Bob Lefsetz
Encyclopedia
Bob Lefsetz is an American
music industry figure and author of the email newsletter and blog
, the Lefsetz Letter. Based in Santa Monica, California
, Lefsetz worked previously as an entertainment business attorney
, majordomo of Sanctuary Music's American division and as a consultant to major record label
s. Lefsetz has received criticism from industry peers as someone who furthers himself by tearing others down.
Themes explored in the Lefsetz Letter:
Lefsetz was publicly dressed down by singer Kid Rock
in an email exchange that Lefsetz forwarded to readers on November 8, 2007, but has apparently chosen not to post to his online letter archive. In the exchange, Rock reacts to Lefsetz's cavalier "F**k Kid Rock" comment by threatening the industry gadfly with bodily harm and calling him "bitch boy."
Lefsetz exchanged insults via e-mail
with Kiss
bassist Gene Simmons
in March 2009. Simmons and Lefsetz were both keynote speakers at the Canadian Music Week
conference. Lefsetz criticized Simmons' appearance as only self-promotional; Simmons launched Simmons Records with Universal Music Canada earlier in the year. Simmons responded by calling Lefsetz a "moron", and wrote, "I won’t stop telling you how great I am. Find someone else for that." The two debated in-person at the Royal York Hotel
in Toronto
.
Lefsetz revealed in December of 2009 that he was battling leukemia.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
music industry figure and author of the email newsletter and blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
, the Lefsetz Letter. Based in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, Lefsetz worked previously as an entertainment business attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, majordomo of Sanctuary Music's American division and as a consultant to major record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
s. Lefsetz has received criticism from industry peers as someone who furthers himself by tearing others down.
Themes explored in the Lefsetz Letter:
- 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 physical musical formats (primarily the decline of CD sales as alternate online music services such as iTunesITunesiTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
continue to flourish) - The prevalence of Peer-to-PeerPeer-to-peerPeer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
(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 reflection on songs, songwriterSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
s, bandsBand (music)In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
and industry insiders that have affected his unique and independent outlook of the music industry. - Lefsetz's personal life: his trips, vacations, youthful years driving across country, skiing, and so forth.
Lefsetz was publicly dressed down by singer Kid Rock
Kid Rock
Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...
in an email exchange that Lefsetz forwarded to readers on November 8, 2007, but has apparently chosen not to post to his online letter archive. In the exchange, Rock reacts to Lefsetz's cavalier "F**k Kid Rock" comment by threatening the industry gadfly with bodily harm and calling him "bitch boy."
Lefsetz exchanged insults via e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
with Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
bassist Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons is an Israeli-American entrepreneur, singer-songwriter, actor, and rock bassist. Known as "The Demon", he is the bassist/vocalist of Kiss, a hard rock band he co-founded in the early 1970s.-Early life:...
in March 2009. Simmons and Lefsetz were both keynote speakers at the Canadian Music Week
Canadian Music Week
Canadian Music Week is an industry conference and music festival held over four days in various venues throughout Toronto, Ontario, Canada.-History:...
conference. Lefsetz criticized Simmons' appearance as only self-promotional; Simmons launched Simmons Records with Universal Music Canada earlier in the year. Simmons responded by calling Lefsetz a "moron", and wrote, "I won’t stop telling you how great I am. Find someone else for that." The two debated in-person at the Royal York Hotel
Fairmont Royal York
The Fairmont Royal York Hotel, formerly the Royal York Hotel and still often so called, is a large and historic hotel in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at 100 Front Street West. Opened on June 11, 1929, the Royal York was designed by Ross and Macdonald and built by the Canadian Pacific Railway...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
.
Lefsetz revealed in December of 2009 that he was battling leukemia.