Music's New Math: 1> 5

I was reading Spin Magazine's April article on U2 (What Makes U2 Run?) and came across this quote from U2'S bassist Adam Clayton:

"Think about the big bands, the big orchestras that used to tour," he says. "Then the stock market crash came and they slimmed down to quartets, because that was cheaper."

His comment was in response to a discussion about music's relationship to outside economic forces as a constantly mutating cycle.

So if at some point big bands had to reduce their numbers from 20+ to 4 to become financially sustainable, then are we now seeing a time when 4-6 member bands will need to be reduced to solo musicians to make touring financially viable?

After all, pay split one way sure works much better. So, especially for unsigned musicians, is one > five?

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Matt is a co-founder of Volume Eleven LLC, a music management company that also runs a website dedicated to helping independent musicians better realize the potential promotional and money-making opportunities of the Internet (VolumeEleven.net - Music News for Music People).