I was trying to explain to a friend that someone is no longer available on Spotify earlier today so I said the sentence:
The Avalanches are no longer available on Spotify.
Immediately after saying that I realized it might be incorrect (English isn't my first language so this is a common occurrence) because if you take the name of the band out of the equation the sentence becomes of the form:
[Band name] are no longer available on Spotify.
which shouldn't be using are but instead be using is.
I asked around and some people responded saying it should always be is which confused me even further.
Is there any rule for referring to a proper noun as a plural or not in the case where the entity sounds plural?
Best Answer
The official rule is: if it acts as a singular unit, it gets a singular congugation; if it acts as a group of individuals viewed individually, it gets a plural congugation. There is no difference between common and proper nouns.
For example, Seventy dollars is too much to spend on a DVD. (The seventy dollars is one unit)
In relation to the example above, The Bangles is an awesome group. (one unit) BUT.. The Bangles are awesome, especially Susanna Hoffs! (looks at each individual group member)
It gets complicated because it seemingly leaves it up to the speaker to determine how the unit is being referenced.