In short, yes, there is. When you choose a band for a wedding, you want the best. But you’d probably like to get the best value, too, right? So how do we achieve the best of both worlds?
Enter the In10City Band. We’re sure there are similar concepts out there, but in our markets, In10City is unique in these aspects:
The key difference between In10City and ‘Agency Bands’ is the simple fact that we do limit the number of In10City Bands, based on the roster of dedicated, rehearsed team members. Think of the concept as “same show – different cast members”. It’s not unlike many traveling musicals, Stomp, or Blue Man Group. They can all be in multiple locations simultaneously, performing the same show, but with a different cast. That’s In10City. And people love it! In10City Bands perform at hundreds of weddings every year, and our clients have left us some fantastic reviews on Google & The Knot.
Choosing a Band for a wedding is hard
We know that this is not an easy decision. Choosing a band can be exciting, fun, and stress-free; that’s what we strive to be. However, we understand that many of our prospective clients want to be able to cut through the marketing and truly understand their options. Hopefully, if you feel like you’ve been down the rabbit hole in your search for a band, this has been helpful and educational.
Now that you’ve read all of this, examined the pros and cons, and heard our perspective, maybe you’re leaning towards one of these band formats over another, but you still have questions. We’re here to help.
Our expert staff can answer any and all questions about the types of bands we offer and more. Just reach out.
Call
(972) 521-6771
ck@intensitybands.com
