3.0 Update 7/25/26: Every time EA taunts us with a lack of band xpack, I get Big Mad and release a new update! Today's release adds the ability to play custom .MP3s, which means infinite music options for you and your crew.

What do we want? Bands! When do we want it? Right now!

Tired of no bands expansion pack from EA in sight? Sick of struggling to get your bandmates to play instruments at the same time and the resulting cacophony when they do? I am too, so I made a mod that lets aspiring rockstars play multiple instruments together at once, perform concerts, and more! Your band can practice for the big show, entertain an adoring audience, and earn fame on their journey to stardom. Choose from a setlist of Simlish songs or add your own, and command your bandmates to play together with a few clicks.

Feature List:

• Form and break up your band: Add a custom trait to your members, or remove it when drama goes down
• Assign Sims to instruments: Assign Sims (including those you aren't controlling) to specific instruments and end the entire session with a single click.  Choose from seven different instrument types.
• Play together: Choose a single Simlish song for your band to perform or add your own .MP3s to play a custom music setlist
• Perform concerts: Practice with your band or perform a concert when you're ready to put on a show
• Draw a crowd: Other Sims in the area will be drawn to the performance, and will perform actions like watching or cheering
• Sway the mood of your fans: Certain songs will give audience members a unique 4-hour mood buff
• Earn fame: Up to twice a day, a concert will net band members fame based on a combination of their instrument skill level and current star level

Version 3.0 Update: Custom Music and Multi-Song Setlists

By very popular request, bands can now play your own custom music!  A new Custom Setlist option will randomly play any .MP3s you add to your band's Custom Music folder.  If multiple .MP3s are added, your band will play multiple songs in a row: perfect for long concerts when you don't want to re-assign band members to their instruments after every song.

To create and play a setlist:

• Download the new version of this mod and drag the "CustomSetlist" folder inside your "Custom Music" folder.  The Custom Music folder is normally located somewhere like "Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Custom Music"
• Add one or more .MP3s to this CustomSetlist folder
• When choosing a song from the practice or play submenus, select the "Custom Setlist" option instead of a specific song
• Your Sim will now randomly play any tracks in the Setlist folder.  The Sim will continue to play music and randomly select new tracks until the interaction is canceled.

Other features and updates in v3.0:

• Added violins as a playable band instrument
• Locked the instrument picker to a maximum of one item.
• Removed the skill tests needed to play instruments.
• Updated Russian translation from Viavet for V2.0

How To Use:

• Gather your bandmates and place all instruments in the same room and in-world, not in-inventory
• Click any guitar to find the new pie menu "Play with Band"
• Select "Form Band" and add your bandmates if you haven't already
• Select either "Band Practice" for low-key practice or "Perform Concert" to draw an audience of nearby Sims and earn fame
• Assign the guitarist and choose your song, or choose "Custom Setlist" to play songs from to your band's custom music folder.  Concert songs marked with a moodlet color will affect affect the audience with a corresponding mood buff.
• Return to the menu and assign the other bandmates to as many or as few instruments as you want. Works with multiples like three guitars or two singers!
• To stop playing, cancel any Sim's Play with Band interaction. All band members will follow suit once their animations end.
• To break up the band and remove band members, return to the "Form Band" menu.

Requirements:

• Scumbumbo's XML Injector
• City Living required for microphone singing
• Get Famous required for fame accrual
• Necrodog's v2 playable drum mod required for drums.  Please be sure to download this updated version - this mod does not work with the older, original drum release!
• JaneSimsten's playable French horn required for the French horn
• Necrodog's playable saxophone for the sax
• City Living required for microphone singing
• Only base game needed for other instruments. This mod WILL work with just the base game and extra CC; you just will not be able to assign a microphone or drums to your Sims.

Billy's Band works with the following band instruments:

• Microphone
• Guitars
• Pianos
• Violins
• Necrodog's v2 updated drum kit from the Into Music pack
• JaneSimsten's French horn
• Necrodog's saxophone
• Custom in-game instrument CC like VRO's playable bass (or mods with the func_guitar, func_piano, or func_microphone tags)

Do note that completely unique instruments with custom sound effects will not work with this mod, unless they're listed above.

Video Demo:

https://youtu.be/uhxJPoyt3C0

Notes, FAQ, and Shoutouts:

This is my first mod and is heavily inspired by the logic behind JaneSimsten's clever Violin/Piano duets mod, and of course Necrodog's playable drums. They both have more wonderful instrument mods available, so please check them out and support them on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/JaneSimsten and https://www.patreon.com/necrodogMTSandS4S!

