I read a lot of music reviews, and over time it seems that I've been seeing sentences like this more often:

"The band are planning to return to the studio this fall."

This drives me up the wall! I went and read your section on collective nouns, but am I wrong to think that once you lump a number of people together into a group, that group becomes a singular noun?

Adele,
there is a lot of leniency on this subject and I'm afraid it seems to boil down to two factors: personal choice and context.

If the writer things that 'the band is' sounds odd, then he/she has the freedom to write 'the band are'.

Secondly, if the context makes it clear that the writer is considering the individual members of the band, then a plural verb should be used.

The band are planning to return...

To me, this means that each member is planning to return. If the writer meant the band as a collective are planning to return, then he/she could have used 'is'.

In sum, you can pretty much do what you want with collective nouns, I'm afraid. These example summarise the situation:

• The shoal is moving north. (one body of lots of fish)
  
• The shoal are moving north. (writer doesn't like 'is')
  
  
• The shoal are darting in all directions. (individuals considered)
  
• The shoal is darting in all directions. (writer doesn't like 'are')
  
  So, as you can see. Help yourself to whichever verb you fancy. I used to be a stickler for rules, but the more I learn about grammar, the more I realise that there are few 100% rules.
  
  

TYPO: SHOULD BE THINKS NOT THINGS

So I have to just grit my teeth and take it like a big girl? hehe
Thanks for the reply. :)