I really believe its about a connection to the artist and the "lack of" that plays a big part in this. When I would hear a Bob Seger or Run DMC record as a kid, I really believed they WERE the songs, and that they were who they sang and wrote about. I think that connection, especially in pop music has been missing for sometime. Shit, I dont think kids even believe in half the rappers are who they claim to be anymore. On another note, the radio has fucked so much of it up, for instance, that James Mcmurty song is a pop hit, but they know he wont suck thier dick so they say fuck him and as a result kids lose out on hearing a great song and pop music suffers. Now obviously i dont suck dick either, but i know how to put my arm around em and make em feel good, maybe tickle thier balls a little if it means more people will hear my music. BUT NO DICK SUCKING!! Programmers are not the fucking stars, artists are, but if they would rather party with brittney or mariah rather than folks like me, thier missing one hell of a party!! I mean ,I wanna be friends with radio and have met some good folks in it, but overall they make it very difficult with the politics and bullshit, and the record companys share in that as well. (shit, sometimes us artists do too)

And this biggest thing is, you ll never beat word of mouth on a good product! And when people love something, theyll do whatever it takes to get it. Itunes is convienient, but so is Mcdonalds, but....... a lotta people still wait in line and make reservations to eat elsewhere!! Sometimes when you believe in yourself and your product, NO is the best answer. Thiers plenty of ways to have big sales without itunes (or conventional wisdom), i just proved it! (dont mean to toot my own horn but BEEP FUCKING BEEP!!!! haha) bottom line, lets bring some creativity back into this buisness and make it fun again,lifes too short, thats where im at with things.

I wasn't aware that "smushing together a bunch of old classic-rock radio staples and turning them into a juicy nugget of rock-radio-ready jammage" was what "creativity" meant these days, but I guess the lexicon is always changing.

All Summer Long [Lefsetz Letter]

You know something must be up when Lefsetz is going after Edgar Bronfman, previously one of his sacred cows. They must have raised prices as his local Ralph's, because this is a rampage, and right from the top, he's going after one of the good guys in the business. Oh, the humanity!

ENEMIES LIST

1. Doug Morris

Despite the aegis of caring about music and consumers he's an ignorant old man who is single-handedly holding back the monetization of recorded music online.

No one who sues his own customers can give a shit about them. That's like killing slaves for their own good.

And, believe me, RIAA policy is Universal Music policy. Based on the company's market share, if nothing else.

This is an old man whose success is based on a radio/retail model, get the song on the radio and see if the album is moving at the store, when radio is terrible and ineffectual, kids not listening to it, and it's difficult to even find a record store.

This is the guy leading the charge?

And you wonder why we're in trouble.

2. Zach Horowitz

Morris' consigliere. If we want change, we've got to kill them both....

7. Jann Wenner

For destroying the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Utilizing it as his own personal enterprise, Wenner lords over the organization like a despot. Only his taste counts. So we end up with non-rockers (Miles Davis) in, and classic rockers (Alice Cooper) out.

Put Madonna in the Business Hall of Fame. But once you induct her into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the institution loses all meaning....

12. Venues

For not putting all the tickets in the building on sale. Let's blame the promoters here too. Give us a fighting chance. If you're going to overcharge us for a ticket, at least give us an opportunity to get a good one.

13. Antares Audio Technologies

For foisting auto-tune upon the marketplace.

Used to be you needed talent to make it. You used to be able to sing. But now Harvey Fierstein can sound like Mariah Carey and anybody can have a hit record.

You had me until you went after Autotune, Lefsetz. Do you want to go back to the days when we had to hear what these people actually sound like?

Still, even if you didn't make Lefsetz's enemies list, he's still probably not all that happy with you.

Edgar Bronfman, Jr.

Doesn't even count. He destroyed Warner Music, all in the name of profits for the original investors, who took the company private and then public again, screwing stockholders (the same way they screw consumers!)

The company's been marginalized, but there's still a fantastic catalog.

Stunningly, Warner has the most innovative digital initiatives, but that's like saying your Powder Puff football team has the best quarterback... She's still not in the league of Peyton Manning...

Clive



He's been marginalized. He's no longer the whipping boy. He lost his gig because his paradigm is passe. Spending a ton of money to break a vapid act in the mainstream is a denial of the reality that the mainstream is shrinking and bland has been replaced by edgy. The future is an amalgamation of niche, not the single-headed phoenix.



