Persistence is NOT rewarded

Bob Lefsetz is one of those guys that used to be in the music business.

Bob Lefsetz is the author of “The Lefsetz Letter.” Famous for being beholden to no one and speaking the truth, Lefsetz addresses the issues that are at the core of the music business: downloading, copy protection, pricing and the music itself.

His intense brilliance captivates readers from Steven Tyler to Rick Nielsen to Bryan Adams to Quincy Jones to EVERYBODY who’s in the music business.

Never boring, always entertaining, Bob’s insights are fueled by his stint as an entertainment business attorney, majordomo of Sanctuary Music’s American division and consultancies to major labels.

“The Lefsetz Letter” has been publishing for the past 20 years. First as hard copy, most recently as an email newsletter and now, for the first time, in blog form.

The old saying among the unwashed yet, worried about mic. placement is; “I love music but, I hate the music business”. Most musicians, most good musicians, have never had anything to do with the music business. It’s funny though, I keep running into people who are suddenly reading Lefsetz every day.

Here’s a little breakdown of things that I say, that generally piss people off.

If you are playing clubs, you aren’t in the music business; you are in the booze selling business. If you sell a lot of booze, you are going to get asked back. If you don’t, you won’t. It doesn’t matter if you are playing original songs or covers, doesn’t matter if you are in Austin, Boston, Maine or Spain, you have to sell booze.

If your video got 3 Million hits on YouTube or you got 100,000 plays on MySpace, you aren’t in the music business. You are part of the internet advertising business and you aren’t getting paid.

If you record your own music and sells hundreds, even thousands of copies of CDs or downloads, you aren’t in the music business any more than a retired couple who turns their spare room into a “Bed and Breakfast”, is in the Hotel and Resort industry.

One more thing, if somebody tells you stuff like-”Follow your dreams” or, “You can accomplish anything you set your mind to and work hard at” or, “You just have to believe in yourself” or, “If you just keep knocking on doors, at some point, you will knock them down”; they aren’t in the music business either. People in the music business don’t say stuff like that. People who are in the business of selling crap to musicians do.

Here’s a real good rule of thumb:

Don’t Submit Unsolicited Material

See, Lefsetz strikes me as a guy who gets a PO Box full of CDs and an email account full of MP3s every day; all from musicians who think it’s a good idea to keep pushing at all costs.

I got home from a booze selling engagement last night and read this from Lefsetz.

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

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….

You think there’s a system. There’s no system anymore. Just a lot of people fighting for their slice of the pie. Warner Music cuts its dividend, Clear Channel can’t be sold because the buyers can’t lay their hands on the cash, superstars release albums that don’t go gold, but the system is out to screw YOU!

No one cares about you.

And I don’t either.

I’m not going to listen to your crap, I’m not your lackey. If you’re that good, I’m going to hear about you from someone else, who I trust, who does not have an investment….

Maybe you love John Hiatt. But he didn’t write “…Baby One More Time”, someone else did. Nor did he write “Save The Best For Last”. I’m not saying he should be unhappy, just that he’s a bit of a square peg and he’s having a hard time fitting in the round hole.

You can’t even see the hole. And your peg is flaky at best. But somehow YOU deserve success.

Fuck off….

Ol’ Bob the curmudgeonly former music lawyer isn’t trying to be cruel, he isn’t trying to be mean-he’s frustrated. He’s frustrated because, even though he says the above, or something similar, on a regular basis, he’s still going to have a PO Box and email box stuffed with unsolicited material the next time he looks.

It’s the myth of the squeaky wheel getting the grease. People are told all their lives that they have to make their presence known, that persistence is rewarded.

I knew a guy that got a job in a shoe factory that way. He just kept showing up every day for three or four weeks until they hired him. It’s good for shoe factories not the music business.

Don’t Submit Unsolicited Material

You want to play music? Go about your business. Don’t worry about the music business. Work on your songs, work on your technique, go out and sell some booze, sell ads on MySpace and YouTube if you want, figure out what it is that you do that gets a reaction, try to build a following. If it’s in you and it’s got to come out, that’s the best you can do.

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