Business lessons from the music business
Even musicians make mistakes and other lessons learned from a live! concert.
This is for female entrepreneurs who think they need to know everything and have it all together, all of the time.
I just got back from Toronto where, after a two-year, COVID-induced wait, I finally went to the David Gray “White Ladder: The 20th Anniversary” tour concert.
If you don’t know David Gray, he’s a British singer-songwriter who’s extremely talented but, like so many musicians, had been struggling to “make it.” He’d secured initial recording deals, but they sputtered out, and he was out on his own.
Then came “White Ladder” - an album he recorded with his drummer in his small London house, on an almost non-existent budget, using second-hand and borrowed equipment.
While not entirely a popular position to take, I believe there is an upside inherent in constraints in terms of enhanced creativity. You’ve got no choice. You’ve just got to figure it out. So you do. Often in ways that you had not previously thought of.
In David Gray’s case with “White Ladder,” these constraints had the benefit of allowing him to be open and experimental - creating a distinctive new sound and songs that get lodged in your heart and head.
When the album was complete, a friend loaned David Gray a few thousand pounds to do the initial pressing of 5,000 CDs (yes, they were a thing back then).
And then he went to where he knew he had already built a following and loyal fan base - Ireland - initially releasing the album and touring in the country. At the end of the tour, they’d sold out of “White Ladder” in Ireland, and, in true solopreneur style, it was David Gray who drove the next batch of CDs to the freight department at Luton Airport to get them shipped out.
“White Ladder” blew up from there, first in the UK (where it’s one of the Top 10 albums of the 21st century) and then in the US.
🫶 My love for this album
I was living in San Francisco when I first learned about the album - I don’t remember how - but I was immediately hooked, and I turned everyone I knew there onto it.
I was one of those huge, avid fans. I knew, and still know (funny how our memories work), the words to every song. (I was dating an Oxford-based Brit at the time who was also a huge fan, but that’s another story.)
🎹 And for live music
So when I heard about the 20th anniversary concert, I knew I was going and splurged on VIP’ish tickets in Toronto that included access to the sound check.
That ran about 30 minutes with he and the band playing a half-dozens songs and testing things out, which was a good thing - adjustments were needed to correct the sound, a cable wasn’t working, they needed to get a feel for the venue. Yes, you’ve got to test things before you “go live.”
A couple of hours later, David Gray and the band are back onstage. He’s playing guitar and singing and everyone’s singing with him. But when he played his third song, “Be Mine,” something was clearly off.
When he finishes, he laughs and turns to the lead guitarist and says, “I f—cked up.” And then he keeps on going. He owns it and he gets back in the game, both of which the audience appreciated.
Then he sits at a keyboard to play his fourth song of the night, and when he wraps that he says, “Okay, I'm finally here.” Sometimes it takes time to land in your groove, in the business of what you’re doing.
I loved the entire experience (insert 15 exclamation points).
🌱 I tell you this story for a few reasons:
You need to be willing to take the risk to try new things when what you’re doing isn’t working.
If you’re experiencing constraints, try to look at the positive in them - how can you use the constraints to create something different than what you originally envisioned?
You’ve got to know your audience and then trust them to go with you move in a new direction.
Also know that even if you're seasoned in what you do, you're going to make mistakes.
When you do make mistakes, own them.
Then move on.
And always, always be real.
That's the best thing you can do. In life and business.✨
If you’re launching a new business or pivoting to a new offering, and find yourself stalled in the process, I’d love to help. Book a Discovery Call for us to get the conversation started.
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