You may remember the name Bob Lefsetz from when “Run MetalSucks For a Day” contest winner Justin Gosnell interviewed him on MetalSucks in September. I’ve also linked and quoted him many times before because I respect his opinions so greatly. For those unaware, Lefsetz is an independent industry pundit who writes pseudo-daily email newsletters to thousands of subscribers including industry big-wigs (I’ll bet this guy reads Lefsetz) and regular dudes in bands; he’s not beholden to any industry interests so you always know his commentary is sincere. He makes a lot of folks uncomfortable, but that’s how it goes when you’re addressing the elephant in the room and spouting a truth that no one wants to hear. Unsurprisingly, he’s a big proponent of streaming services like Spotify.

Yesterday’s Lefsetz Letter totally hit the nail on the head with regards to today’s supposed evaporating CD revenues. Rather than summarize, I just want to let you read this section and come to your own conclusions:

… everybody forgot what came before. The aforementioned overpriced CD and unreasonably high ticket prices. It was as if the rights holders and acts believed they were entitled to inflated incomes. Instead of seeing MTV and CDs as an evanescent bonus, they became an entitlement. And try taking away an entitlement, isn’t that what the debate is all about in Washington?

All of this change was brought about by the public.

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Ok.  Where do I begin…

Chances are there’s quite a few of you out there in the metal world that don’t know the name Bob Lefsetz.  For those that do however-actually for anyone that does-you’re fully aware of what a goldmine this guy is in terms of the knowledge and insight into the music business he posses.

Some people don’t like to hear what he has to say, some people claim he’s mean and/or cruel.  Well you know what?  99.99% of those people are the ones in bands that fucking suck, the ones that complain the industry isn’t fair, the ones that think it’s supposed to be easy to be a rockstar, and really just any band that’s still in disbelief that Warner Brothers hasn’t come and scoop them up out of their mommies basements and put them on tour with Metallica opening for them.

PAY ATTENTION-there’s not one damn thing I’m going to say today that’s of more importance than this:  IF YOU DON’T SUBSCRIBE TO HIS MAILING LIST DROP EVERYTHING YOU’RE DOING AND SIGN UP NOW BY CLICK HERE!  I promise you, if you’re a musician that’s trying to navigate the treacherous waters that are the current music industry this guy will seriously help you.  There’s a reason why Bob is so widely respected by so many of the top people in the industry both on the business side of things as well as the musicians themselves.

Since I’ve been focusing today on trying to help out up-and-coming musicians I was going to write a post basically stating exactly what I said above-and that was it.  On a whim however, I decided fuck it, I’m gonna ask Bob if I can interview him.  So, I shoot off an email.  Now, I’ve emailed him before about marketing and whatnot and tried to share a few ideas and believe me I pray every night that he’ll maybe one day notice my own band or those marketing ideas I’ve tried to develop (of which I’m opting not to link here out of sheer respect).  Why?  Not because I think he’s some magic genie that’s going to write about my band or “make it happen”-far from it.  It’s because-and I don’t know if this is even how to describe it-once you have followed him for awhile and understand his mind you just want approval from him.  He’s like that dad you have that is always stern, like a military dad, and you kind of go through life always just thinking “FUCK, if he’d just pat me on the back once or just say good job!!”.  In a nutshell, that’s my relationship with Bob. lol

So with that said, when I was sitting on my laptop and I saw an email pop up from him that wasn’t one of his newsletters I almost sharted-no fucking joke.  I’ll admit something too (and if Bob is reading this he’s going to be like “that asshole-I knew he was a fucking unprepared noob!”).  I didn’t have a single question written.  I seriously never in a million years expected for him to accept my request.  I would have expected to get an email from Zeus before ever getting one from Bob.  Maybe it’s because of what his email said too – “Ok, can you do it right now?”.  So, I did what any self respecting man would do and I lied and told him I needed 15 minutes because I was stuck in traffic (sorry Bob!).  Then, of course I faced writers block.  After all these years I’ve spent reading his shit and all the millions of things I’ve wanted to ask him how the fuck could I not think of one fucking question to ask him once he finally says that he’s ready to answer them?!