Indie Record Store



They're making their money from tchotchkes. The majors constantly fuck them in the ass because they don't generate enough capital. If they were selling enough product, they'd get the exclusives Best Buy does, but they don't. Now that you can get all the catalog online, they're almost irrelevant.

I assume the last bit about record stores was inspired by Amoeba passing on a stack of his promo discs last week, but still, maybe Lefsetz has a point. Perhaps this whole time, there was a keen observer of trends watching as the business destroyed itself trying to preserve its own viability. Maybe all the skiing related posts were a subterfuge for the real genius of Lefsetz waiting to arise.

Actually, it might have been to make up for 863 words about people's dogs the post before. Nevermind, then.

Enemies List [Lefsetz Letter]

You may have previously believed that Lyor Cohen didn't really deserve a raise for his tenure at Atlantic Records, that he was slowly destroying the once proud label, that Cohen might not be the industry talent everyone assumed. You would be wrong.

Lyor might be pilloried, but he's doing better than Jimmy. How can that be?

A drum roll please... The label with the greatest market share of current product year to date is...ATLANTIC RECORDS! Hell, if you include catalog, Atlantic is #2 to RIGA. Jimmy's got 7.45% of the overall market, including catalog, and Atlantic 7... (As for market share of current, Atlantic's got 7.73% and IGA 7%.)

Staying in the current realm, Monte and L.A. Reid are right behind Jimmy, with 5+ each. Then comes Warner Brothers, with 4.76%.

Then comes Barry Weiss with 4.37%.

The man with the golden ears? The irreplaceable Clive Davis, the most successful man in the record business, lording over Alicia Keys and the "American Idol" champs? RCA Records comes in seventh, with 4.33%. Then, Rick Rubin's Columbia, with 3.74%, Disney with 3.72%, Capitol with 2.08% and Epic, with 1.88%.

What have we learned from the above? That someone is smart somewhere. Turns out Lyon should have kept his job, Clive needed to be demoted, and change was needed at Columbia and is still needed at Capitol and Epic.

Admittedly, all of that's a little difficult to decipher, but to summarize, based on Soundscan numbers for the year so far, Atlantic has the most total scans of any label, thanks to the Juno soundtrack and discs by Flo Rida, Death Cab, and Kid Rock leading the charge. Jimmy Iovine's Interscope is second.

So what? It's May, and while the sales might be leading Atlantic's way right now, how long will that hold up, especially during a summer with few likely smashes for Atlantic, unless you're counting the Shinedown and Pretty Ricky discs as future chart-toppers. With discs from G-Unit, Beck, Keri Hilson, and N.E.R.D. slated for this summer, and the lingering possibility of discs from Eminem and Dr. Dre at some point this year, you'd have to suspect that Interscope will be just fine, at least as far as the diminishing expectations game goes in the music biz these days. But hey, Lefsetz, I'm sure Lyor's ready for that Jason Mraz disc to go gangbusters. Let's give him another raise!

Market Share Report [Lefsetz Letter]

• The Lefsetz Letter has been around for 22 years. That's as long as Poison's recording career! "'One of the early subjects ... was Stevie Winwood and whether the fact that he was dancing in his videos was [expletive] his credibility.' (Short answer: Yes.)"

• Bob TALKS like he WRITES, so if you're ever going to MEET him, get ready for a little bit of yelling... and a lot of tangents. "Onstage, addressing the concert promoters, Lefsetz sounds like his work reads, his voice unmodulated, his mind wandering. He's blustery and entertaining and insightful and infuriating, and he doesn't pull any punches. ... Lefsetz is slumped on a bench outside a bookstore, telling yet another splenetic, circuitous story that's loaded with profanity, asides and Bob Dylan lyrics."

• Bob's reasons for going DIY weren't all that dissimilar for many aspiring bloggers' reasons for venturing into Wordpress for the first time. "Thinking back to high school, Lefsetz eventually 'got back in touch with wanting to be a writer' and unsuccessfully pitched a few magazines. Then, thumbing through a copy of Billboard, he had a Lefsetzian revelation: 'This is [expletive] TERRIBLE! I can do better than THIS!' "

• Bob doesn't have a lot of money. "He's done some consulting work for record companies, including Warner Bros., which seems to run counter to his assertion that he's beholden to no one. ('It's not something I pursue,' Lefsetz says of consulting contracts.) And he used to have a radio show, too, until the station sold his hours for infomercials. 'I live on a no-cash basis,' he says. 'I live in a rent-controlled apartment in Santa Monica. ... I don't have kids or all these other expenses people have.'

