Sony Buys Recognition

Better Sony own these songs than the bank. But what we've learned here is all the rightsholders who sold to Hipgnosis based on Merck's involvement... I hope you had a key man clause, which you couldn't get anyway. Now the truth is most rightsholders are just interested in the money. As long as you pay them they don't care who owns the songs, until... They disapprove of a use. Or find they underpriced their wares. As for underpricing... How many times do rightsholders have to see this movie to understand that publishing rights keep going up? If you're selling because you're fearful your songs will be worth nothing tomorrow... That may be true, but know that the assessors of the value of your catalog know that too. They are not in the business of overpaying. Merck's theory was right, it's just that interest rates went up and investors were pissed and wanted out. Merck may have single-handedly driven up the price of catalogs, he might have paid a ton in a fit of mania, but the truth is copyrights have long lives... And the internet has proved a boon to the value of music and its associated rights. It's music that underpins social media, every platform has to pay to use it. YouTube, TikTok, they'd be decimated without music. And they keep creating new platforms that need to be licensed. And the truth is the new music business might be a fool's errand, very little net for expenditure, but when it comes to proven hits, those pennies keep trickling in. And giant music corporations are in the business of managing these assets. You need infrastructure. Was Hipngosis's up to snuff? Comparable to those of the major labels? Well, it's all history now. But the question arises what is going to be done with these rights. The truth is the major labels are somewhat somnambulant. They're peopled by lifers who in many cases are phone answerers, as opposed to creative thinkers beating the bushes in new ways to drive up revenue. The exception is Primary Wave, which is like a major label but without the new music costs. Yes, Primary Wave does release new music, but it's de minimis in terms of their overall business. All those roles at the record company, the product managers, the marketers... That's how Primary Wave runs its business. So if you're going to sell... Then again, Primary Wave keeps buying and buying and how many acts can its A-level team service? But now Primary Wave owns Kobalt and can do its own administration, which it lacked previously and... What we learned with Spotify is that those with the most assets dictate the terms. Well, let's just say they have inordinate power over the terms. And majors owning both recordings and songs...songwriters got screwed in these negotiations. Would it be better to have someone with a seat at the table who is song first? Well, we've got that with Primary Wave, and now BMG/Concord...which is still in the front line record business, but is heavily weighted with publishing copyrights. Independents innovate. Which is why they're needed. And consolidation works against them when it comes to power. Although they still have power in new music production, where the majors are still operating under the old paradigm. Today you start very small in many areas and nurture and see what pops. If it doesn't have a chance of getting in the Spotify Top 50 from the get-go, the majors aren't interested. Which is why they are losing overall market share. Because it's indie acts who are flourishing. But when it comes to the past... That's where the power is in the music business. Hell, think of all the acts touring for Live Nation and AEG. The acts that broke prior to 2005, when the MTV/VH1 paradigm died, are cash cows. Can you say Coldplay? Good luck trying to build a Coldplay today. So we lived through a decade of innovation in publishing, and now the era of consolidation has come upon us. Expect even more. As for the acts... The bottom line is you need someone who cares about you, who'll fight for you, who will get licenses for you. After Kobalt's computerized innovation all the major administrators have upgraded and are very good. But... Look at what is happening in visual entertainment, with Paramount scheduled to be acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery. Artists/performers are up in arms. But they don't have the piece of the puzzle that makes all the difference, OWNERSHIP! That's what it all comes down to, that's what gives you a seat at the table, and if you don't have it... Once you give up ownership, you give up power. Few performers own their recording copyrights, but many do own their publishing copyrights. And this results in a steady source of income without the creative accounting labels subject them to with recording royalties. This business was built by independents. Consolidation started when Atlantic sold to Warner, and then Elektra fifty plus years ago. And then thirty five years ago, A&M and Island joined the major folds. And then Edgar Bronfman, Jr. rolled up companies to form what is now known as Universal Music and then Capitol was decimated and then split up and sold and... What we've ended up with is a mature business. The only way you can beat it is via independence, which depends upon hits, whether it be rights from the past or new works. But the more rights the usual suspect majors gain, the worse it is for rightsholders. Sony Music is baked into a larger corporation, it doesn't have to worry about investor returns like Hipgnosis did when it was independent, it can weather storms. But if it's your rights that went from Hipgnosis to Blackstone to Sony...who exactly is looking out for you? You have no personal relationships, no one tied to the original sale. And what we know in the music business is someone with passion is more important than pure money, someone who will work your project/music is worth more than a big advance. But all these acts took the money and now have little to absolutely no power. Everybody got paid, including their advisors, and they're left with a pile of money after tax and I hope it pays dividends... Don't forget, with songs you get paid on a regular basis, this does not happen when you sell out completely. But we live in a money-based society, and everybody focuses on the buck. Isn't it interesting that the Eagles haven't sold their rights. Nor Paul McCartney or the Stones. What do they know that everybody else does not? Everything. That all you've got is your music and your image and you want to be in total control over it, because no one cares about it as much as you. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Blue Dot Fever

Many shows don't sell out, who'da thunk? Yesterday everybody was complaining they couldn't get a ticket and now they're saying no one wants to go, which is it? What we've got here is the internet, where everybody reports, mostly without background knowledge, and then things are repeated as fact and... Suddenly you've got an issue where you didn't have one before! The Pussycat Dolls? In the pre-internet days, no one would assume a pop band that had been away for years with no discernible fan base would be able to sell tickets. But the Spice Girls did... God, you'd think this was rocket science. But no, it's betting, a casino! What you've got here is managers who want to sell their wares, and their wares are their acts. And then you've got talent buyers who either bite or do not. Not to mention, there's tons of FOMO. Is your competitor going to get the tour, establishing a relationship that might run forevermore? Do you want to take that risk? So especially with old acts with no tour history, everybody is making a bet, and sometimes the bet is wrong. But this doesn't only happen in music. Look at the Cybertruck, it was projected to sell 250,000 to 500,000 units when production was fully ramped up. But it actually sold 38,965 units in 2024, and only 20,000--21,000 units in 2025. Talk about a stiff! But at a much higher cost... Elon Musk and Tesla didn't know whether people would want to buy the Cybertruck until it was on offer. But he hyped the hell out of it before it came to market. Just like the music business does. Ever notice that suddenly an act is all over the news? It's usually to gain interest in new recordings, then again, you've got Taylor Swift's Eras tour... Where all the tickets in the U.S. went on sale on the same day so there would be mania, which would drive sales further. I mean the audience doesn't want to be left out. This was insurance against not going completely clean, like the previous time around. But the story became about a Ticketmaster failure... That's hysterical, it was a bot field day, what Ticketmaster said was true, but it didn't want to say no to Taylor, say that it couldn't sell all those tickets on one day, risking that another company would come and take her business. And Ticketmaster really had no idea how bad the bots would be until the tickets went on sale. There are acts that will sell out no problem, like Olivia Rodrigo. But notice how she keeps adding dates. Yup, she could announce multiple shows at once, but that risks them not selling out, which is anathema to an act. Once you're playing to empty seats, you're on the downhill slide. So fans are rabid for the few seats available, and after the announced shows sell they add extras, which were on hold...this was the plan. It's not like the promoters were shocked that there was sellout demand for the announced shows...they just didn't know how many shows she could sell! Now it used to be if someone canceled a show or a tour, few would know about it. Possibly no one other than those who had already purchased tickets. But in the internet era, word spreads like wildfire, and nothing spreads like negative news. Haters love this stuff, they want everybody to know. Never mind that a lot of shows that are announced as being sold out are not. Which is why you should be wary of buying extra tickets to scalp. You can't get rid of them, because the demand was not as great as perceived, and you can't compete with the experts, which is what we've learned with prediction markets: "Why Almost Everyone Loses—Except a Few Sharks—on Prediction Markets - A WSJ analysis shows a small number of accounts on Polymarket and Kalshi—often pros using data-driven algorithmic trading—take home most of the winnings" https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/polymarket-kalshi-betting-profits-prediction-markets-eb23ac11 But today everybody believes they're an expert. They're privy to all this information online, of course they know how to do it. But would you let someone who watched a lot of YouTube videos set your broken leg, or install a stent? OF COURSE NOT! Then why is the average punter so convinced they know everything about the concert business? They keep on beating up promoters, but the margins are amazingly thin. And not every show is successful., but the band still has to get paid. But there are stories of acts going on the road and coming home with no money and it must be someone's fault, and the obvious targets are the promoter and ticketing company. They're stealing from the acts! But did the act have to tour at this cost? And how much demand is really there? Think about it. You're a pretty good instrumentalist. Why don't you go on the road. But you wouldn't, because you can't sell enough tickets to make it financially viable. That's where the rubber meets the road, ticket sales...are enough people big enough fans that they'll lay down all that money to see you. They might listen to your record, but go to a show? There's not only the ticket price, but the transportation, the parking, the food... In most cases, it's a big decision. And while I'm quoting the "Wall Street Journal," did you see this article? "The Boy Band Heyday May Be Over—But the ‘Man Band’ Era Has Just Begun - From the Backstreet Boys to the Jonas Brothers to Boyz II Men, adult women are paying up to see their favorite grown-up boy bands this summer" https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/music/nkotb-the-backstreet-boys-boyz-ii-men-tour-97f915e0 Here's the nougat: "Melissa Hicks, a 46-year-old Baltimore elementary-school teacher who bought tickets to see NKOTB three times in Vegas over July 4 weekend, a cheap seat for $153, then VIP tickets for $1,910 and $1,491—plus she paid for travel." That puts the kibosh on all those stories that the rich are buying the good seats, driving up prices. This woman is a SCHOOLTEACHER! But she paid four figures to see her favorite act, and she's not the only one! The dirty little secret is it's the fans who are paying outrageous sums for tickets, they want to be inside the building just that much. Which is why ticket prices are so high. Because if they're priced so the prognosticators won't bitch, the scalpers buy the ducats and then resell them at a huge markup, with the act getting none of this money. But you've got to blame somebody, and for some reason it's always Ticketmaster. Which may not be perfect, but... In most cases fans are missing the point, as are reporters who delve into this field only occasionally. The bottom line is fans have unlimited cash for the acts they want to see. Period. And no one is forcing them to see acts they don't want to, usually the price doesn't even matter. Either you want to go or you don't. The promoter can drop the price and very few are incentivized to buy. So, will this be a good summer for the concert business? Well, what about the stock market, which keeps going up despite the war in Iran and high gas prices... And the truth is most of the value run-up is a result of AI investment, and so far return has been underwhelming, so will there be a crash? You can make your own bet, buy stock or sell it or... But that would require a modicum of expertise. But when it comes to the show, everybody's an expert! But the dirty little secret is when it comes to so many shows, NO ONE knows exactly what the demand is. You can go on a sellout arena tour and the next time around you can have trouble moving theatre tickets. So are people pinched such that they won't go to shows this summer? Or is the truth that when it comes down to desirable acts, fans will beg, borrow and steal to be there. This is the game concert promoters play. As for those who are not superstars... The truth is since recording revenue for acts that can sell a couple of thousand tickets is so low they tour constantly and come back to markets a few times a year and at what point do fans say it's not worth it? That's when price plays a factor. Post Malone selling stadiums this summer? I wouldn't have taken that bet. But a promoter did. What would you do? If it was your money? But you ask yourself the equivalent question all the time... What's it worth for you to be in the building... You might not think it's worth $200, but if you don't pay the freight, you won't be there. So you bitch and moan, but you open your wallet and go to the show. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Redistricting

