The music update in BitLife allows you to practice with an instrument or take vocal lessons to become a famous musical artist. You’ll be able to release albums, play alongside bandmates, tour the world, and make quite a bit of money off of your musical talents. Before you become a famous musician, you can pick joining a band or becoming a solo artist. Is one better over the other?

Being in a band

Of the two options, entering a band is a bit easier. Bands will typically be looking for someone who can play drums, bass guitar, guitar, keyboards, or they can be a singer, so you’ll need to practice one of these talents before attempting to audition for one. When you join a band, you’ll have several bandmates to work alongside, and you can choose to interact with them as you would any other co-worker at a job. Whenever you create an album, everyone in the band needs to agree on it, and if they do, you’ll release it. If your bandmates disagree on it, you’ll have to try again or wait for another year to release an album. In between waiting for albums to release, you can also choose to attend a live concert or go on a world tour.

While joining a band is easier than becoming a solo artist, you won’t be making as much money. It’s also harder to release albums because your band has to agree to it. If an album does well, you’ll be splitting several more ways, and the same goes for the royalties. Joining a band is a good way to start your musical career, but as you become more famous and increase your talents as a musician, becoming a solo artist is a better idea.

Being a solo artist

Becoming a solo artist in BitLife is significantly more difficult than joining a band. You want to do this if you have a higher degree of talent in the bass guitar, cello, guitar, piano, saxophone, violin, or singer. You have a few instrument options than you would be in a band, though. When you apply to become a solo artist, you’ll have to choose between three record labels, and they’ll decide to reach out back to you or not. If they don’t, you’ll have to try again next year. Having a higher singer talent appears to be the best way to become a successful solo artist.

When you become a solo artist, you’ll make a lot of the decisions that you and your band previously had to make together. However, there’s a lot more risk with it. You can push for an album, and it can do poorly or extremely well. Your success with a particular album depends on how many songs have on it, what type of album it is, and what cover art you use based on your musical genre. You do earn a great deal more money than you would in a band, but there’s always the risk the record label doesn’t work with you again after you’ve had an awful year.

You’re better off becoming a solo artist after several years in a band, you have multiple albums under your belt, and you’ve acquired a good amount of fame. You want to do this later in your career as a musical artist, but if you can do it sooner, then you’ll earn a great deal of money and have a higher chance of your albums becoming gold, platinum, double platinum, or even diamond.

Overall, it depends on what you want to do. If you want to focus on an instrument, you want to join a band rather than becoming a solo artist. If you want to become a singer, you can do well with a band or by yourself, but signing up with a record label will provide far more benefits.