What is the difference between a band and an artist?

[Torrasque]

I'm strictly talking about music for this thread, so I don't want to hear about paintings or vases.

Most of the music I listen to, is made by groups of musicians: 4-6 people is the established norm, occasionally it goes up to 8 members (Eluveitie for example) or even higher. 2 is really rare, and 3 is uncommon.
Anyways, whenever I am listening to music I think of it as made by a band, whether that is 2 people that play all the instruments and use samples to fill in the gaps, or 10 people all playing something. I think all the musicians that make the music are "artists" because what they are making is art. If one person makes the music, then that one person is an artist, not a band.
A band has more than 1 person, any time you add people then it becomes a band.

So is there any difference between artists and bands for you?
When is a band not an artist, and when are artists not a band?

I'm just curious because I was talking with a couple friends and one calls all music made by people, "made by bands" while the other calls all music made by people, "made by artists" he just makes the mental difference between groups of artists and singular.

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[EeveeElectro]

Bands play instruments. Recording artists typically don't have any other talent apart from singing (and even then half of them are auto-tuned to shit). When I say artist, I mean someone who at least tries to write their own songs because they're making the art rather than wailing into a microphone and getting the record producers to make it sound reasonable.
Anyone else I just call a singer. I know singing could be considered making art but I don't think of them as artists. :s

 

[Nantucket_v1legacy]

I think singers who write and perform their own music are artists and groups, as it is a group project, are just referred to as bands.
For example:

Billy Joel is an artist as he writes his own music and performs it.
Green Day are a band because they all contribute to their work.

Take That are known as a group and not a band as they do not contribute to their music except for Gary Barlow. Therefore, Gary Barlow is an artist and Take That are a group.

That makes sense in my head... I doubt it does to anyone else lol.

 

[shrekfan246]

Generally speaking, the distinction I make is between either a solo artist or a person who identifies by their name. For instance, something like the John Butler Trio would be a band, not unlike Dave Matthews Band, while Cary Brothers or Joshua Radin I would consider to be artists.