music-business

I saw this picture on Instagram a few weeks ago:

It was posted by a friend and great winemaker, Keith Saarloos. These were his notes for a lecture he was giving to a business class at USC.

These ‘notes’ have been in the back of my mind for the last few weeks.  We just finished our 4th project, an album for Casey Black and are about to release an EP for fielding. Oh…and we’ve been working our catalog for a new show coming out on NBC this summer. Oh…and we’ve made some marketing plans with NoiseTrade. Oh…and we’ve negotiated contracts, finalized artwork, scheduled video shoots, played some gigs, booked more gigs, outlined manufacturing and distribution details and tidied up the accounting reports. and…and…and…

We set out, over a year ago, to start a boutique record label – one that would allow us to make great music with people that we truly care about and believe in. It was a simple idea. One that involved writing songs, recording songs, distributing songs and starting all over again. We totally knew what we were getting into.
UM…no!
We did not know what we were getting into…
it is SO much more than we thought.
And for just one second, we were overwhelmed by all that we didn’t ‘know’. The music biz is way more complicated and strategic than we ever dreamed, but…after that second passed, we re-grouped, counted our fingers and toes, pulled up our bootstraps and all that…and we’ve got our game faces on now…

….and each day is truly an adventure!

Keith’s point seems pretty clear coming from an entrepreneur to a classroom of students…study, learn, take it all in, but at a certain point – LEAP!  The real learning comes from the actual experience. Step out, take a risk. Try. You may think you have learned ‘enough’ to begin your life’s journey, but once you get started, you too will realize that no-one really knows what they are doing!
(The more you know…blah blah blah…)!