They keep telling us to believe in the system. And just to wait for the coming election(s). I remember Bill Maher predicting that Donald Trump wasn't going to leave the White House if he lost in 2020. One after another Democratic bigwig smiled and laughed and then schooled Maher that the system would hold. OH YEAH? What we've got is Democratic elected officials and TV talking heads going on about the horse race(s)... It's endless, it's the underlying theme of all their speech. But what if someone changes the rules of the game? That is what the Republicans have done with redistricting. Normally executed every ten years after the census, Donald Trump pushed for a redrawing now, ergo the changes in Texas. And yes, California fought back. And ultimately Virginia. But Virginia's new maps were just thrown out by the courts. And before that Ron DeSantis had his "people" redraw the maps of Florida without the public's participation. That's what's been happening, except in very rare cases, a governor and state Congress have acted without a vote of the people. And you thought your vote counted, what a laugh... Hell, my vote in California hasn't counted since I moved here half a century ago, because of the electoral college. Well, that ain't ever gonna change. There can be no adjustments to the Constitution, the bar is too high. So... What's a poor boy to do? Certainly not play in a rock and roll band. Rock is dead and rap...Blacks have been screwed from time immemorial. Now by the evisceration of the Vorting Rights Act. And while some rappers still delineate their dissatisfaction with the system, the goal really is to use the system, manipulate the system, for riches. They're trying to beat the man at his own game, which is money. And good for them, but how many successful rappers are there? Now let's be clear, many people have completely checked out of the system. Or voted for it and found afterward they were negatively affected, but at least they kept the left wing woke/elite from benefiting! The Republicans have not only won the redistricting wars, they've completely redefined public perception. They've played a long game, for decades, just like with the Federalist Society. People laughed at some of their pronouncements, but now it's collective wisdom that the Democratic party is run by the woke...a word whose definition has been twisted to serve the right's purpose. But it gets even worse, Antifa is lurking around every corner and whenever lefties get together to protest, they're paid to do so. That true Americans aren't doing this, that true America is in danger of disappearing, that's what the MAGA movement is all about. And the left laughs as it loses constituents and power...meanwhile, being moribund in D.C. and afraid to take a stand for fear of alienating some protentional minority group. Oftentimes in battles that the right has created. Like trans women in college sports. First and foremost, there just aren't many. But the right has ginned up this controversy and the left is paralyzed, because it cannot be on the wrong side of this for fear of offending the trans constituency and...where's it going to go? A disaffected right wing influencer just revealed that her former compatriots get their marching orders from Trump's posse and are paid to post. Yup, all those social media posts supporting the Ballroom after the gunman at the Correspondents' Dinner was masterminded by the Trump people themselves, they're organized. The Democrats? They tell us their hearts and minds are in the right place and it's not necessary to employ these techniques. Oh YEAH? So people keep asking me who is going to be the Democratic candidate in 2028. But it's even worse, the Democratic Party and the commentariat keep telling us to wait until the election, for change. Oh YEAH? I watched the Capitol riot on January 6th with my own eyes. You saw people wreak havoc in the building. It has come out that elected officials feared for their lives. But not only are they patriots, those who were convicted were set free. Good luck getting set free the next time you break the law or try to subvert the election process. And it's all being done in plain sight. Used to be it was done behind closed doors. We found out years later about the machinations in smoke-filled rooms. Now we've got Orban conceding an election when Trump never has. A free and fair election? The Democrats were supposed to take over the House. Now it's going to be much harder to do. As for 2028... It's very easy. And simple. The problem is illegal voting. Yup, all the immigrants showing up to vote, you know, the same immigrants afraid to go to a Bad Bunny show for fear of being arrested by ICE. These people are gonna show up to vote? Yeah, right! And mail-in voting is ripe for fraud. There's so much fraud in the system. The only problem is no one can find it, but it's there I tell you! So, the strategy is not only to make it harder to vote, but to strike people from the voter rolls. They've been doing this for multiple cycles now. Getting rid of Democratic voters. Hell, they want complete control of the voter rolls. To ensure that the table is tilted and they maintain power. And never forget Johnson's refusal to seat a duly elected Democratic representative for weeks and weeks. And then there's Mitch McConnell... Who refused to allow Obama to nominate a Supreme Court justice, but squeaked in a right wing one just before Trump left office. And now the 6-3 right wing majority, whose members are there for life, have said that the president is basically immune and there is no racism in America and... Never mind judges further down the food chain. In other words, if you expect the justice system to save you... The same one which keeps ruling against Trump's tariffs as he continues to institute them? You're on your own, baby. But those with all the power, and oftentimes the money, keep telling you to believe. The same people telling you that if Live Nation and Ticketmaster are split up then ticket prices will go down. They're selling falsehoods to make you feel good when change is not imminent, not change that will benefit you. It goes on and on, with low corporate taxes, tax cuts that benefit the rich much more than everybody else and the carried interest rule for ultra-wealthy hedge fund managers. And we're told to vote. George Carlin had it right, and his wisdom is has been repeated ad infinitum online, if you think the rulers are of this country are going to cede control... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X4Z1lLUMfw Yup, we're getting wisdom from a comedian. Which is one reason comedy is now burgeoning. Are you expecting the truth from Sabrina Carpenter and her imitators? They're commercial products build by committee made to satiate a somnambulant public. Meanwhile... It's those making the jokes who are telling the truth, to the point where Trump refused to have a comedian at the aforementioned Correspondents' Dinner. There was supposed to be a mentalist instead. So either you're defeated and disconnected or you've been duped into believing everything is hunky-dory. Meanwhile, they're stealing the country and getting rich in the process. The power is with the people. But not at the ballot box. It couldn't be clearer. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Even More Best Song Not The Single-SiriusXM This Week

Albums where the best song is not the single. This is a live show, call in with your take. Tune in Saturday May 9th to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West. Phone #: 844-686-5863  If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Observations

MAGGIE KANG They gave her the key to the city, which she definitely deserves. An immigrant from Seoul, you know her as the Oscar-winning force behind "KPop Demon Hunters." She said she wanted to make the characters stupid. And that she tries to be the funniest person in the room. And when asked how to add a female character to a script she said they should just flip a male character to a woman. Maggie wanted to get all her Korean influences into the movie, which took seven years to complete. This is the type of person changing the world, this is the type of person who cannot be replaced by AI. DERYCK WHIBLEY You know him as the frontman for Sum 41. A pipsqueak punk. But he's a veritable intellectual. Analyzing his life and the life of a musician and faith and fear and courage... He separated out all the issues. He was a deeper thinker than most college graduates. Reminded me of the old days, when rockers would be interviewed in "Rolling Stone" because they had something to say, not because they had something to promote...the interview might not even have been aligned with a release. These rockers opined and readers like me ate it up. These were our heroes, these were our leaders. It wasn't about raw adulation, it was about thinking and responding. JULIAN BUNETTA We talked all about writing hit songs and... One thing he agreed with me on is the best stuff comes in a flash, a bolt of inspiration, and you need to get it down right away and most of these great songs are completed quickly. As for only wanting to give your song to an artist if it's going to be the single... In the old days, an album track was worth as much as the hit on a CD, and paid accordingly. But in these pick and choose days, if writers have what they believe to be a hit song, many hold it back for a hit artist who will use it for a single, that's where the bread is, an album track just ain't worth much. And I was discussing this with Julian and he said you never know what a hit is anymore. That the audience decides. He talked about a household name act where the fans picked a ballad first, which a record company never would have. It's not only the gatekeepers who have been eliminated, but those at the source, the label itself, no longer have the power of yore. You can't push a record to the top. You need the audience to start it. MARY RAMOS She's a music supervisor who did "Pulp Fiction" and other Tarantino movies and so many others. She was a bundle of energy, she evidenced a lot of personality, you could see that she'd be fun to have around, to hang with, and that's a main criterion for any gig, you've got to fit in, hopefully add to, be a friend...nobody wants to work with a jerk. But even more, Mary reminded me of Annie Hall... The way she pulled back in the middle of a statement, laughed, smiled...it was nearly uncanny. TRUMP He not only lives in the minds of Americans, but Canadians too. Hang long enough and he and the political situation in the U.S. come up. People keep asking me about the 2028 election. I tell them that Trump and the Republicans are never going to let a Democrat win. That there are only five to seven states that matter and if you strike enough people from the voter rolls and put up other hurdles...a Democrat has no chance. Those in D.C. and the media still believe in the system, young people do not, and they're the ones who ultimately force change. NORTH BAY That was a new one on me. I mean I know Mississauga and Hamilton, but people keep telling me they come from places I've never heard of. Not that North Bay is at the absolute limits, but it is three and a half hours from Toronto. As hip as Canada is, there's definitely a feeling that they live behind a great wall that is hard to jump over to make it in the United States. To be big in Canada is like being big in your high school, but to be big in Hollywood... Oh, don't tell me about all the Canadian superstars, that's not my point. I'm talking about an outlook, a mentality. Canadians don't feel entitled, they know it takes a lot of work to break through. WALKING Nobody walks in L.A., isn't that what Missing Persons said? But that was when there was a hip alternative music scene commenting on the mainstream by being truthful and irreverent and therefore connecting with those on the cutting edge, who led change. I've walked more in Toronto than I did all last year in L.A. I guess this is a feature of most cities, but Toronto is not down and dirty like so many south of the border. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Vince Gill-This Week's Podcast

From Oklahoma to Nashville to the Eagles! https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/vince-gill-332862906?app=listen https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vince-gill/id1316200737?i=1000766602415 https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast?ref_=dmm_acq_mrn_d_ds_rh_z_p454-cr2031330-c https://open.spotify.com/episode/6CCtvNkDa3lMcUsT7yZswA?si=51fa913b9b794a7f -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