• He is rich in super-generous friends, though! "'If I'm going to dinner, somebody else is picking up the tab.' ... Lefsetz is dating Felice Mancini, daughter of the late composer Henry Mancini, and the family owns a condo in Vail. 'People have this fantasy that I'm living some exotic, marvelous life. ... I laugh when people think there's a big pile of money somewhere. ... NO! You're just not willing to live and sacrifice the way I do. And believe me, I've sacrificed.' "

• But what's he richest in? Admirers! Well, people who read his stuff, anyway. "It's exactly what Lefsetz seems to be looking for: A response, a reaction, a signal that his voice is being heard, even if he can't quite digest the idea that anybody would pay him the slightest notice. 'I write something every day, and I cannot believe that people are reading it,' he says. But it's his finest moment when they are, because every performer — every act — needs an audience." All together now: Awww.

Rage Against The Machine [Washington Post]

As far as I know, apparently he received some nice speakers from an acquaintance, which reminded him of a Laura Nyro show, and girls he once dated? I have no idea... you try to figure it out.

Funny thing about this Internet, you end up hearing from everybody you've ever known. Long after the people in your life have faded from three dimensions into two, you see their names in your inbox. Like they ambled down the hall and stopped in your dorm room to ask you a question. I used to think only the records followed me through this life. But I've learned the people you listened to them with are still there, waiting to come back to life, to tell you the way it was. Stunningly, they haven't changed, and neither have you. And the records, they're literally the same.

In the last five days I've heard from two friends from college. One of whom was hanging in the ether for fifteen years, our relationship having lapsed for that long. He read my piece about the Stevie Winwood track somewhere online, he wanted to give me his take on the show at Madison Square Garden. He'd traveled down from Boston to see it. You see, that's what we have in common, the music. That's what I have in common with you.

We broke the shrinkwrap and dropped the needle on fragile black records. But what came out of the speakers was full-bodied. The sound blew into the room and enveloped us. We had to go to the show to get closer to these people. They didn't wear head-set mics, they didn't dance, they were positively human. They displayed anxiety, self-consciousness and bravura. We felt if only we could know them, our lives would work. Admit it, that's why you got into this business. Sure, there was the supposed glamour and financial reward, but you wanted to get closer to the artists, you wanted to know them, you wanted to be there when the spark caught fire.

Lefsetz ruins my one theory behind the genesis of this missive later on when he states "I gave up the herb decades ago," because that's the only premise behind which any of this would make sense at all. There's something about not wanting to hear your unsigned band (a sentiment I can largely understand) and something else about visiting Web sites for towns in Connecticut, but someone should really check Lefsetz's combination of meds. Something might not be quite right. Even a Jackson Browne disc can't do that sort of damage to someone's mental stability.

Something Fine [Lefsetz Letter]

Im sure its difficult to sit on the bench while us folks play in the big game. Your a failed musician with a big mouth.

You try to make a name for yourself with half ass opinions based on everyone who is actually trying to do something in music. Yet you do NOTHING but talk. See you on the streets you punk ass mother fucker!!!

Kid Rock

On the streets? Well, Waffle House parking lots are paved, so I guess they kind of count. But wait, there's more, because it's the Internet!

From: Bob Lefsetz
Subject: Re:
Date: November 8, 2007 4:14:03 PM PST
To: kidrock@_________
Cc: Billy Ritchie, Ross Schilling, Ken Levitan, Livia Tortella, Lyor Cohen, Rick Roskin, Rick Rubin, Ian Rogers

Oh lighten up Bob.

Don't you remember me singing your praises during the "Devil Without A Cause" days?

Yeah, you spend time in Nashville. Recorded your album at Bluebird...

But, are you a rocker or a country act? I'm against people from other genres stunting on these TV awards shows. If you'd come out and sung a country song, if your music had been moving up the country chart...I would have said something different. But, this just looked like a promotional appearance.

I applaud your irreverence. Just didn't wholly work here.

But isn't it interesting that you're so irreverent, and then I am and you've got a thin skin!

I was surprised that your record did as well as it has. Good for you.

And don't worry, your peeps are looking out for you. I got e-mail excoriating me, defending you...

But if you're in the spotlight, if you're in the public eye, you've got to take criticism with a grain of salt. It goes with the territory.