Looking for even more immersive band functionality? Consider using this alongside Thatssojordy's World Tour Mod or Wicked Pixxel's Music Industry.

"I don't see the "Play with Band" option."
Be sure you are clicking an in-world guitar and check the "more choices" option if your Sim has a lot of guitar interactions.  If you still do not see the base "Play with Band" menu option, the mod is likely not installed correctly.  Verify that it is inside your /Mods folder, and that you have an up to date version of Scumbumbo's XML Injector installed in the correct place.

"I don't see the option to select a certain instrument."

This probably means there is no instrument of that type in-range, or the instrument is being used by another Sim.  Make sure your instruments are in the same room as the guitar and the Sim you are controlling.

Drums and Piano: Other sims cannot already be seated at or using these instruments if you want to assign a pianist or drummer.  Make them get up first.

Drums: If the drum option still does not appear, verify that you are using Necrodog's newer, Into Music drums linked above, and not the old version.

"Can I modify this mod to add features or improvements?"
Yes! Everyone has my permission to make their own updates or fold this into your own more extensive band mod. If you do make a new versions, please comment here and let me know so I can link it. However please do credit the original code creators somewhere in your post!

"This isn't a "real" bands mod - why isn't each band member playing their own instrumental track?"

This mod works by playing a single music track, which supports custom .MP3 music any band configuration including multiple guitarists, singers, etc.  This mod is not a recreation of the Sims3 jam sessions: I do not plan to update it so each member is playing their own instrumental tracks in sync. There are a lot of reasons why this won't work with the current features, including the fact that I can't re-record the isolated instruments that make up your favorite tunes. I am not a sprawling gaming company and don't get paid to make this; if you feel this isn't good enough, please just don't download the mod instead of messaging me.

Known quirks and suggestions:

• Adoring fans love to get up on stage. When playing concerts I highly recommend adding your band to a club-only access door, or installing a door locking mod like LittleMsSam's "Unlock/Lock Doors for chosen Sims".
• Necrodog's saxophone is technically more of an in-inventory item, and unfortunately the on-ground saxophone will not disappear when picked up.
• Microphone singing in Sims City Living is weird, and Sims at the mic will randomly express emotions or other short subinterractions, both with or without this mod. I am not clever enough to figure out how to create a custom looped animation to stop this, but if someone else wants to create one, please do!
• The Custom Setlist songs will likely be quieter than the built-in songs. This is because they are broadcast as stereo channels, rather than crafted music.
• If you also have JaneSimsten's Oboe, this is tagged as a guitar and will show in the guitar/bass picker. Don't pick this unless you want to watch your Sims playing a sweet Air Woodwind.

Songlist available:

• Instrumental: Untitled Track 5 (Sims 1)
• Female Vocals:Up We Go (Sims 4)
• Female Vocals: Pressure (Sims 4)
• American Idiot (Songs in the Key of Simlish)
• Bleed Into Me (Sims 4)
• Cherub Rock (Instrumental)
• In My Head (Sims 4)
• Let's Get Outta Here (Sims 3)
• Our Time Now (Sims 2)
• Sammishquad (Sims 4)
• Savior (Sims 3)
• Time Bomb (Sims 3)
• Walking At a Downtown Pace (Sims 4)
• We Are Young (Sims 3)

Update History

Version 2.0 Update: Perform Concert

Billy is back and bigger than ever! Your band can now perform concerts, entertain your adoring audience, and earn fame on your journey to stardom:

• Draw a crowd: Other Sims in the area will be drawn to the concert and perform festival actions like watching or cheering.
• Sway the mood of your fans: Songs marked with a moodlet color in the pie menu will give audience members a matching 4-hour mood buff.
• Earn fame: Up to twice a day, a concert will net your band members some amount of fame based on their star levels and instrument skills.

Other features in v2.0:

• Form and break up your band: Assign a new "Band Member" trait to your members, or remove them when drama goes down. Band members are immune to audience effects and can earn fame during concerts.
• Band Practice: For when you just need to rehearse in your garage. These are basic mechanics of version 1 that allows you to choose a song and play instruments harmoniously together.
• Brass instruments: Now you can play with Necrodog's Saxophone and JaneSimsten's French Horn.
• Your played Sim no longer has to be the guitarist. Any playable or NPC Sim in the band can be assigned to this role.
• Three new Simlish songs added: Cherub Rock, American Idiot, and We Are Young.
• Increased the allowed instrument selection distance
• Added v1 Russian translation from Viavet