TikTok

It's an entertainment platform. All those hours you spend watching television? The younger generations spend that time on TikTok. Only in many cases, TikTok is better than television, because it's more real, more human, you can relate to it better. Which is maybe why the cast of and comments about "Love on the Spectrum" are all over the service. Don't look at TikTok through the lens of Facebook. Facebook is a sharing platform, an informational platform, that's where you go to tell your story and to find out about others. And don't look at TikTok through the lens of the original static image Instagram, which was a bragging platform, a place where you created FOMO. No, TikTok is something completely different. And if you castigate TikTok you're missing out. Then again, most people I know bitching about TikTok have never been on the service. And then there are those who do sign up and are flummoxed. Because the platform doesn't immediately serve up what they're interested in, and only what they're interested in. TikTok is a cornucopia of stuff, and the amazing thing is that after a modicum of usage it serves up clips about topics that you didn't even know you had interest in, but you do. So there's the element of surprise, of the new. It's human nature to want to experience the different, the fringe, it's titillating and stimulating. This is unlike your regular life, which is endless repetition, the same people and the same stories. On streaming TV... Most of it is dreck. There are some great shows, but most of it is not shooting for greatness, or it misses the target. So you dedicate all this time and are pissed off that you did. Or you can't find a good show. There's endless fare on TikTok. And if you don't like something, you can instantly scroll to something new. You are in control, that's the essence of modern life, but nowhere is it as bite-sized as it is on TikTok. Yes, you can choose your streaming TV show, but you can't change the plot in the middle. And if you really like something and want more...you can't have it, the show has a limited number of episodes. But the topic you're interested in on TikTok, there's an endless slew of clips on the service. So if you're a user, TikTok is addictive because it's so damn good. And unlike the Marvel movies and the rest of the theatrical crap, its all based in humanity, made by humans, with plot, emotion, the entire kit and kaboodle. Where else can you get right down to the real nitty-gritty? And actors... They're playing a role, whereas on TikTok, the people ARE the role. Or they're experts in a field with more knowledge than reporters. Reporters gather the story, TikTok creators ARE the story! As for creators... There is no middleman and there is no filter. If you want to make it in traditional show business, good luck. Unless you know someone, the odds of your project getting greenlit are infinitesimal. And traditional Hollywood outlets abhor risk. They put money first, they don't want to take a chance, whereas TikTok is all about chances. So you have this blank canvas. Even better, the means of production are in your hand, and they're absolutely FREE! Everybody has a smartphone, you create and edit the clips right on it! Sure, you can spend more time shooting and editing on your computer, but oftentimes it's the rawness of TikTok clips that infects people. So, if you see TikTok as a promotional tool, you're missing the point, you're not going to be successful. No, you have to see TikTok as a CREATIVE tool. If you just want to post tour dates and other information... There are much better sites to do this on. And this is not what the audience is looking for, the audience wants to be entertained! So you've got to be creative. You've got to see your clips on the level of your music. Then again, the essence of TikTok is missing from so much modern music, which is why TikTok stars in many cases are more popular and even richer. TikTok clips are not made by committee. And if something doesn't work, the cost of production is only your time, there's no opportunity cost, so you can try something different the very next day, the very next HOUR! It's a creator's dream! As for creators using music in their clips... It's not about the music, it's about what the creators do with it! It's like a movie with a soundtrack. The music is just the soundtrack to their clip. So if you want to play the game you must dedicate time, be creative yourself. Do something that draws attention, you cannot rest on your laurels. No one is interested in what you're famous for, they don't want to know what you did yesterday, but what you did TODAY! If you don't have a constant flow of material on TikTok, don't even start. The audience expects it. They want to know you, they want to get closer to you. It's a personal medium, if you're not willing to reveal your warts, don't start. Traditional entertainers always saw themselves as being above the riff-raff. Now if you don't get down in the pit as an equal member of the audience, people make fun of you, they have contempt for you, they REJECT YOU! Humanity, honest, credibility, these are all the elements of a successful TikTok clip. These are not elements in most music, which is why music does not drive the culture. Not that there aren't outliers, like Noah Kahan. Who does not have the best voice, but he's singing about his inner life, his troubles, and that's what people relate to! As for all the anti-TikTok screeds in the adult press... Well, first and foremost, the issue of China and data collection is now moot. As for being anti-smartphone... I'll make it very simple, I'm going to remove your television from your house. Or your computer. Most people would be twiddling their thumbs, not knowing what to do with their time. TikTok serves an identical purpose for its audience. To tell people to put down the phone, to not even have a phone, is a nonstarter. Of course there is bullying on the phone, all kinds of negative b.s. that the media focuses on. But there's so much good. The raw connection with so many people. But I don't want to stray from my main point. If you're anti-TikTok, you're like the parents who hated the Beatles. You're dating yourself. You're not better than the youngsters, you're out of the loop, irrelevant. Because TikTok is where it is happening. I could tell you more, but you've just got to get ON! If I get one more anti-TikTok e-mail, if I read one more anti-TikTok screed in the news... Let me put it a different way. Video games come without instructions, there is no manual, players just figure the game out. That's the culture today, has been for quite a while. It's all instinctive...how to explore, find dead ends and then your ultimate direction. You've got to burn time to get to the destination. But when you get there, it's so fulfilling! At this point nothing can compete with TikTok, not movies, television or music. Because in almost all cases they're missing the basic human/creative element, they've gone through a sieve, they're not direct from the creator to the user. TikTok is a breakthrough, it's been going on for years, and the mainstream has completely missed it. When kids spend hours on TikTok it's because it's so damn GOOD! Think about that. It's entertainment. Vivid, stimulating. Are you wasting time watching TV, even reading a book? In most cases, books are a backwater. A club of genre fiction or highfalutin' literature that often falls on its face. But TikTok, EVERYBODY is on. That's everybody under 35. You're competing with the entire world, which forces you to be ever better. And it's not like traditional platforms, in that the spoils do not automatically go to the established players. On TikTok a nobody, making their first clip, can be pushed in front of people by the system. You can go viral just that easily. I could go on, but it's kind of like politics, either you're on TikTok or you're not, and those who are not cannot be convinced to partake. But they should. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Toronto/Departure

The only thing I knew about Toronto was the Maple Leafs. (And why is it the "Leafs" instead of the "Leaves," I could never figure that out.) You see they played the Rangers on Saturday night on channel 9. Not that I was a big hockey fan, but there wasn't much else on TV at that time, and I lived for sports. We knew so many sports, especially from Jim McKay and the "Wide World of Sports" on ABC. But my true endearment to the Maple Leafs came via my home hockey set. You've got to know there were two competing styles... One involving a puck, the other involving a ball. The one with the puck allowed you to move the players back and forth, but the action was slow, whereas the one with the ball...the players were stationary and the game was even faster than the real one. You could wind up and send the ball all the way from one end of the ice into the other team's goal. And the two teams were the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs. And the Canadiens were in red and the Maple Leafs wore blue jerseys and at the time blue was my favorite color so that's probably why I liked them more. Now with the expansion of the league, and the ascension of the Bruins and the Islanders...hockey's visibility was raised. But at this point there were only six teams in the league and seemingly every player was Canadian. The Great White North. I couldn't have picked out Toronto on a map, I was actually caught off guard when I learned that it was closer to Buffalo than Burlington. Not so far north as to have the frigid weather Americans think permeates the northern nation. And I still can't tell you why Toronto is the epicenter of the country, it's probably got something to do with shipping and the Great Lakes, but Toronto is cosmopolitan and... A city. I called up an Uber and it was there in two minutes. In L.A. one never comes that fast, especially in the hills. There are people walking on the street and it was raining and COLD! Like in the forties. A temperature very rarely seen in Southern California, where it is definitely spring, I could feel the weather change definitively on my birthday. So I'm here for Departure, the new incarnation of Canadian Music Week run by Randy Lennox. And I woke up at the crack of dawn, by my standards, never mind the time change, to interview Kevin "Chief" Baruk. Funny about the music business, when you get to the core, where the action is, I'm utterly fascinated. It's different from being a fan of the act, it's about the nuts and bolts, the movement behind the scenes, and don't forget music doesn't require a degree, there's no natural hierarchy, you rise and fall on your own deeds, the most successful people are entrepreneurs. So Chief (a guy in the studio called everybody that name, like "chef" in "The Bear," and it stuck to Kevin) went on the road with Nickelback for more than a year before the hit. Do I need to remind you? And that was the entrée to Nashville. You see Chief's longtime buddy Joey Moi had the idea of bringing the Nickelback sound to country. Needless to say, Nash Vegas wasn't buying it, but then Moi employed the Nickelback formula with Jake Owen and Chief ran the management arm of Big Loud, and first came Florida Georgia Line and then Morgan Wallen and then Seth England decided he didn't want to be in the management business anymore, after FGL looked at new managers and ultimately Chief spoke with Michael Rapino who told him he'd back him in a new venture and you can see the resulting enterprise here: https://www.thecoreentertainment.com Core built Bailey Zimmerman from scratch. A friend of Chief's found him on TikTok, an old friend Chief hadn't spoken with in fifteen years who was not in the business and... Now Chief is the manager of Nickelback. He says that everybody in Nashville loves Nickelback, and he put them on fifteen country festivals, they just played Stagecoach, where they killed. I know, you don't believe it, you're still a hater, but that doesn't matter, because Nickelback doesn't need you, they've got a mailing list of 750,000...that's who pays the bills, and there are younger fans who aren't being reminded, they're finding out about the band two decades later, it's new to them. As for social media... Nickelback was not on it, not to any degree. Chief said it's not about manipulation, trying to goose a project into virality, you just have to make music available and then the fans pick it up or they don't. It always comes down to the fans. And there were many more details and I wish it was a podcast because you would have dug it and learned stuff, but... Then I sat in the audience and listened to Kevin Lyman, Warped is back! Backed by Insomniac. But the most fascinating gems from Kevin were the little things, minor, but ultimately major. Like the billing... Kevin did research, discovered that most people only read the top two lines of a festival bill, so he decided to list the acts alphabetically. And once he got going, Kevin got wound up, he became passionate, he couldn't stop talking, he was excited. And that's the difference between the music business and the straight world. That passion, that excitement, without it you are not successful and if you manage to get a gig you don't last. And music is one of the last fields where you still make it up as you go, there's not much of a blueprint. You have an idea and then try to bring it to fruition. Kevin also talked about the charitable component...this is important to younger fans, and also needing to police the acts themselves, from checking for underage groupies to keeping the performers from being strung out. He's camp counselor, best friend and majordomo all at the same time, it's a hands-on operation. And then I went to the Four Seasons for lunch with this guy I met on a cruise to Japan and his buddy who's kind of the Charlie Rose of Canada and... We were having a jolly old time shooting the sh*t and then his secondee invitee Rosie arrived. She said she was a fan of musicals. But really, she'd been a Canadian Supreme Court Justice! There's mandatory retirement at 75, and now she teaches law at Harvard and NYU and by time I finished getting her story I felt inadequate, you can read about her here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalie_Abella And everybody always talks about the money, but it's the people you meet that is the main exponent of success. The conversations. They're so stimulating, you learn so much... And now I'm off to the Live Music Awards... -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Met Gala Backlash