Well, as it turns out Bob is a pretty cool guy.  Yeah-he has a strong opinion and he’s not afraid to let you know it and certainly not afraid to fight for his causes.  To be totally honest I was nervous as fuck.  I’ve been very lucky to meet almost all of my heros in music.  I won’t name drop, but really, pretty much all of them.  However, never have I ever  been more nervous than I was when I was interviewing Bob.  And I’m sure it showed as I stumbled through questions.  Then my phone got disconnected not once, but twice.  The first time I thought I was sucking so bad at interviewing him that he just hung up.  He is a very busy guy so I wouldn’t have had any hard feelings.  But, he actually let me try 3 fucking times to get it right-and it ended up working out-and well, that’s that.

Thanks for listening to my long ass story….now it’s time to open your ears and listen to what Mr. Lefsetz has to say…

-Justin Gosnell

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Music industry pundit Bob Lefsetz was among the first public figures to extoll Spotify’s virtues; he’s been raving about the service for at least three years, ever since he got a beta invite to the European version and became hooked. I don’t always agree with the guy on everything, but when it comes to Spotify and the future of music with regards to streaming he’s always right on the money.

A huge number of MS readers expressed hesitation when Spotify officially launched in the U.S. last week, and many even flat out rejected the idea of a streaming service. Lefsetz recently published a point-by-point response to pretty much every angle of criticism Spotify is and will be facing, so rather than hammer the same old points I’ve been driving home at MetalSucks for the past year or so I figured I’d re-post Lefsetz’ breakdown. Comparisons to Pandora and Rhapsody, mobile access, streaming vs. piracy, Apple… it’s all there. Here we go:

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I’ve gotten out of the habit of reading industry pundit Bob Lefsetz lately. It’s not that I stopped liking the guy or disagreeing with his rants about the current and future state of the music industry; I guess I just got tired of reading about his ski trips, and his new music recommendations are so irrelevant that they threaten the integrity of his industry rants. Still, when it comes to major label / old music biz world shenanigans and calling them out, no one’s smarter or funnier than Lefsetz.

It was actually Lefsetz that inspired me to run my not-quite-weekly Soundscan Chart roundups, and since last week’s charts included some notable heavy hitters and I didn’t do a writeup I’d like to call in Mr. Lefsetz for his own analysis. Of course, in our world Godsmack and the Deftones are ginormous behemoths — two of the biggest bands we ever talk about on this site — but Bob points out that they’re pretty small potatoes all things considered (truth). Still, for someone that’s got little to no knowledge of metal, Bob displays a knowledgeable understanding of each band’s place in the world:

Godsmack “Oracle”

Sales this week: 117,481
Debut

[excerpt]

…I’ll guarantee you almost no one knows Godsmack.  Take a survey, in a country of three hundred million how many even recognize the name, never mind know the music.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.  Godsmack has a hard core fan base.  Which rushed out and bought this album this week. After they’ve all got it, then what?  Maybe there’ll be airplay and sustaining sales.  But I doubt they’ll be anywhere near enough to put “Oracle” at the top of the chart.

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Industry guru Bob Lefsetz, in one of his typically off-topic rants — in this case, a lengthy story about getting his ass checked for colon cancer (yes, really) — managed to sneak in this gem of insight about Tommy Lee:

And then they’re running late [at the doctor's office].  Which gives me enough time to read “Fortune” and find out that Tommy Lee is letting the public record his album.  Enough with the gimmicks Tommy, NO ONE WANTS YOUR ALBUM!  Yup, he records drums and vocals, you create the music and he owns it.  Huh?  Why does everybody keep paying attention to Mr. Lee.  He’s a DRUMMER!  He should be thankful that people still want to see him in Motley Crue.

I mean, right? Can we all please get a big, rousing “WHAT THE FUCK???” for Tommy Lee? Why do we even waste our breath talking about the guy? Let’s all collectively agree to stop buying into Tommy’s shenanigans and just ignore the damn guy.

But then again… the new American populace Methods of Mayhem is probably gonna give us tons of material here. Nevermind.

