I spent a good part of my early life around musicians and recording studios.

One of the things music taught me is that two musicians can look at exactly the same notes on a page and create something that feels completely different.

The notes haven't changed.

The instrument may not have changed.

What changed is the person playing them.

Their experience. Their influences. Their technique. Their curiosity. Their emotion.

Everything they've learned—and everything they've lived—comes with them when they play.

The notes on the page are only the beginning. What a musician brings to them is what makes the music their own.

The more I've thought about that, the more I've realized it applies to far more than music.

It applies to products, businesses, brands—and even tequila.

We Can Control What We Create. We Can't Control How You Experience It.

Geri and I, along with Hugo and our team in Mexico, put an enormous amount of thought into every Música tequila we release.

We know what we want Música to stand for.

Authenticity. Quality. Craftsmanship. Patience. Creativity.

Respect for tequila and the people and traditions behind it.

A genuine connection to music.

And a commitment to supporting musicians and music education.

Those aren't marketing points we change depending on the audience.

They're the core values we've chosen to build around.

When we're developing a new tequila, we'll taste, discuss, challenge each other, adjust and sometimes go through eight, ten or more iterations before everyone believes we've reached the right result.

There's something I often say about that process:

Nobody has to win. The product has to win.

We do everything we reasonably can to put something in the bottle that we're proud to put our name on.

But then something interesting happens.

We hand the bottle to someone else.

And at that point, their interpretation begins.

Everyone Hears the Music Differently

Just as two people can hear the same song differently, two people can experience the same tequila differently.

One person may love our Blanco.

Someone else may prefer the character of our Reposado.

Another may connect with our Añejo.

Some get excited about the experimentation behind our limited Música Reserva releases.

Others simply want a really good tequila in their glass.

And that's exactly how it should be.

The same is true of the brand itself.

Some people immediately connect with the relationship between tequila and music.

Some love our commitment to independent musicians.

Others connect deeply with our support for music education.

Some appreciate the craftsmanship and authenticity behind what we're building.

And some people aren't going to connect with Música at all.

That's okay too.

Because I've learned that building a brand isn't about trying to make everyone happy.

In fact, trying to be everything to everyone may be one of the quickest ways to lose sight of what made you different in the first place.

Look at a cello and many of us immediately think of classical music.

But put that instrument in different hands and it can take you somewhere completely different. The same cello can interpret music across genres, with each musician bringing something different to it.

Maybe we shouldn't judge music by its cover either.

Interpretation changes everything.

The Notes Don't Tell You Everything

Miles Davis once gave musicians a wonderfully simple piece of advice:

“Don't play what's there, play what's not there.”

I've always loved that thought.

The notes give you a starting point. But what you bring to them—your experience, influences, curiosity and interpretation—is what makes the music yours. The quote is well documented, including through bassist Dave Holland's recollection of Miles's advice to his musicians.

Rick Nelson expressed another side of the same idea in his song Garden Party:

“You can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself.”

What makes that line particularly meaningful is the story behind it. Nelson wrote Garden Party after performing for an audience that wanted the Ricky Nelson they remembered rather than necessarily the artist he had become.

And there's another saying I've seen on the wall of a Nashville bar that takes that thought one step further:

“Go where you're celebrated, not tolerated.”

I've thought about all three of those ideas as we continue to build Música.

Create something that's authentically yours. Accept that not everyone will connect with it. And find the people who do.

Not Every Room Is Your Room

That lesson has become increasingly clear as we've introduced Música to more consumers, retailers, restaurants, bars and distributors.

We're not going to be the right tequila for every establishment.

We're not going to be the right brand for every buyer.

And every consumer isn't going to choose Música.

As a founder, that can take some time to accept.

You've invested so much of yourself into what you're building that naturally you want other people to see what you see.

But a “no” doesn't necessarily mean there's something wrong with what you've created.

Sometimes you simply haven't found the right room.

That doesn't mean ignoring criticism.

Quite the opposite.

Listen.

Learn.

Stay curious.

Take criticism seriously.

Make the product better when it needs to be better.

But don't confuse learning from people with changing who you are simply to gain their approval.

Authenticity requires knowing the difference.

Find the People Who Hear What You Hear

What excites me most today isn't convincing everyone that Música should be their tequila.

It's finding the people who genuinely connect with what we're creating.

The customer who appreciates the quality in the glass.

The retailer who understands what we're trying to build.

The bartender who gets excited about putting Música on the back bar or creating something with it.

The musician who understands that our connection to music isn't simply a marketing theme.

The person who believes giving young people access to music can make a difference in their lives.

Those are our people.

And when we find them, we embrace those relationships with everything we have.

We show up.

We listen.

We support them.

We keep working to earn their trust.

And we keep trying to make tequila we're proud to put in front of them.

Make Your Own Music

Maybe that's another lesson music taught me long before I became an entrepreneur.

You have to know the notes.

You have to learn your craft.

You have to practice.

You have to listen to the people around you.

But eventually, you have to decide what you're going to bring to the music.

And then you have to be comfortable knowing that not everyone is going to hear it the same way.

The goal isn't to make everyone love your music.

It's to know what you stand for, do the work to become very good at it, remain authentic to it—and find the people who connect with what you're creating.

That's what we're trying to do with Música.

We will listen.

We will learn.

We will continue to improve.

But we won't try to become something different for every room we walk into.

Because whether you're playing music, making tequila, building a product or creating a brand:

The notes on the page are only the beginning.

What you bring to them is what makes them yours.

And when you find the people who truly hear what you're creating—

that's where the Música begins.

Cheers

Chris 

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