At the risk of asking a duplicate question, I was helping my little one read a school book that had the following line,

> 
> The band of pipers *is* playing in the background.
> 
> 
> 

Because the collective noun is used in conjunction with the members of said group, I'd have thought the correct expression would be,

> 
> The band of pipers *are* playing in the background.
> 
> 
> 

The second option sounds more correct to my ears.

Whereas I think *the band is playing* sounds more correct than *band are playing* due to the use of a single collective noun.

I was wondering if someone could opine on this?