-VN

We’ve covered industry pundit Bob Lefsetz in this space before (most famously his public debate with Ki$$ scumbag Gene Simmons); Lefsetz’s rants against the music industry are sometimes pure genius while his take on modern music is more often than not woefully out-of-touch, but he’s nothing if not endearing in his conviction and passion for the art form of music. His latest notable quotable (as deemed so by Bram Teitelman of Metal Insider) heaps praise upon Nine Inch Nails opening act Dillinger Escape Plan, whose noise/math metal we’ve of course been following for years but who’ve just reached the level where they’re on the radar of walled-up industry higher-ups like Lefsetz:

Encore two was performed with the Dillinger Escape Plan. An act I’d never heard of, but I’ll never forget. A complete band, a NIN doppelganger, who took the stage with such energy that you could feel it blasting in your face. The drummer pounded, then they kicked around his big bass drum, threw it in the air. The guitarist twirled his guitar around his body, again and again. And the lead singer jumped into the audience. Rick Mueller said it was the most exciting act he’d seen all year, Jim said he wanted to see them again. All I’ll say is they got my attention!

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Which is why I would never engage in a debate with Gene Simmons about anything. It’s the same reason I rarely respond to comments left on this site. If I post about a band I think is great and someone’s response is “Ur a faggit,” what the fuck am I supposed to say that? My IQ could drop just trying to communicate with that person, so I don’t.

But music biz guru Bob Lefsetz must love  a Sisyphean task when he encounters one, because he’s been feuding with Simmons for the past week. The whole tiff started when Lefsetz criticized Simmons in his  newsletter (of which both Vince and myself are avid readers) for a speech Simmons gave during Canadian Music Week about various ways in which the music industry might stay afloat; Simmons responded with his own e-mail, in which he made fun of Lefsetz’s name. Seriously. This is the level of of maturity and intelligence with which Lefsetz is trying to engage.

The feud culminated in a public debate last week, which you can watch below – or don’t. Simmons’ opening argument rests not on any proof of acquired business acumen (and beside the admittedly phenomenal success of Kiss, it’s worth noting that 9 out of 10 Gene Simmons ventures fail – see exhibit A, Detroit Rock City), but, rather, on a bald joke. Which tells you pretty much everything you need to know.

After the jump, you can watch a clip of Lisa Lampanelli roasting Simmons on A&E last year. Which is considerably more entertaining than the video above.

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In a well-written but typically sour-old-fart-ish rant about the audio quality of CDs vs. vinyl, industry pundit Bob Lefsetz made perhaps one of the best comparisons ever:

I felt the [CD]. But it wasn’t warm. It was a silicone tit, not the real thing. Real boobs sag. The girls think we hate this. Along with stretchmarks and that roll of fat around their middle. Whereas this makes girls real. They’re built with a higher percentage of body fat. They’re made to give birth, to nurture. Who’d want to sleep with a ten year old boy? A STARVING ten year old boy?

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A couple of weeks back I wrote about music biz guru Bob Lefsetz’s anger over the fact that AC/DC’s new album, Back in Black Part Nine Black Ice, is being released as a Wal-Mart exclusive. At that time, Lefsetz wrote “The joke is illegal acquisition will dwarf CD sales. Whatever is sold legitimately will be distributed online INSTANTLY… The only difference is, THEY’RE NOT GOING TO GET PAID!”

And Lefsetz was right, of course. The album leaked this past Monday, a full two weeks prior to its official release.

But I knew I wasn’t excited about this album when I decided not to download it. Let me repeat that: I literally care so little about a new AC/DC album that I don’t even want a free copy. I mean, c’mon: I already know how each and every song sounds. The band hasn’t had any new tricks up its collective sleeve since no one even knew who Metallica were. It doesn’t mean I hate AC/DC or I’m not excited that they’re touring again; it just means I don’t give a fuck about the record that provides the band with an excuse to embark upon said tour.

