Atul Gawande, in his book “The Checklist Manifesto”, talks about surgeons and pilots, but the logic applies perfectly to a festival or a major live event.
There is a romantic and somewhat distorted idea of our work: people think everything stems from genius, improvisation, or “first take’s a charm.” In reality, the magic the audience sees on stage is the result of military-grade execution behind the scenes.
In a large-scale event, thousands of variables must click into place every second: human error is always around the corner. An unplugged cable, a missing permit, a skipped soundcheck: disaster is just one step away.
Creativity and improvisation are two completely different things. The checklist doesn’t kill art; it protects it. It allows you to free your mind from repetitive procedures to focus on what truly matters: the audience’s emotion.
If you are a music startupper or an organizer, do not trust your memory. Don’t even trust your instinct when the pressure rises. Write everything down. Check every box.
Because in our world, the only thing worse than a mistake is a mistake you could have avoided with a simple piece of paper and a pen.
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I am Andrea Corelli, Music Industry Professional and Advisor.
I share strategies, backstage insights, or stories behind a song on LinkedIn.
If you need help with your artist, label, project, or music startup, message me.