We could handle Jeff Bezos as a nerd... It's one thing to get a divorce, it's quite another to get involved with the wife of your good friend. That's a bad look, but even worse is HIS look and his now wife's look! If there's anyone who likes Lauren Sánchez, they must be related to her. Her image is that of a social climber who has employed plastic surgery to achieve an image that is far from normal, one could even say far from human! Prior to his involvement with Sánchez, Bezos was seen as an entrepreneurial mastermind, building a behemoth out of whole cloth, starting as a bookstore and then becoming the everything store. And Amazon became indispensable. Of course there was backlash against some of its business practices, but it's just like Apple...no one can hurt the monolith, it's just too desirable. However, unlike Walmart, Amazon has done absolutely nothing to improve its image. Walmart has done a good job over the last twenty years of demonstrating warmth and fuzziness, almost becoming your friend (after already having eviscerated downtowns across America, but people have a short memory). Amazon has done no such thing. There's no humanizing image campaign, and this has only contributed to negative public perception. You don't want to work for Amazon unless you have to. The company believes that if you just get your products sooner that you'll overlook what it took for you to get them, i.e. the working conditions in the warehouse, the independent contractors delivering the products... But at this point, few know that Amazon's reins have been handed to Andy Jassy, who got the gig by creating AWS (Amazon Web Services), which generates the lion's share of the company's profits with a lean staff...a truly digital business. No, Jeff Bezos is still the face of Amazon, and he's still the largest individual shareholder. Now when I was growing up, if you were rich you didn't advertise it. And many who've inherited wealth still don't. But those who made it on their own... They grew up middle class, they believe they EARNED IT! And most are completely out of touch. Whether it be Sergey Brin lobbying against wealth taxes or Elon Musk and his white power posts... You went to school with nerds...they were socially awkward. At this late date they may be rich, even run the world, but those building blocks of social experience and personality, they're still lacking them. And they're constantly pontificating, and at this point their pro-business, rightward shift is out of touch with their customers. Believe me, there is an affordability crisis. And even if you don't accept that, you will acknowledge that there's huge income inequality. And it's no longer the era of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," which aired from 1984-1995, and they even stopped making MTV's "Cribs." Furthermore, the public now knows the entertainers are not that rich. If they were, why would they keep trying to sell us stuff with their brand extensions? And almost none of them are rich enough to own a private jet. But the techies? But it gets even worse for Jeff Bezos. Because he's appeared to lose his mind. He seems nearly brainless, having exchanged his values for Sánchez's. Suddenly he's working out, sporting muscles and wearing a cowboy hat? A cowboy hat is a hard image to pull off if you're not literally on the range, as for working out...who exactly are you? And now you're spending your dough frivolously, on a $50 million wedding and a yacht and now you don't look that different from the rest of the oligarchs and don't you know the entire world is looking down on these people? Not Bezos... Never have the rich and powerful been more out of touch with the hoi polloi. It's not only the tech titans, but the politicians. They're thirty years behind when it comes to tech, some probably still have AOL e-mail addresses. And the commentator class isn't much better, denigrating all things tech on a regular basis...decrying social media and bitching that no one calls anymore, they only text. How come there was a generation gap when they were growing up, between them and their parents, and there can't be one now? We live in such a changed world and it's not only Republicans who want to go back to a fantasy past that wasn't so good to begin with, but the Democratic commentariat too. Do you remember having to write down directions to everywhere you were going? Not having the world at your fingertips? You can't give up the bad without the good... So there's a bifurcation in society, between the old and young, and also the rich and the poor. And in both cases, the "winners" have contempt for the losers. The old and rich think they're better than the rest of us, and we're sick of them lording it over us, in many cases ignorantly. This ain't left wing poppycock. Just look at Trump's approval ratings. People don't want all that money spent on overseas wars, they want to be able to work at a job that pays the bills, but most of what's on offer are underpaying service jobs, oftentimes without benefits. And don't confuse yesteryear to today when it comes to fashion. Yes, there were VH1 Fashion Awards from 1995-2002, but...that was the heady nineties and the hangover thereafter. Those were good times, people could focus on frivolous. But then even fashion changed. Now it's cheap and affordable to all. The prices of Chinese clothing are drastically low, you can buy it, wear it once and then discard it. And we can talk about the ecological costs of this, but today fashion is what you build from cheap items and then demonstrate not only live, but online. Haute couture? Who exactly is that for? But this is the way it always works. No one pulls back, they drive the enterprise to the precipice and... Do you remember when MacKenzie Scott defended her husband? Probably not, but today she's seen as America's number one philanthropist. She sees no need for people to have billions of dollars, she's giving it away. She's the anti-Brin. And she wants no publicity for it. No awards, no gala... She's just doing the right thing. How could she get it so right and her ex-husband get it so wrong? MacKenzie Scott didn't lose track of her middle class values, she wasn't convinced her riches made her better than the rest of us, she believes we're all in it together, that we live in a society and need to take care of each other. Now we've been down this road of philanthropy before, with the Sacklers. Whoever it was at the Met who decided it would be good to get in bed with the Bezos couple should be fired. They've been hanging with the rich and famous so long, believing it's all about money, that they've lost touch with the regular public. As for Anna Wintour... The only people who think she's an icon are those who are in her orbit. She is perceived to be the devil. And when even the richest women change their hairstyle, she does not, because she doesn't have to, she's another one who believes they're bigger than us, the little people. So, would you want to be aligned with all this? Well, chances are you couldn't afford a ticket and weren't invited because of your celebrity status. But this verges on tone-deaf. They'd have been better off just selling tickets and having no gala. But NO! These rich f*ckers want to parade, need to parade, like the Bezos twins. You want to win in today's society? Align with the public if you're an artist or selling something to the public. You want to appear a member of the crowd, not above it. Nobody forgets any faux pas anymore, because it's right there blinking at us on the web. You've got to be moral, making appropriate choices. How come entertainers can't see this? That by becoming mini-corporations they're becoming the enemy. Hanging with the billionaires for the crumbs of their largesse. Even being seen extravagantly spending their own wealth. That's bad for your image, assuming you even have one. The Kardashians may be rich, but their TV show first aired back in 2007, nearly twenty years ago. They established the paradigm of mindless image, but if you think that dominates forever... They were the progenitors, what makes you think that lane is still open? Changes in society are subtle and then overwhelming. Trends end and purveyors are left holding the bag. You can sell out an arena and then you can barely sell a ticket and it's rarely predictable, somehow the audience knows and you do not. The audience knows so much. Come on, Tesla sales went down after Musk and DOGE... You think you can lord it over the public with impunity? You can't. Now is the time to evidence values, to focus on your credibility, your ability to say no, to leave some money on the table, to lead with your work as opposed to hype. Don't expect media to tell you this...talk with your friends, then you'll know what is going on. The people run this country, and the people are pissed. Beware. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Babydoll

This Dominic Fike song from 2018 is only 1:38 long. All the focus is on how this eight year old number suddenly gained traction on social media, blasting "Babydoll" to the top of the Spotify chart both globally and in the U.S. If you do research, you cannot figure out why. Everybody says they're going to explain it, even Fike himself in an interview, but you listen and ultimately realize no one knows. In a digitized world where we keep hearing that AI is about to eclipse humanity, somehow this ancient number found its way to the top through people, one by one. AI can't create this virality, only people can. And at this point, AI can't tell you what caused the trend either, it's organic. And it's the labels' worst nightmare. Because they're not in control. For all the hype about the manipulation of social media to break Geese... When you dig down deep, the posts that were made were so generic that sans substance, nothing would have happened. Then again, one can say that artists are out of touch with the public. I'm less concerned with wannabes using TikTok success to get signed than the reverse, established acts making TikTok friendly songs! If one listens to "Babydoll," one can see why it would be good source material for a clip. It's hypnotic and repetitive. And the title, and its use in the song, fits perfectly in this narcissistic world, where you advertise your wares online, trying to illustrate how great and desirable you are. The script has been flipped. The person in the video is the star, not the artist that made the music! Today's hits are fungible, fodder for the public to mix and match. Looked at through the lens of musicologists, all those denigrating modern music, "Babydoll" is nearly laughable, there's not much there. Bridge? Where is that confounded bridge! But maybe that's the wrong way to look at modern culture. We live in a topsy-turvy world, where the PUBLIC is the star, not those making the music itself. If the acts were so damn great, the audience wouldn't spend so much time shooting selfies at the show, they'd be riveted to what's on stage. But they're not. Sure, they want to be able to tell everybody they were there, TO BURNISH THEIR OWN IMAGE, to gain bragging rights! And "Babydoll" is so damn short... It doesn't need to be any longer, it's all there in a minute and a half. With CDs containing 80 minutes of music, everybody stretched out, added more tunes that went on infinitely. But we live in a bite-sized world. I'm not saying people have a short attention span, because they don't, biology hasn't changed, but if you want them to binge, to dedicate a ton of time, you have to be consistently great, and almost none of these albums are, never mind many being so long, even a hundred minutes! How long does it really take you to get your message across? Do you need a thirty second intro? A stretched-out solo? Are you just doing it that way because that's how everybody else has been doing it? My favorite song under two minutes is the Box Tops' "The Letter," which clocks in at a blistering 1:52, with all the changes and magical moments absent from "Babydoll." Then again, "The Letter" is forever, "Babydoll" is momentary trash, like so much of the Spotify Top 50. Listening to "The Letter" you'll be stunned it's under two minutes. Because it's got a magical intro, lasting a large three seconds. And then there's Alex Chilton's vocal, rough and meaningful, intense in a way his work with Big Star was not. And there's a bridge...which does not lead into a chorus. And there's a message. Do you find all this in modern music? OF COURSE NOT! Certainly not from people making sub two minute records. And we don't live in the old world, which too many young acts can't accept. An under two minute song pays the same amount per stream as something far longer. Listeners want to be grabbed right away. They don't want to hear you masturbate, building an opus that is substandard. Writing camps. Artists. They need to change their goals. They need to make their music shorter! Excise all the extensions that came along with FM/album rock over FIFTY YEARS AGO! (Well, maybe if you could write "Free Bird"...but even Skynyrd couldn't replicate that.) This is not so hard, it's just that when you leave out the superfluous extras, you must focus on the core elements. Why should a record not demand attention, hook the listener instantly? And if there's a story, however compact the record, it lends itself to social media videos. Ultimately this is a win-win. It's a paradigm change, that has already happened, but the industry, and the prognosticators and the press, have not acknowledged it. We want it shorter, we want it instant, we want it comprehensible so the public can chop it up, use it... You don't want someone trying to find the hook in an eight minute song, you want to deliver the OBVIOUS hook(s) right away. "The Letter" is infectious, one listen is enough to want, to NEED, to play it ad infinitum. And in today's money-focused world, a short hit song rains down money...KACHING! Don't think you're still living in the old world. It's a totally new marketplace. There's no wall between public and performer. You're equals, in it together. Think about serving the audience, giving them something that they can use to express THEMSELVES! That's what I'd do. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Dave Mason-SiriusXM This Week

Tune in Saturday May 2nd to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West. Phone #: 844-686-5863  If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Stiff Tours

