A band is a brand which, explicitly or implicitly, defines a contract with its listeners.

The contract is part of the band’s identity. For instance, Pink Floyd changed its contracts twice: Once when Syd Barrett left and again when Roger Waters left. It is trivial to make the argument (made by countless fans, not to mention lawyers) that there have been three distinct bands called Pink Floyd. Each had its own listener contract:

• PF1 Contract: Psychedelic pop led by Barrett
• PF2 Contract: Progressive rock with lyrics by Waters and music created by the whole band
• PF3 Contract: Stadium rock and dinosaur best-of act led by Gilmour

By changing its name from Joy Division, New Order told its audience to expect something different. It started a new contract, which they justified when they shifted from post-punk to electronic pop.

One measure of a band’s success is its ability to fulfill its contract. Some critics may despise Jandek’s musicality (or lack thereof), but he has established an audience that measures him by his ability to challenge the definition of music. To his fans, each album of (nearly) atonal droning is a rousing success.

There is tension between a band’s need to evolve and its need to fulfill its listener contract: to reaffirm its identity, and "succeed" with its listeners. Bands that never change risk becoming boring, even to their fans. On the other hand, those that frequently and drastically change render their contracts meaningless. Who cares to follow the activities of a band that changes with the wind? Each must strike a heading between utter stasis and an utter generality.

Sometimes this tension manifests between band members as "artistic differences," which can kill a band just as easily as not changing enough or changing too much.

Amoeba Crunch’s Contract

Amoeba Crunch is:

• closer to music than anti-music
• more synthesized than not
• almost entirely instrumental

Amoeba Crunch is not:

• Rock and roll
• For everyone

Amoeba Crunch will deliver, in decreasing order of importance:

• Something listenable
• Non-musical elements that suggest real places or goings-on
• Something that could be enjoyed with or without the listener’s full attention
• Tracks having some variety
• A variety of moods at various levels of energy
• Humor, in the music or meta-music
• Textures
• Simple parts -- no instrumental heroics
• Rhythm
• Melody
• Harmony
• Atonalities
• Self reference
• No attempts to "sing"

The above contract defines Amoeba Crunch's immediate band space. Works released under this name will not diverge a great deal from it.