SO, since there was a time when a new AC/DC album was actually cause for excitement, this seemed like a good time to post this video of “Big Balls,” an song which used to make Vince and I giggle endlessly during our junior high school years (And, truth be told, still makes us giggle today.). It makes a good companion piece to the Job for a Cowboy Spongebob video, but mostly, I just hope it reminds us of a time when AC/DC were more than just a legacy act.

-AR

It made headlines recently when AC/DC guitarist Angus Young told the Telegraph that the band’s music isn’t on iTunes because “We don’t make singles, we make albums.” Other bands have expressed a similar attitude towards the single-friendly digital music store – Tool springs to mind – but in this day and age of iPods, creating playlists, illegal downloading, etc., one wonders if this position is even tenable.

Music biz guru Bob Lefsetz apparently feels the same way, as expressed in his latest rant:

“My blood started to boil when I read the quotes. Because these rich motherfuckers, who happen to have made some great music, are living in the nineties and ONLY care about money. There’s this lip service to creating albums that must be heard this way, but if that’s the case, why don’t they put out records that are one giant cut, so we’re FORCED to listen to the whole damn record.”

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I usually refrain from re-posting rants from well-known industry curmudgeon Bob Lefsetz — but a lot of the time, in between sounding like an old fart and telling boring ski stories through metaphor, the guy hits the nail on the head. Such as in this rant sent this past Friday, in which he sums up quite nicely how he feels about the thousands of artists trying “to make it”:

Just because you believe in yourself doesn’t mean I should.

I’m constantly inundated with people frustrated that they haven’t made it. Everybody says how great they are, their family, their friends, how come they can’t break through? If only they were on the radio. Won’t someone invest in them?

You’d think that record companies are the enemy. I know, I know, they’re not what they used to be, but do you really think they don’t want to sign stuff that sells? That’s easy to sell? Do you really think you’re being given the brush-off unnecessarily, that the big bad man is out to screw you? Not only the record company man, but the radio guy too?

And sure, both those outlets are now only interested in a narrow category of performer. Probably a pretty face with a number written by a song doctor or the latest urban delight. You’re right, that’s fucked. But the reason they don’t want to sign you isn’t because they’ve got a personal vendetta against you, but because they can’t SELL YOU!

And what’s worse, they can’t sell the records of an established act either. Do you think you’re as good as Elton John? He’s gone on record that he’s not going to release any more albums because no one cares, no one wants to buy them. But since you’ve dedicated your life to music, somehow you think you’re entitled!

Chances are you’re not that good. Or, if by some weird quirk of fate, you are, you’re making music that most people just aren’t interested in. Please accept this. And stop acting wounded. Frustrated that you haven’t gotten your chance. Talk to the big time managers, the ones you wish were pushing you, they’re flummoxed too, they’re having a hard enough time keeping legendary acts working.

But no, the system’s out to get you.

The man speaks the truth.

-VN

We usually try and stay away from reposting the email rants of industry guru Bob Lefsetz, but this one struck a chord (no pun intended), and besides, it was actually a response to a Lefsetz post, not a rant from the man himself. This one was from Throwdown frontman Dave Peters — a man whose presence we’re quickly learning strengthens the intelligence of the metal gene pool as a whole — and was reposted by Lefsetz in his newsletter:

Bob,

I play in a metal band. We have sold around 200k records across 3 releases. We’re not ‘huge’ by any stretch but do alright and live off (and ON subsequently) the road. Fans and friends ask me all the time how I feel about “stealing music.” I just told someone yesterday “I have a hard time seeing it as stealing…when I don’t see any money from cd sales to begin with. What are they actually TAKING from me?”

If you want to squeeze an opinion on theft out of me, ask me about the dude that grabbed our tshirt off the table tonight in Detroit or better yet.. ask me about record contracts.

I encourage our fans to acquire our album however they please. The philosophy I’ve adopted is that if you’re supporting disc sales, you’re keeping the old model around longer…the one that forces dudes like me to tour 9 mos/year if they want to make ends meet with a career in music. If you wanna really support a band, “steal” their album….help bury the label….and buy a tshirt when you show up at their show and sing every word.

Dave Peters

Throwdown

And there you have it, straight from the horse’s mouth.

-VN