KID ROCK - FREEDOM 250 TOUR He hasn't had a hit in eons. Even for the show tonight, at the Dos Equis Pavilion, it's a sea of blue dots on the Ticketmaster app. I'd put it at around 30% unsold. Now it is an amphitheatre, with its attendant bonus charges...i.e. drinks/food/merch/parking, and it is run by Live Nation (but owned by the city of Dallas), so that means Live Nation may be able to eke out a profit. However... Odds are not good. But I will say, at amphitheatres, you must not overlook sponsorship deals/fees. The promoter guarantees a certain number of shows per year, upon which the sponsor makes his deal. So every show does not have to make a profit, the sponsorship fees can make up the difference. But these are piss poor numbers. But Kid Rock is a right wing icon you say... Welcome to the modern era, where big time press is detached from the street. Kid Rock is in the national news on a consistent basis, more than almost everybody in the Spotify Top 50. His house is being buzzed in a flyby by the military, he's going on an Apache helicopter with Pete Hegseth... But press doesn't sell tickets. Yes, press might help with awareness, although most of that comes online on other sites, but it doesn't get people excited to go. You either want to go or you don't. Yet half of nation is red, or close to it. But is that a reason to go to the show? This isn't a political rally, it's a concert...with some political verbiage. But it's not only the press that's out of touch, it's Kid Rock himself. There's unlimited money/adulation/perks from Republican insiders if you're a right wing entertainer, because there are so few of them. Rock is in a bubble, he too has lost touch with the street. And he hasn't had a bonafide hit since 2008. This ain't the Eagles... "Peaceful Easy Feeling" may be forever, but "Bawitdaba"? Live by the hit, die by the hit. Which is why so many of today's Spotify Top 50 will be unable to sell many tickets when their chart numbers decline. But it's even worse, the music doesn't mean the same thing in the culture. And don't confuse Kid Rock with metal. Metal has a bedrock audience based on alienation, being the other, that no other mainstream music possesses. So hits are not as important, and the length of time since your last hit is not as important. POST MALONE/JELLY ROLL Rocker goes country! That's not a new paradigm, but the difference is Post Malone does a good job of selling it live and on record, he delivers. But the truth is before he switched genres all his numbers were going in the wrong direction, he hadn't had recording success in eons. But it feels like Post Malone is a superstar, because that's the way the press treats him (assuming you're paying attention to the press). So Post's previous audience, do they really want to go to this stadium show? It's not their kind of music...or they fear the set list won't be their kind of music. As for the new audience, the country audience, Post does not have a string of country hits, he's not fully accepted in Nashville. So who wants to overpay for a stadium show? Not many! A stadium show is less about the music and more about a celebration. You just want to be there, feel the vibe. But this requires hard core fans. And if Post has any, that number is not large, and then you have the switching genre issue above. As for Jelly Roll, who is also on the bill... He's been everywhere, and has been very likable in interviews, but he's still a novice act, without a string of hits. I don't think sales have been hurt by his use of the n-word, but it's head-scratching how his multiple use of this word has not hurt him in the way Morgan Wallen's one utterance has. So what we've got here is a sea of blue dots. There's no way this show is making money, as a matter of fact, they just canceled a concert in Waco... He says it's to finish new music, what a laugh. No one wants to buy tickets! Well, some people do. But there are fixed costs and an advance and... I don't know how much dough they're guaranteeing Post, but there's no way in hell they make money on so many of these shows. Deals are predicated on the promoter giving almost all of the face value of the ticket to the act and making their profit on the ancillaries, i.e. food and drink/merch and ticket fees. But for these shows, there are already tickets on sale for below face value! And that's the reason I'm writing this screed. We can debate all day long whether Live Nation guaranteed concerts with Ticketmaster deals, or the lack thereof if there was no deal, but there is this canard that if the two are just broken up, ticket prices will plummet. That they're artificially high and the public is getting screwed. But the truth is no one puts a gun to a person's head and tells them they must buy a ticket, that's a personal choice. And until the on sale, there's no guarantee the ticket sales will be good. It's a bet. With a lot on the line, all the startup/production costs for the act, the guarantee by the promoter to the act, it's a crapshoot. And for every high demand show with tickets resold at exorbitant prices online, we've got this tour, where they're offering student discounts and... In other words, the prices are going DOWN! It's all the law of supply and demand. Prices can come down as well as go up. And when they're up, that means demand outstrips supply... How come nobody not in the business can't understand this? -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Messaging

What do Democrats stand for? I was driving in my car, listening to CNN on the satellite, and there was a gentleman saying that all the protesters, those at the No Kings rallies, those at the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, were the same people...a small subset of the population made up of those on the extreme left who should be ignored, because they don't represent America. As a matter of fact, he went on to say they were UNAMERICAN! He was not being histrionic, nor was he exasperated, rather he was stating his message in a grandfatherly way, kind of like Ronald Reagan saying "there you go again..." And I'm thinking of how the right has defined so many things in America. California is a hellhole, so bad that you'd better not leave the house because of the homeless population, and there are trans kids all over the schools and taxes are too high and why would anybody live there? But it's not only California... The Republicans have had a years-long campaign of denigrating, of labeling negatively, unions, mail-in voting, welfare...never mind taxes. To the point where taxes are now anathema even on the left. What am I getting for my damn money! And I could do a better job of disbursing it. (This is the claim of the richest class...how did that work out with DOGE? Where cuts were made by AI, enforced by those wet behind the ears with no insight. This has been well-documented, but if you only follow the arguments on cable news, the argumentative sites you go to online, you may not know this.) The enemy is the elite, the university, the takers... They've all been demonized to the point where unless you're a member of these groups, you too believe it. So what do the Democrats stand for? WE'RE ANTI-TRUMP! But that's not enough, not if you want people to believe in you, there must be more. There used to be a party platform, those are now meaningless exercises. Furthermore, many old Democrats are disillusioned by the party and have now become independents. Used to be clear prior to the nineties, you knew what Democrats stood for: 1. The working man (and woman!) Not a hard concept. But so many of these people are now Republicans. Because they were overlooked by the Democrats. The party was run by economic grifters trying to get closer to the money. Can you say EPSTEIN? Irrelevant of whether they were on the right or left, what we learned was the rich want to hang with other people with status and benefit from those relationships and the entire enterprise is encased in a cone of silence. But if you're a working person? You have no access. Even worse, you have no access to the best educational institutions, because the elite has locked them up with not only legacies and donations, but enrichment programs and... So who is looking out for you? You could say George Soros, but the right has labeled him to the point where just uttering his name makes people wince, he's toxic...the Democrats never rose to defend him, for fear the right's labeling of him would rub off on them. 2. Unions The right has completely changed the narrative, unions are evil. The tide turned with the air traffic controllers being excised by Reagan in the eighties. If anybody goes on strike... Oh, they're overpaid and selfish. Yup, these teachers educating your kids. Meanwhile, the company has you on part time, oftentimes with split hours, so you get no benefits. As for health insurance, it's got "Obama" in the name. Only it doesn't! The right slapped the Affordable Care Act with the moniker Obamacare to ensure negative perception. But it's even worse, there's the code word "Democrat" party as opposed to "Democratic." The only person I've seen stand up to this is Bill Maher, and he is anything but warm and fuzzy, and therefore not changing minds as much as elected officials who could blow back every time they hear this label. It's like being called a pejorative on the schoolyard. You can either walk away or punch back. But the Democrats stand there and take it. 3.Social safety net Are there some people breaking the rules, getting undeserved pay? Of course, hell, there are people in Congress, our President is breaking rules constantly. But the truth is the system works quite well. I don't care who your parents are, whether they're drug addicts or not working, children deserve to have food on their plate and a roof over their head. Just like we believe when you experience a national disaster, you can count on the government to come rescue you, to a degree anyway. But now even that is in question. And, if you don't take care of those at the bottom, they undercut the entire society. They not only camp in your streets, they break into your home and... Even if your house is behind a gate and you fly private...do you want to live in constant fear, do you really want to be this isolated from the population? 4. Taxes Our nation runs on them, but they're a dirty word. Even worse, the richer you are the less you proportionately pay, if you pay at all. As for corporations, many don't even pay taxes, irrelevant of the statutory rate. But they've convinced us of the trickle down theory. Yeah, like if you caddy for a fat cat in your town he'll tip you...exactly how much? It's a pittance compared to the bank account of the player, even of the price it costs to get out on the course and play! Where is the campaign stating that taxes pay for road upkeep, the police and fire departments, national defense... Does the public really want those to be kneecapped? 5. Reasonability The Democratic party is supposed to be a big tent, but the end result has become no one can say no to anybody. Trans good, but tell me again why we should have trans women in women's sports? How this even became an issue... There are very few of these people anyway. But come on, I'm not tall enough to play in the NBA, I don't ask for a waiver. I didn't go to medical school, I can't practice medicine. Even Martina Navratilova came out against trans women in women's tennis. But those who've never even played the game know better. It's a matter of principle. Really? And if you don't agree with this you're excoriated, said to be unenlightened. Yes, I'll say that trans women should be able to use the women's bathroom, but... The most salient point here is the right has made a major issue out of something quite minor. Where are the elected officials on the left stating how few people are actually involved? Rather they just take the line that it should be allowed. People are reasonable, if you reason with them. 6. We're all in it together Ain't that a laugh. The wealthy elite want nothing to do with the great unwashed, they have contempt for them. And the working and underclasses know this, which is one of the reasons they voted for Trump. It's not about the issues so much as it is a matter of principle. I don't care if you're the smartest kid in the class, I can even handle you being rich, but if you're lording it over me, being an a**hole, I'm against you in principle. 7. The rich don't rule Look at all those tech titans who used to be Democrats who are now Trumpers. Because their wallet comes first, not the public. To let these people make policy for the nation is anathema. 8. Public school We should all start out equally, on the same foot. And we should fund our institutions accordingly. But the right calls them "government schools" and goes on and on how bad they are and wans government money for their private schools, which in many cases are anything but neutral. I won't say they’re madrassas, but so many are religious and... 9. Sacrifice for the greater good Today everybody is out for themselves, as for the rest of the people...SCREW 'EM! You're dumb if you don't bend the rules. I'm out for myself and if in the process you're hurt, or you fall behind, it's your own damn fault. The right has convinced so many that it's the poor's fault that they're economically challenged. I won't even bother to refute this, it's self-evident it is wrong, but many regular people now believe this. 10. We're all in it together. Income inequality is the scourge of our nation. And rather than hide with their riches, the wealthy say THEY EARNED IT! Exactly how? By creating a product that the public or government buys? Without a customer, without the population at large, you're dead on arrival, you've got nothing. Meanwhile, those "in power" on the left tell us their hands are tied and to trust the system. Yeah, the same system that is not giving me my FEMA money, the same one that took away my benefit so I can no longer afford health insurance? Go to the ER...yeah, like the public doesn't pay anyway. As for elections... Believe in the same process that Trump denied in 2020 and is still denying, never mind pardoning the January 6th protesters? The left says "watcha gonna do..." And then does nothing. The right turns over the table with impunity. Never mind the left being the party of science, of innovation, it's the right that wants to return to the past. But we've got old officials who don't understand the new technology and it's laughable. It's the Democrats who should kick the oldsters aside and let the youngsters in. We live in a completely changed world and in Congress they act like it's 1926. Or maybe even 1826. So you stand for something, or you stand for nothing. Religion had it right, with the Ten Commandments. And then you had the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We know what the Republicans stand for, but the Democrats? It's amorphous at best. This is not rocket science. You could come up with a platform and hammer it. But that would mean you might piss off some people in your own party by speaking the truth. You might antagonize lobbyists. Elected officials are the absolute worst...they're supposed to represent their constituencies, but it's been proven time and again that they're only out for themselves. But how come I know all of the above and those in control of the Democratic party do not? Because they've got their heads so far up their a**es that they're out of touch. They're just hoping that Trump alienates the public so much that they'll gain some power. This is like trying to win a boxing match without throwing a punch. It's fruitless. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