As for being a failed musician... Never. Maybe a failed competition freestyle skier!

Good for you for canning Punch! Now embrace new technology.

Keep bonding with your fan base.

Your buddy,
Bob

That thin-skinned line is pretty classic. (Perhaps Kid is just grooming himself to become the next Bill O'Reilly once the music business finally hits the shitter for good.) Now, do you notice the cc's in Lefsetz's e-mail? As it turns out, they weren't put in there by the cranky ol' coot—they were instead inserted by the Kid himself. Lyor Cohen and Rick Rubin. Do you think they get cc'd on these sorts of things a lot?

Anyway, Kid wrote back!

From: kidrock@_________
Subject: Re: lighten up! Haha
Date: November 8, 2007 4:55:12 PM PST
To: Bob Lefsetz
Cc: Billy Ritchie, Ross Schilling, Ken Levitan, Livia Tortella, Lyor Cohen, Rick Roskin, Rick Rubin, Ian Rogers

Stunting? I had a fucking ball last night while you were typing emails. You got a big mouth and no weight to back it up. you can mother fuck me all day long, but i will see you one day, and when i do it will be fun to watch you bitch up! ....ohh and last time i checked it makes perfect sense to make promotional appearances asshole. And i didnt can punch, dickhead, he is one of the greatest managers of all time. I also didnt record my album at bluebird, i did overdubs at "blackbird"....your last email shows just how inaccurate your facts are. Cant wait to watch you bitch up!

Kid Rock

Ooh, a fact-checking cuz and a hater of bloggers. This guy sounds like my dream reader! (Hi Kid, if you're reading this! Drop me a line, we can go out for hash browns!)

From: Bob Lefsetz
Subject: Re: lighten up! Haha
Date: November 8, 2007 5:02:25 PM PST
To: kidrock@_________
Cc: Billy Ritchie, Ross Schilling, Ken Levitan, Livia Tortella, Lyor Cohen, Rick Roskin, Rick Rubin, Ian Rogers

Mea culpa. Blackbird.

As for the truth re Punch, I'll never know for sure. But he hurt your career more than he helped it. You had your biggest hit BEFORE he came on board.

As for the attitude... For a guy with such intelligent rhymes, I'm stunned that all you can come up wth here is drivel about me "bitching up".

Hey, I give you credit for making it. As AC/DC sang, it's a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll... But, I'm stunned that you're evidencing the behavior of the street as opposed to the millionaire you are.

And your new album STILL isn't on iTunes. Even Metallica and Zeppelin have made deals. The thinking here?

Come on, let's not get physical, let's use our brains.

Your friend, if you'd only be open about it...

Bob

Kid Rock's rhymes "intelligent"? Bob, you can be his friend, but honesty is usually valued among friends. Just saying. And Kid wasn't having any of that nicey-talking anyway!

From: kidrock@_________
Subject: Re: lighten up! Haha
Date: November 8, 2007 5:37:57 PM PST
To: Bob Lefsetz
Cc: Billy Ritchie, Ross Schilling, Ken Levitan, Livia Tortella, Lyor Cohen, Rick Roskin, Rick Rubin, Ian Rogers

You went from "fuck kid rock" to lets be friends pretty fucking quick bitch boy!

Kid Rock

Ah, that classic Kid Rock wit. Somehow, a punch seems like it would have been a lot more eloquent here.

The Lefsetz Letter [Wordpress]

We're about 40 hours into 2007, and predict-the-next-year parlor games already seem a little played out. That said, the outlook provided by noted caps-lock abuser Bob Lefsetz is worth a read. While some of his "predictions" are merely confirming things we already know (Rolling Stone's irrelevancy, Snocap's too-high price point), we thought that his reasoning for the CD's imminent demise—he compared the shiny pieces of plastic to the now-nearly-extinct species of camera that uses film—was spot-on, if a bit jarring. But it was this item that struck a little bit of fear into our hearts.

27. The blues

Blues rock is coming back. Maybe not this year, but within three. After all, all those kids listening to Zeppelin, they want something NEW to hang their knit caps on. And those acts you hate, Nickelback and Hinder, they're closer to what's coming than Justin Timberlake.

An army of Hinder clones? Silly us, we were looking forward to the next 363 1/2 days. Perhaps we could strike a compromise—say, a bunch of chainsaw-wielding Jackyl revivalists instead?

2007 Predictions [Lefsetz Letter]