Influence Unpacked: Nick Drake - Playing the Long Game

Why does it sometimes take years, even decades before someone’s work takes off and the impact of their influence is finally felt?

As an influence marketer, I’m fascinated by this question so when I recently stumbled upon the story of Nick Drake, I decided to investigate in order to understand how it happened for him and what elements were necessary.

First a little background...

Nick Drake was a young UK based singer-songwriter from the heady days of the Woodstock era, so he was active during the late 60s and early 70s. He produced only three albums during his lifetime – and not one of them sold more than 5,000 copies. His third and final album (now the most well-known), sold only 3,000 copies while he was alive.  

Painfully shy and reserved, Drake was known in UK music circles for his idiosyncratic acoustic guitar style and his introverted nature. Finally overwhelmed by depression, he sadly committed suicide in 1974.

I first learned about Drake while reading the book 1971: Never a Dull Moment, Rock’s Golden Year by David Hepworth. It’s an entertaining read and it’s the author’s contention that 1971 was THE (yes, I mean THE) seminal year for Rock music.

I understand that's a big claim -- but go read the book.

Regarding Drake, in particular, Hepworth observes that “some music sounds more pertinent now than when it came out in 1971, this is certainly the case with Drake’s work.”

Therefore, Drake was ahead of his time. Just have a listen to his song Northern Sky to get a taste:

After listening to all three of his albums, it’s clear that the low sales numbers weren’t because of the quality or inventive style of his music. Rather, as I discovered, it was the result of two big hurdles necessary for building an audience in those days:

1: His reluctance to perform in front of live audiences

2: An aversion to giving media interviews (he did a few but not nearly enough)

Back in those days, before the Internet and social media, the only way to really make money as a recording artist was to get on the road and perform – a lot. Recording contracts were not geared to enabling the artists to make much money – and certainly not enough to live on.

For example, The Rolling Stones found it necessary to get on the road many times just to pay the bills and their 1972 tour was no exception. They were forced to raise money to pay back taxes in the UK. 

Another notable rock band of the period, The Who, barely stayed solvent during the 1960s and only did so by continually performing live in practically any venue that would book them.

The upshot is that these were key activities if you expected to build an audience and sell records.

Therefore, Drake hampered his own commercial success – which is probably something that he was not only aware of but frustrated him too.

From all reports, he was deeply introverted nature and had difficulty connecting with other people. In retrospect, it's believed that he suffered from depression which ultimately led to his suicide.

Yet in spite of these shortcomings, something remarkable began to happen.

By the 1980s Drake’s music was being used in TV commercials by brands like VW and soundtracks of quirky films like The Royal Tenenbaums and Serendipity.

Even better, other recording artists were taking note of his music and covering his songs on their own records. This includes Grammy winner Norah Jones who covered his song “Day Is Done.”

And to this day, his influence continues to grow and has been acknowledged by notable recording artists such as Peter Buck of R.E.M.

The upshot is that commercial success finally found Nick Drake so that by 2014, over 2.4 million copies of his albums have sold in the U.S. and UK.

Not bad for a guy who died in 1974 and didn’t do much performing or interviews.

So what happened? What kept Drake’s music out of the trash bin of history and gave it a shot of finding an audience even after his death?

Trust your vision, focus on quality and play the long game

In learning about Drake’s life, it’s clear that he had a clearly defined vision for his music and how it should sound.

I encourage you to take a few minutes to listen to it. Much of it sounds like it was written and recorded yesterday – almost as if he predicted where pop music was going -- even way back in 1971.

His last album, Pink Moon, is raw, stripped down and emotional. Much of it is just Drake and his acoustic guitar – not much else.

And that’s just the way he wanted it:

The takeaway here is Drake's unwavering belief in his music and his vision for it.

His music producers stated that Drake was willing to listen to suggestions, but he was not interested in making commercial music. He was searching after a certain “sound” which is not uncommon and reminiscent of big band leader Glen Miller and rock guitar virtuoso Jimi Hendrix.

Perhaps, when you add in Drake’s introverted nature to this mix, it's possible he used his music as a tool to connect and bond with other people. It wasn't just music to him, it was his personal way of connecting with others. What he couldn't do in person, he did through his music.

Therefore, Drake had a belief in his own vision and the messages he sought to relay through it. He created his music to be something that would last through time.

In marketing terms, he played the long game.

So, if you believe in your mission, it's better to play it this way than compromise yourself and your work. You have a better chance of staying out the “where-are-they-now-file” in the future. Interestingly enough, Pablo Picasso was a believer in this concept too.

Find and cultivate your audience, no matter how small

Drake lived during a time when people didn’t have the benefits of a hyper-connected, digitized world in which to publish, distribute and evangelize content.

Marketing was an involved, costly process and much of it was manual. You had to get on the phone and pitch the media, book gigs and more.

What performing Drake did do before his depression took hold of him helped to cement his music in the minds of a core group of friends and fans. People learned of him by word of mouth.

Also, his record label, Island Records, kept his music as part of their catalog for years after his death - which means it was still available to purchase. 

They too believed in Drake’s music.

The small sales numbers, determined followers and word-of-mouth all conspired to help set the stage for a retrospective album that was released in 1979 giving his music another chance to find his audience.

By the early 1980s, Drake was becoming an underground, influential figure among musicians.

From there, his influence has grown and continues to.

Conclusion

In wrapping up, the necessary ingredients to building influence over time requires vision and a no comprise attitude toward your content whether its music, writing, painting, video or whatever.

Also, be sure to find and cultivate your core audience - or in the parlance of Kevin Kelly,- your true fans.

Naturally the more you can do to help your vision and content along by promoting it contributes greatly. But don’t sacrifice your vision or cheapen your product just to get more followers or to make more short-term sales (if that’s what you are seeking to do).  

In other words, keep your integrity.

Influence Unpacked is a three-part mini-series where I examine how and why people I find interesting are influential -- and how they became so. Next up, from street artist to 1980s phenomenon, Jean Michel Basquiat.