NYT 30 Greatest Living Songwritrers

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/magazine/greatest-american-songwriters-alive.html Chris Willman wrote the definitive piece on this in "Variety": "Where in the Actual Hell Is Randy Newman? And Other Questions Raised by the New York Times' Greatest Living American Songwriters List" https://variety.com/2026/music/columns/new-york-times-greatest-songwriters-list-missing-randy-newman-1236733511/ Now I've known Chris for a long time. He takes his music seriously and is especially knowledgeable about country for a guy who started out in rock. I'd describe his personality as mild. But not this piece, he's positively OUTRAGED! About six weeks ago my shrink asked me about a piece I wrote that resonated with my audience, that he himself had read. He asked me what made it different. I thought about it for a while and then I said it was WARM! Hmm... Ever since then I've been trying to replicate that tone. No, let me put it differently. I'm known for being angry, outraged. And why am I so pissed-off? Well, some would say I'm frustrated with my position in the game. That I wish I had more status or more money or more power... Others would just say it's my raw personality. I'd add in my father... He was always cutting through the B.S., he would not accept anything at face value. And the only person who can go from zero to one hundred as fast is my older sister. And... I was talking to a musician the other day, he couldn't say anything negative about anybody, for fear he'd lose out on a future job. Then there are those who repeat misinformation, or need to believe they're always right, unable to admit they might be wrong. This makes it hard to learn, but their main goal is to fit into their designated group, and to do that you cannot rock the boat. That is not me, I'm more of a lone wolf, once again at this late date I can see I'm the son of my father. So a few days back I saw the "30 Greatest Living American Songwriters" article in the "New York Times" app. I wasn't expecting much, then again, it is the "New York Times." The same "Times" that is bending over backwards to be pro-Palestinian, even though its majordomo is Jewish. And the anti-tech spin, the denigration of social media, the playing to its educated, upper middle class audience drives me wild. It's self-reinforcing delusion. And when it comes to music... I know some of these writers, one especially, is a self-satisfied overeducated hip-hop fan. Funny how it's the white men who are all in on hip-hop, busy analyzing it and boosting it in a way that those in the culture, those who make it, do not. Are they drawn to the edgy danger, that is so far from their roots, that they would never truly get close to? I don't know, but I expected to see a number of hip-hop writers. Then again, when I think of songwriters... Lyrics are important, but if you're sampling or someone else is creating the beats are you truly a songwriter? I mean you're a lyricists...but I don't want to get too deep into the weeds here. But this is the "New York Times." Now a year ago, the paper published a list of the "100 Best Movies of the 21st Century": https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/movies/best-movies-21st-century.html Notice what they did here, they did not say the 100 best movies of ALL TIME, but just those of the past 25 years. And how many of those can compete with "Citizen Kane" and "Gone With the Wind," never mind "The Godfather." Close to none, I'd say. So, if the "Times" had done a similar article about the best 21st century songwriters, I would have expected a lot of the entries on this list, a lot of less than greats. Because I won't say that we haven't had that spirit here since 1969, but I will say maybe since 1999. But NO! They had to include the whole kit and kaboodle, the only caveat being that the songwriter still be alive. So I peruse the list for the one and only, probably America's greatest living songwriter, Paul Simon, and he is there, thank god. But I will say that the list of his five essential songs is almost laughable. Is there anybody, I dear say ANYBODY, who thinks "Bernadette" and "The Sacred Harp" are amongst Paul's greatest? Ever hear of "Mrs. Robinson"? How about "America" or even "Sound of Silence"? Never mind "Bridge Over Troubled Water." Simon wrote those Simon & Garfunkel songs. And I could name a bunch of solo songs better than those two, if not the whole five! Which begs two questions... Are the people making this list truly familiar with Simon's work? And, are they just trying to appear hip, in classic rock scribe fashion, showing that the reader's taste sucks and their obscure choices are better? And, in Willman's article, you'll see that they solicited the opinions of performers. But that's a completely different ball of wax. Critics are their own special category, and if you're deferring to the people who make the music, you've got no self-respect. And it's not like there's a mathematical formula that created the final list... No, it was adjusted by the writers/critics. About as transparent as the legendary Grammy nominations decided by secret committees. But who the f*ck cares. I don't. But Willman's piece... I mean if this guy can be outraged... Is this clickbait? No, the "Times' doesn't specialize in this. The "Times" believes it's the definitive statement, but in this case it absolutely is not. And then you've got the "Washington Post." I want to cancel my subscription, but I don't want to cut off a news source that fills me in here and there. But the editorials have done a 180, it's now a right wing viewpoint. Bezos and the rest of these billionaires, like Sergey Brin, even Tim Cook, just want to kiss Trump's ass. And the "Wall Street Journal"'s editorial/opinion pages have always skewed right, there's very little there with a contrary opinion. But at least it doesn't affect the reporting. And then there was this piece in the "Journal," the antithesis of the left wing Jonathan Haidt/anti-social media mind-set of the "Times" and its readers: "The Timeless Fear of Corrupting the Youth - From Socrates to social media, society has always worried about protecting the young. But the latest ruling about Meta and YouTube overlooks the upsides of free speech." https://www.wsj.com/politics/social-media-freedom-speech-meta-youtube-ruling-32aaee3b I hate when the left runs on emotions instead of facts. Just like I hate it when the left is driven by the most extreme viewpoints of those in the party. That's right, they're anti-Israel. But as a Jew, one must ask, how much of this is based on raw antisemitism? They killed 30,000 dissidents in Iran, hung people, and there are crickets on campus. But when the Jews, god forbid, that powerful state the size of New Jersey, kills anybody? It's a shonda! Sure, Netanyahu is no picnic, but a Jew can't even say anything out loud in support of Israel, you know to keep it to yourself. In a world that "is run by Jews." Really? So, there's no there there, no center of authority. And let's not even address Fox News, never mind Trump himself. It's a veritable circus in D.C. Melania criticizing Kimmel for a joke and... Did she ever read any of Trump's posts, reveling in the death of his enemies? So what's a poor boy to do? Definitely not play in a rock and roll band. These are no longer outsiders, thinking for themselves, unafraid to stand up to groupthink. No, they're part of the group! They're sellouts, brands, in it for the money. At least Frank Zappa joked about this. So we live in a world of constant outrage. With everybody defending their position, whether right or wrong. I mean Chris Willman's pissed that Randy Newman was excluded from this list. I'll throw a spanner in the works, how about Don Henley? He and his compatriots own the biggest selling album of all time. But Don is not warm and fuzzy and critics, even the Dude, hate the Eagles, but come on... I could list plenty more, but I won't. I mean this is not the 1800s, all these record stills exist, are easily playable on streaming services, so just because they're old they should be overlooked, so the "Times" can look hip? Everybody's worried about their image, the perception... Truth takes a back seat. You can complain all day, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Trump does what he wants, testing limits all the time, and the Democrats keep saying their hands are tied. Ain't that laughable. I guess John Lennon had it right back in 1970: "I just believe in me, Yoko and me, and that's reality" Because: "The dream is over" We used to depend upon culture to inform the public, move the discussion forward, but certainly in music that power has been abdicated. Hell, I'm quoting a song from "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band," not quite a commercial stiff, but far from a raging success. That was George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass." Or Stephen Stills's solo debut. And where in the hell is he on this list? "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" is better than anything most of the people on it have ever written. But he's old, and we know the youth must be lionized. And money eclipses everything. Although it didn't used to. Get it right, and it's for the ages. Play the game, play to the audience, and it's a momentary success. Then again, no one is playing the long game anymore. Because everybody is questioning whether the game will even continue. Or to paraphrase George Carlin, another seer from the past, SAVE YOURSELF! Good luck with that. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Pat Monahan-This Week's Podcast

Mr. Train. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pat-monahan/id1316200737?i=1000764682141 https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/pat-monahan-332091238?app=listen https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/234ce748-18a7-4316-b8af-43ad455edd01/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-pat-monahan https://open.spotify.com/episode/3OrGMvDfbSZTARRPSNQDry?si=06f0YwAjSuSg4BpNp3u-aw -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

