why be in a band (better not be for money and fame)

Why is there such an obsession over being in a band? I have never quite understood it. I was always flabbergasted when really hot girls go gaga over some of the ugliest guys I have ever seen…all because they were in a band (they don’t even have to be big time yet!). As frustrating is that is, it is not the most frustrating aspect of bands. For me, the perks of girls liking you for no reason at all except that you can play an instrument and the whole “cool” aspect can not and will never counteract the monetary situation that most bands face…you make no money. Literally, most bands lose money and have to work menial jobs to fund their passion for music. Even decently well known bands only make $20 – 35 K a year. The best example I can think of is the Format. They produced multiple albums, toured across the US, had their songs played on TV shows like Laguna Beach, and still they only make an elementary school teacher’s salary. I don’t know if People just don’t understand that fame and glory don’t come easy or if they just simply love their music enough to suffer the opportunity costs (such as having a lucrative career) that they do. Really, the only way bands ever make a lot of money is if they can manage to produce a handful of big hits that can make them royalties for the rest of their lives, land a contract with a large network like the Disney Channel and make royalties off of merchandise, or start a recording studio to make money off of tons of hopeless garage bands.