who is Bob Lefsetz?

Stevie, can you say what you do in a google-proof way? If not, cool.

Lefsetz is mesmerizing in that way a person who spouts clearly wrong-headed opinions, but does so with great gusto/confidence. If I'm totally honest, I'm a little jealous of his self-righteousness. I'm not totally confident I understand anything in this world as much as he thinks he understands the music industry.

oh god yeah sure, just a common-or-garden music hack, but i ended up in a bunch of grammy parties last weekend while writing a feature and the lefsetz-esque pontificating was thick in the air.

Oh boy does Lefsetz have some thoughts on the Kesha case

This case is primarily about money. Kesha could offer to repay Dr. Luke and Sony for their investment and give them an upside in any recordings she does with another company, but…to my knowledge, so far she hasn’t done this. If Kesha is allowed to skate, scot-free, who else should be able to do this and for what cause?

His comments about rape in the beginning of that piece...clueless

And his ridiculous analogy to getting out of a phone contract

That’s today’s music business, that’s today’s life, no-nothings pontificating loudly upon that which they are clueless about.

stop it, Bob, you're hurting them

someone's feeling a bit crowded in on

Hell, the Supreme Court made George Bush President. Deal with it. During his term tens of thousands of people lost their lives. But now Kesha alleges rape and therefore the Supreme Court of New York should throw out the rulebook?

don't feel as good about stripping this particular Letter for yuks but that part was just so lefsetz

what is a "no-nothing", does he mean "know-nothing"?

this issue kinda exposes how gross he is imo. like usually the grossness of his positions is pretty benign because the axe he's grinding is "people like hit records" or whatever, but underneath it is a real contempt for, like, musicians generally.

yeah this is disgusting

i was actually thinking omg this piece of shit is gonna have some big thoughts on the kesha case

what a scumbag

the most frightening thing about this is to consider how many people in the biz agree with him, and who are currently reading this very column and going "well, yeah."

yeah i am so used to thinking of him as a laughable clown (since this thread is really what I know him from), but recently someone I knew (a generally smart guy) posted one of his columns on facebook saying: "lots to think about in the latest lesfetz" as though bob is some wise sage

they should bring him on as a writer for that HBO rock dude series

Nothing on the show so far suggests he isn't writing for it.

He would agree: xpost
http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2016/02/19/vinyl/

There's a joke circulating on Twitter that HBO should do a series called "MP3" next about the early '00s music blogging scene. But I actually think a show about the music industry in the early '00s could be fascinating - a bunch of executives who came up in the '70s and '80s who are now rich old fucks who think their world will last forever, and then they get blindsided by technology. And for that, you definitely need a Lefsetz character - a psychopath who's preaching the gospel of digital technology one minute, then in the next breath rhapsodizing about the '70s and claiming all new music is shit, then going off on some random tangent about nothing, but because he picked one big hit, once, everyone continues to listen to his in(s)ane bullshit.

If only PS Hoffman were still with us...

I could see an always sunny sort of thing working

"You know who was there? Students. Girls. Wanna get laid? Go to a One Direction concert."

"..."

"What?"

"...that's kind of weird man"

"I'm just saying, I was the lone male in a sea of females. Prepubescent females!"

but recently someone I knew (a generally smart guy) posted one of his columns on facebook saying: "lots to think about in the latest lesfetz" as though bob is some wise sage

― tylerw, Tuesday, February 23, 2016 12:59 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah a year ago someone was like "lefsetz nails it again" and i was just like wtf
but yeah this thread makes me think everything thinks of him as a total fraud like you said

but because he picked one big hit,

Wait, what hit did he pick? Either I never learned this or I'm forgetting.

That was a fictional example - as far as I know Lefsetz was only in the business for a couple of years.

yeah it's unclear where lefsetz's cachet comes from. patter i guess.

talent.

tellin it like it IS, man!

the dude isn't afraid of anything! except women! and young people! and death!

Just re-read that WIRED article fron a few years back. Forgot that he was fired from his industry job for arguing with Blackie Lawless about which W.A.S.P. single to release.

Bob Lefsetz (born April 22, 1953) is an American music industry analyst and critic, and author of the email newsletter and blog, the Lefsetz Letter. The newsletter has tens of thousands of subscribers.[1][2] On April 2, 2013, Variety Magazine announced that Lefsetz will be writing a column for its weekly print edition and its website.[3]

Themes explored in the Lefsetz Letter include:

The diminishing role of the major record labels in current recorded music and corresponding increasing influence and importance of grassroots artist activities such as live performances and direct online relationships with fans.
The decline of CD sales as alternate online music services such as iTunes continue to flourish.

The prevalence of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file-sharing as the primary source of digital music distribution.

The need for a legitimate and licensed Peer-to-Peer or similar distribution service to facilitate the next working business model for the music industry.

Lefsetz's personal reflections on songs, songwriters, bands and industry insiders that have affected his unique and independent outlook of the music industry.

Lefsetz's personal observations on a wide range of topics, including reflections on his personal life.

""Fuck Like a Beast" is gonna be YUGE!"

In 2007, Lefsetz and Kid Rock engaged in an email feud but have since reconciled.[5][6][7]

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

Kid Rock

kid rock OTM

And Robert Plant looks like a poof. A weakling who couldn’t get David Bowie in bed.

why oh why did I google that to see if it was a real quote?

Tempting to write a two-character play: Rock/Lefsetz.

There's a joke circulating on Twitter that HBO should do a series called "MP3"

Said joke being by our own s1ocki.

http://www.idolator.com/373018/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-bob-lefsetz-but-were-afraid-to-ask-because-all-caps-comes-off-like-yelling

From 2008

i LIVED it mannnnnn

"Not Found

The requested URL /wordpress/2016/02/22/kesha-vs-dr-luke/ was not found on this server."

I couldn't connect with Lefsetz.com all day yesterday.

It seems like there are currently no archives.

however

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:07cXwpHm07YJ:lefsetz.com/wordpress/2016/02/22/kesha-vs-dr-luke/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

We haven't had that kind of outage here since 1969.

lol why was i publishing things at 3:15 am. 2008 was weird

CortneyH • 8 years ago
A marginally talented, ultra-entitled, elitist, quasi-employed dude who mooches off a rich lady? If his letter writing career doesn't pan out, he could always move to Portland or Brooklyn and front an indie rock band.

i'd read that article before i thought but never registered that patient interlocutor "felice" is henry mancini's daughter!

lefsetz 11 march 2016 on keith emerson:

Take that all you adolescents who believe you deserve attention even though you’ve put more time into trumpeting your efforts on social media than actually practicing your instrument.

lefsetz 14 march 2016 on "getting our attention:"

From day one, you should be collecting e-mail addresses and building up a social media following. This is the first line of aggression

I'll be fine without Lefsetz's attention.