Mailbag

Subject: RE: Mike Vernon Bob, John Mayall never used my service to find musicians but his wife's all female band "Maggie Mayall and the Cadillacs" used me several times.  Anyway, Sammy, Mayall's 10 year old son, (this was in 2005) was on my kid's Little League baseball team. John would attend most every game in Woodland Hills, always sitting by himself in a fold-up chair he brought, never sitting in the bleachers with the rest of us.  Maybe he thought he would be recognized but I doubt if any of the baseball parents knew who he was.  But I did. Sterling Howard, founder/owner  https://www.MusiciansContact.com  ________________________________________ From: Richard Gottehrer Subject: Re: Mike Vernon Hi Bob He was a producer.... he produced records with Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac and Stan Webb's Chicken Shack (the eventual combination of which formed the basis of the legendary Fleetwood Mac), Savoy Brown, 10 Years After, and "Hocus Pocus" by Focus, the first major hit that Seymour and I released on Sire.  Mike's greatness and contribution to the industry stemmed from his understanding of history and his desire to revive an awareness of the music form that had the greatest impact on contemporary rock music......The Blues.  Mike and his brother Richard started a label called, Blue Horizon to find and record legendary blues artists from an earlier time. Some they found were… Victoria Spivey, Otis Spann, Buhhka White and Chapion Jack Dupree. That’s where we come in.  Mike was making a record with Champion Jack at the Decca Studios in London and  Seymour happened to be there. Jack had been promised $200 for the session and wanted to be paid before recording but Mike didn’t have the cash. Seymour volunteered to pay it and that began our relationship with Mike Vernon.  It led to Sire buying half of Blue Horizon and helping the label become a leader in bringing renewed attention to the blues and developing hits with Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack and the solo hit by Christine Perfect, “I’d Rather Go Blind,” originally recorded by Etta James on Chess.  Another interesting memory is when Seymour and I received our revenue share from the success of "Albatross." We bought a small Brownstone on Manhattan's Upper West Side, painted it blue and named it Blue Horizon House. That of course became the office of Sire Records as well. Those were great times. Mike Vernon should be remembered and celebrated but that's generally not how it goes once you're gone. Seymour should also be remembered for the great things he did: not just for the music he brought to us but for his love and understanding of what came before.  Each new generation seems to live in the moment, which is good, but those who remember and understand history and value the past become the Great Producers. Final note:  Blue Horizon still exists as part of Fat Possum Records a great contemporary label that understands history and just happens to be distributed by The Orchard. Richard Gottehrer (Founder), The Orchard ________________________________________ From: Harvey Goldsmith Subject: RE: Re-Donald Tarlton Donald was a friend and colleague. One day I arrived in my office to find a young person sitting at reception. I went to my office and phoned reception to see who this person was. He came into my office and gave me a note:   Dear Harvey, This is Norman please look after him. Donald.   Norman was Norman Perry He lived in my house for 6 months and I taught everything about the business. His brother in-law Riley O Connor arrived and duly did the same. When their visas were up, I went to Donald and Michael Cohl and told them to set up Norman/Riley in Vancouver as they did not have a presence in that city. Riley continues to be a great Canadian Promoter. Norman does merchandising after helping to buy my merchandising company Brockum for Michael.   A fun golfer, a raconteur, but most importantly a brilliant promoter with the best sense of humour. They do not make them like that anymore .He will be sorely missed. ________________________________________ From: Stephen Budd Subject: Re: Mike Vernon Hi Bob, I just wanted to drop you a note after reading your beautiful piece about Mike Vernon. I’ve copied Mike’s two daughters here in case they haven’t seen your piece, I’m sure they’ll really appreciate it. I had the privilege of managing Mike as a record producer for over 15 years in his later career, after being introduced to him by Gus Dudgeon, who was Mike’s engineer in those early Decca Studios days before going on to an extraordinary career himself.  Mike really was an extraordinary music man. His love of the blues, his knack for drawing out such special performances, and his ability to blend those British blues savants with psychedelic-tinged rock — along with the huge respect he commanded from the musicians he worked with, will stay with people for a long time. As a kid, I remember buying Hocus Pocus as a 7”, it was thrilling then, and still is now. Mike also played in (with Pete Wingfield) and produced the UK funk band Olympic Runners, another act I loved as a teen, who had a hit with the theme from The Bitch and several others on both sides of the pond, rare for those days. As Mike once said: “Barry Hammond, the engineer, would always keep a 2-track quarter-inch tape running to catch us jamming between takes,  then we’d use that as the basis for the next track. It was painless; we made album after album that way. It only took a couple of weeks out of the year, and we were selling records. For the first few years the band were completely anonymous, people assumed we were a US act…” On a personal level, he was also one of the easiest clients I’ve ever had, always charming, slightly bashful but fun, thoughtful, and incredibly generous with his time and connections. Only recently he called me about Martha Velez, whom he had worked with back in the 70s, as she needed a bit of guidance. Veléz released her debut on the Sire/Blue Horizon label in 1969. The backing musicians included Eric Clapton, Stan Webb (Chicken Shack), and Paul Kossoff (Free) on guitar; Christine McVie (Fleetwood Mac) on keyboards; Jack Bruce on bass; Mitch Mitchell (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) on drums; and Brian Auger on organ, a line-up that speaks as much to Mike’s pulling power as a producer as it does to Martha’s extraordinary voice. That was very Mike, always looking out for people. He was endlessly enthusiastic about new artists too, particularly those coming from the blues, though as you rightly say, his work reached far beyond that. I was also good friends with Seymour, who used to tell me great stories about those early Blue Horizon days with Mike and Richard, and his sharp focus on what was happening across the UK scene at the time. I’ll leave you with the wonderful Bloodstone in The Midnight Special who Mike also found and produced..  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwgGRHgp4nk Regards Stephen Budd ________________________________________ From: Phil Ernst Subject: Nick Lowe Back in 1983 (? it was a long time ago), I was a newly promoted agent at boutique agency ATI struggling with the demands of booking club shows across my sprawling territory (basically every state east of the Mississippi) with more senior agents impatiently and stridently demanding dates for their baby bands at a pace I was failing miserably to keep up with at a time when the then vibrant club circuit was a viable first step for many artists to launch their careers. We had a fantastic roster of acts I loved and a great team of agents I admired and feared equally but the pace was brutal and I lived an ever increasing spiral of fear (of failure, of not getting the right deals for the acts, of getting screamed at - yet again - by one of my more senior colleagues, on and on). One busy day when I was seriously considering packing it in for a more uh sedate way of making a living (like at the insurance company I’d spent a quiet 10 months at during a gap year I’d had between high school and college), the intercom on my desk spat out the dulcet tones of one of my then biggest tormentors, Marsha Vlasic, demanding I come to her office IMMEDIATELY!!! With the sick feeling in my stomach I’d come to know so well churning to life, I got out from behind my desk and made my way down to her office, fearing another verbal beat down. When I got there I saw she wasn’t alone and was amazed and excited when her guest got up, extended his hand, and said with a smile “Hello, Phil. I’m Nick Lowe”. He went on to tell me that having just concluded his club tour he’d insisted to Marsha that he needed to meet me to THANK ME (!!!) for the hard work I’d done on the shows I’d booked for him and the care I’d exhibited in making sure the venues were appropriate, ticket prices correct, and a great experience was going to be had for Nick and his stellar band (had just seen them at The Ritz and they were fantastic!) every night of the tour. I left Marsha’s office with a new sense of purpose and a belief that maybe I actually COULD do the work after all - Nick Lowe’s kind words and thoughtfulness helped propel me to an amazing 40 year career across many facets of the live touring business. Your story about Nick brilliantly captured many of the elements that made him an important figure back in those days; just wanted to add a bit about him as a caring person. And how about Marsha? A dynamic agent then and still one today and a person I admire and respect for her fierce dedication to her artists and relevance across decades - no easy accomplishment. ________________________________________ From: Paul Flattery Subject: Re: Switchboard Susan Re: Nick Lowe.  Back in the 70s, I was part of the then-fledgling music video scene in England - we called them "pop promos." We didn't have a lot of production money in those days and did a lot of "cheap and cheerfuls" where we rented a studio already equipped with lights and (video)  cameras. We rented them for three hours - 2 hours to "set and light" the artist/band, and then one hour to shoot. Editing (on 2" tape back then) was really expensive, so usually we shot it so that the artist walked away with a finished video of the song. One such video was "Little Hitler" for Nick Lowe. We had done Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up" and "Chelsea" for manager Jake Rivieria and Radar Records, and he asked us to do Nick's follow-up to "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass." It was a very simple, inconsequential shoot, notable only for the fact that when Nick showed up he thought we were shooting a different song - the title of which escapes me. He was bemused but nonchalantly went through the song a few times on camera. It wasn't a hit and I haven't managed to find the video on the vast internet yet.   ________________________________________ From: Marty Walsh Subject: Re: Summer Breeze Hi Bob so glad to see this newsletter. Seals and Crofts got my career started. I got the road gig in 76 and continuing through 77. Getting that gig said something about your skill set. It gave us musicians who got that gig credibility. I owe Jimmy and Dash a lot. My first A list sessions were an their records. Summer kBreeze? You are right, just a wonderful song and certainly timeless. ________________________________________ From: Donny Kutzbach Subject: Re: Summer Breeze Bob, "Summer Breeze" has transcended generations the old fashioned way: licensing for use in film and TV. Although I knew the song from hearing it on AM and oldies radio in the back seat of my parents' cars during the 70s and 80s, it became especially meaningful to me with its use near the end of Linklater's "Dazed and Confused." My wife and our Gen Z  kids have repeatedly watched the 2015 remake of Vacation and it's part of a pretty fun bit with Chris Hemsworth.  It was (oddly) in last year's Tron: Aries which I did not see coming. It has been used perfectly in Freaks and Geeks, Better Call Saul and a few other significant TV series. ________________________________________ Subject: Re: The Rules Right on, Bob.  My son is a first year law student at a nationally recognized law school.  He shared with me that when he went to his first test, he thought something was wrong because the classroom had so many more empty seats than he was used to. He soon found out that the rest of the class was in another room taking their exam. Right at 40% of his law school class had received an accommodation for extended time on all tests. Good grief. Charles Barber ________________________________________ From: Greg McLoughlin Subject: Re: The Route To Modern Success Good one. For quite some time people were telling me I needed to be putting my stuff on TikTok, but I was really uncomfortable with short form. On my YouTube show, I perform for an hour as if I am on stage and it truly feels like I am inside.  Then one week one of my followers in turkey put a short clip of my YouTube show in her social media story and I messaged her asking how she did that, and she told me she used "screen recording" on her iPHone. Voila, the light went off in my head, and I started clipping out short clips of my livestream and putting out one TikTok Video per day, from my livestreams. In time I realized I needed more visual variety, and somehow I easily got comfortable making regular short form videos. I've stayed consistent with this approach, one video per day, and its actually going great, I've got a small army of supporters growing on the platform. Plenty of hateful comments (which I see a good sign). Anyway, yes, not ignoring the medium anymore.  In fact, its been super fun and rewarding. And last night at an open mic in Western Jersey a young kid approached me and said, "While you were on stage I was saying to myself, where do I know that guy from, and then I was like, he's the one who plays solo bass on TikTok!"  Said a friend sent him a video of mine after seeing me do a show in Asbury Park and he'd been following me since. Yes, a million micro-steps, no one big moment.  But I feel it. LIFER.  Gregory McLoughlin ________________________________________ From: Andre' Cholmondeley Subject: Re: Prairie Prince-This Week's Podcast Fantastic this will be a good one  my good buddy prairie  I toured a lot with Todd last year so I had the pleasure of many fun hangs with PP. What a legend. And a wonderful human being. I’m sure you talked a bunch about him drumming on XTC‘s biggest album skylarking but also on about four other XTC albums/EPs. And of course you know all about his excellent new Colours album Fun facts maybe you covered: He’s an old friend of Al Kooper, who of course produced the first Tubes album The Tubes went to Japan on a ship (!!) around 1971 and were there for a couple months playing every day at the world‘s fair. I mean you can’t make this sh*t up. Prairie was the first DRUMMER in Journey. I’m sure you talked about that. He has a great band called THE MISTAKES with Mike Keneally, Henry Kaiser and Andy West, formerly of the Dixie Dregs He plays on the legendary “my life in the bush of ghosts” by Brian Eno and David Byrne Besides being a brilliant visual artist and set designer, who’s done stuff for Bette Midler,  Vegas shows etc. Thank you Andre´Cholmondeley Tech. Production. Tour Support Pat Metheny World Tour 2025 Todd Rundgren US/EU Tour 2025 ________________________________________ From: Hugo Burnham Subject: Re: The Billy Idol Movie I loved Generation X. Saw them a bunch of times back in the day. Then a few years later, I hooked up with Derwood - first as a drummer with a band that went nowhere, then as the first manager for Westworld. He’s a songwriting genius…wrote ‘Dancing With Myself’…never got the credit. We’re still friends after all these years- he sat in with G4 at Pappy And Harriet’s last summer (he lives out there)….a great moment for us both. But Billy did his thing so well….hooking up with Stevens was a stroke of genius….whoever put that together. We’re still alive. Beating the odds, Baby! H xx ________________________________________ Subject: Re: Ticketmaster/Harry Styles/Scalpers Thanks, Bob. As usual, lots of info that many I know refuse to acknowledge. Give me TM any day of the week. The site works. Yes, there will always be outliers and issues, and they've deployed plenty of sharp elbows over the years (especially when they were private), but overall, they're fine now. Oh no, a judge has decided I've been overcharged a whopping $1.72/ticket. I know something was standing between me and a down payment on a house.... Anyway, wanna talk about AXS/AEG, the conglomerate that arguably stands to gain the most from a TM/LN breakup? I've been tracking the cost of my tickets for years, fees included. In general, AXS fees are higher, not to mention they've played along with some venues that seem to be scamming customers. In 2022, I bought a ticket for a show at Minneapolis's famed First Avenue. AXS insisted on adding a $3 "green fee" to the charge because I asked for a physical ticket, on top of the $10 shipping fee to have the ticket sent via First Class mail. (That's, what, $9 worth of cream?) Fees were almost 40% with that green fee (almost 30% without it) and 80% once you factored in shipping. Where did that green fee go? You tell me! I've searched high & low for any mention of this online. Nothing. Of course, I managed to get a ticket. I've tried to purchase a few hot on-sales on AXS this year. AXS has become borderline unusable for such sales. On a laptop? Sometimes, it thinks I'm a bot. On a cell phone? Sometimes, it thinks I'm a bot. I have to have my laptop and cell phone with me, and the cell phone has to bounce between cell data and wifi data. Usually, one combination or another eventually works. Usually. People who whine about TM and have never used AXS are gonna be in for an extremely rude awakening if TM loses significant market share and AXS picks it up. Oh yeah, and a couple of years ago, SeeTickets/Eventim had two Jack White club shows in Texas go on sale at the same time, around 2 PM on a weekday. The site completely sh*t the bed. I lucked out and somehow managed to get a ticket to my preferred show after 30 minutes of non-stop web site failures, including tickets disappearing from my basket. That's just two club shows! Am I supposed to believe Eventim can handle the next pop tart's stadium mega-tour? They can't even handle a couple of hot club shows! So, yeah, careful what you wish for. You might just get it. Douglas Roark ________________________________________ From: Paul Lohr Subject: RE: I Love You Oh man Bob... this made my day.  I am a REALLY big fan of Climax Blues Band!  Whilst living and going to high school in Southeast Pennsylvania, and on summer break, I went to see Uriah Heep in concert at The Spectrum in Philly in August of 1974.  I had never heard of them, but Climax Blues Band was the opening act (and Manfred Mann's Earth Band was the middle act.)  I was blown away, and went out and bought the double album FM/Live shortly thereafter, from Wonderland Records in Newark Delaware, the go-to vinyl/headshop in the Tri-State area... you know, rows and rows of albums, black light Alice in Wonderland and Jimi Hendrix posters on the wall, and the usual array of bongs and rolling papers in the glass-and-aluminum display cases.  I was probably wearing my David Bowie Diamond Dogs T-shirt that day!  In short order I became a fan of Peter Haycock and his slide guitar playing, and was happy and validated to read of Bonnie Raitt singing his praises. I loved his instrumental "Country Hat" and spent hours in my bedroom wearing out the grooves on the album trying to learn that song!  I think WMMR in Philly was playing selections from other albums, and after pretty much memorizing FM/Live, I eagerly awaited the release of Stamp Album, as it has the studio version of "I Am Constant" on it.  Albums cost about three bucks back then.  I went down the rabbit hole and started looking for their import albums from England, and learned that they were originally known as The Climax Chicago Blues Band, but dropped "Chicago" around 1970.  I quickly got caught up on all the back catalog releases and bought each new album for a while.  1976's Gold Plated is perhaps my favorite album of theirs, as it has that funky vibe to it which really resonates with me.  The cover also featured an image of Haycock playing his custom gold plated Veleno guitar, which I still think is a bad-ass axe!  And despite the band having a "Top 40" hit from that album (which can often tarnish a band's image in the eyes of teenage hipsters,) I continued to turn friends on to them, and bought their subsequent albums until about 1979. (My college years were 1976 - 1980, and that's when I became a Deadhead, and a "taper" and cassette trader, and was fortunate enough to have befriended taper Joani Walker; so I went down another rabbit hole for a while and didn't buy a lot of vinyl then, as I was devouring hours and hours of "Joani Boards.")     "I Love You" is indeed a lovely song, but I preferred the bite and swagger and groove and rock of their more upbeat songs... "Hey Mama" from the "Tightly Knit" album, for example, would often be included in my mix tapes… that bad-ass guitar intro just jumps right out of the speakers and grabs you like an electric fence!  Real to Reel was their last album that I bought, so I only new of “I Love You” from the radio.  And I soon enjoyed the convenience of CDs, despite their lack of warmth, but I didn’t own any Climax Blues Band CDs, and then my vinyl collection got ruined in a flooded basement…  And then along came Spotify, where you can go back down Memory Lane any time that you want.  And I wanted to listen to Gold Plated.  And then FM/Live.  And then Sense of Direction.  And everything else CBB.      I didn’t learn of Haycock’s death until a while after the fact.  Something compelled me to do a search… maybe looking to see if they were going on tour… and I distinctly remember exclaiming out loud “Oh No!”  And my wife saying “What’s wrong??”  And me replying “Peter Haycock is dead!”  And Mary saying “Who is Peter Haycock?!”   Sigh… He died from a heart attack in October of 2013 at the much-too-young age of 62.  Pete’s gone, my vinyl collection is gone, but the music is still “Rollin’ Home.”   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDQQi4rypVY   Sincerely,   Paul   Paul Lohr, Owner/Agent New Frontier Touring ________________________________________ From: Simon Napier-Bell Subject: Re: Mike Vernon Bob - re the Yardbirds. "Over Under Sideways Down" was written by the group and the guitar lick was played by Jeff Beck. It was the lead track from the group's only studio album Roger the Engineer. Jimmy Page didn't join the group till later - the first Yardbirds record he played on - together with Jeff - was "Happenings Ten Years Ago". They also both played on the track featured in Blow-Up. Best SIMON ________________________________________ From: Terry Flood Subject: Donald K Donald Hi Bob After reading the replies to your Donald K Donald Tribute as well as the many others from posts and Entertainment outlets I realized that very few people knew about the early years leading up to Donald success. I think that many of your readers will find it quite interesting how he turned his love of music into a successful world wide career  He did it little investment but with his bigger than life personality,his love of music,,his determination to be successful, and most of all his business genius . ?Donald was born to become a major player in the entertainment business  His love of music, his natural ability to get along with anyone, his salesmanship, his love of the spotlight and the microphone and most of all his genius for the business. As a teenager he took over his best friend’s record hop as a DJ Shortly after he had a weekly radio show where he played the hits of the day. That lasted until the Beatles released their first single "I Want to Hold Your Hand." Donald liked the song so much he played it 14 times in a row which ended his radio DJ career. Donald started booking local bands mostly into high schools  This is where I came into the picture. In 1967 I had started a teenage discotheque. Donald came by to sell me on booking  bands in addition to just playing RnB records. No one can say no to a Donald sales pitch so we now had bands at Snoopy’s discotheque which led to him offering to be a partner in the business. Luckily I agreed to what would become the best business decision I would ever make. I was now in for the ride of my life with Donald K Donald  The next move for Donald was to become a promoter so we put a little money into booking a couple of up and coming British groups into small venues. Then Donald received the break he needed to get into the big time The main promoter for major acts that would fill  the Montreal Forum was Sam Gesser who was used to booking act like Frank Sinatra, etc.However with Rock becoming big business Sam was now promoting acts like Janus Joplin. Donald would often help Sam with the shows and was with him at the side of the stage for her Forum show. During the show Janus came to the side where Donald and Sam were and proceeded to throw up splattering Sam’s nice suit and shoes. Sam turned to Donald and said  "This rock business is not for me please take it over." This was all Donald had to hear. However we didn’t have the kind of money necessary for the big time promoting business. But this was not going to stop Donald  He came up with a genius plan. He would approach the three Molson brothers who owned the Forum and the Canadians and sell them on his plan. Donald would perform the duties of a promoter but instead of just paying a fee for the facility he would partner with the Forum on the show’s profits. The Forum would pay the artist advance and put the advertising on their account. After the show settlement the profits would be split 50/50. This brilliant arrangement along with his genius, his salesmanship, his ability to relate to the artist, their management, the agents, and his devoted staff propelled him to the top of the world wide music business . ________________________________________ From: Lawrence Gowan Re: Donald Tarlton In 1999 when Styx decided to look for a new lead singer a number of people suggested a guy named Gowan who we were not familiar with so of course I called the Master of Canada and friend of mine and Tommy and JY the one and only Donald K Donald. I asked who this Gowan guy was and he said that Gowan was the artist he had put on our sold out arena show in  Montreal. We all remembered adding a solo piano player to the bill and also thinking how will that work to 15,000 rock fans. But we trusted Donald explicitly and of course it worked. Donald told me at the time that he always thought Lawrence should be in a band like Styx and he was right. He just knew what worked and how to connect the dots. The World of Donald K Donald was a wonderful place to be a part of. Donald K. Donald had an amazing gift of foresight. To categorize him simply as a “promoter” would be a terrible understatement. Donald was a master at connecting with people and boosting their careers overnight. We met in 1985. "Larger than life" in every aspect, I remember his big wide grin as he popped champagne corks after a successful show. Donald K significantly helped to catapult the close relationship I’ve enjoyed with the Quebecois audience since the 1980’s. Therefore, true to form, in the late 1990’s DKD was the first in a series of dominoes that lead to my joining Styx. After 12 years of promoting the Gowan shows, one morning in 1997 he called me with a suggestion: "Instead of playing the venue you're booked for in June, I’d like you to open for Styx at the new Montréal Forum." (now known as the Bell Centre) My ego spoke first as I declined, sighting the fact that I was touring entirely solo-piano at the time and also hadn’t “opened" for anyone in Canada since early 1985. He kindly reminded me that the last act he’d had me open for (Supertramp) at the old Forum, lead to my headlining at that venue by the end of ‘85. He said, “Now you've got to play the new building” and added, “This will be good for you". Time and again he showed an uncanny knack for being right.     Merci pour tout, tellement beaucoup, DKD! Gowan ________________________________________ From: oko shio Subject: Re: Re-Donald Tarlton Hi Bob,  Thanks for this and always being around. I am/was Donald’s CFO for all these years. Just an FYI that we have change his www.dkd.com site so people can add their tributes there and family will see them then share with the world.  Again, thanks for these memories.  Those were the days! Thank you! ________________________________________ From: Paul Brammer Subject: Re: Bettye LaVette-This Week's Podcast Ive listened to every episode and this one was maybe the best of the best. And the best part is the last 26 minutes, the after interview conversation. I love when guests don’t let you sign off so quickly. Keep up the good work! Mazel! Paul  ________________________________________ From: John Branca Bob thank you for your column on Michael. Your views are well taken and important. One thing you left out. No one has ever had any evidence that Michael did anything inappropriate, only the allegations of people seeking money. Leaving Neverland was not a documentary, it was a well acted, well choreographed fictional hit piece that has objectively verifiable falsehoods stated by the accusers. And the director Dan Reed never bothered to talk to anybody else because he did not want the truth he wanted his 15 minutes. Unlike Harvey Weinstein or Robert Kelly or many others, there were not dozens of accusers and there are no videos or documentary evidence. Those of us who knew Michael know he was incapable of committing the acts these people accuse him of. The laws of defamation do not protect the deceased, and the current accusers defended him throughout his lifetime, they only changed the story when it was safe to do so in an attempt to collect money. -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25