Top all-time · #1032
Lefsetz Letter
Personal blog · lefsetz.comculturebusiness
Lefsetz Letter is a personal blog at lefsetz.com about culture and business. Since 2007, 68 different Hacker News readers have linked it 105 times, most often “Apple Buys Beats [the April Fools version]”. No feed was found, so read it on the site itself.
Lefsetz addresses the issues that are at the core of the music business: downloading, copy protection, pricing and the music itself.
Most-linked posts?
- /wordpress/3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2010-04-11
- Apple Buys Beats [the April Fools version]3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2014-05-09
- Facebook Is For Old People2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2013-06-02
- Spatial Audio2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2021-06-12
- Google Music2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2011-05-12
What Hacker News says?
Here's my fave obituary so far: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2013/10/27/l... Jenny said when she was just five years old There was nothin’ happenin’ at all It was the fifties. We were living in cookie cutter houses in the suburbs. Our parents will still recovering from the war, buckling down and making a better life for their children, with barbecues and trips to the beach and… Every time she puts…
Comment linking /wordpress/index.php/archives/2013/10/27/lou-reed/
on “Lou Reed, Velvet Underground Leader and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 71”Submitted Spatial Audio as a story · 139 points
HN discussionBelieve it lol [0] "The acts are responsible for all of it. They set the ticket prices. They created the large fees. Ticketmaster is paid to take the heat. Because the acts don’t want their fans to hate them. Even worse, the fans don’t hate them even when they’re told the acts are at fault, they just don’t believe it!" For more insight into ticket pricing, see [1] That said, up until I read this Ars article, I under…
Comment linking /wordpress/2024/03/01/the-truth-about-ticket-prices/
on “Internal emails reveal Ticketmaster helped scalpers jack up prices, FTC says”Submitted Steve Jobs’ Response as a story · 77 points
HN discussionI, for one, would love to know where those hundreds of millions to produce Avatar went, for instance. I wonder what slice of that pie was attributed to "Marketing Expense." Turns out it's free to upload a video (like, a trailer, let's say) to YouTube and link to it elsewhere. Go figure. But insofar as media conglomerates addressing this matter internally, why would they? It's not a problem for them . Their revenues…
Comment linking /wordpress/index.php/archives/2011/05/21/another-member-of-the-overpaid/
on “Copyfight: EFF co-founder enters e-G8 "lion's den," rips into lions”Submitted The Death Of RIM as a story · 59 points
HN discussionLefsetz, Let the Clubs Close https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2024/11/04/let-the-clubs-close...
Comment linking /wordpress/2024/11/04/let-the-clubs-close/
on “The decline of the working musician”Submitted Kids Don’t Care About Cars as a story · 47 points
HN discussionApologies if this feels off-topic and ranting, but it's all connected: I'm convinced (in particular by years of reading Bob Lefsetz's punditry [0], as well as working alongside multiple successful musicians, DJs, and industry agencies for many years) that Spotify single-handedly saved the aging and out-of-touch record business, that their payments to artists are fair, and that it's more accessible now than ever befo…
Comment linking /
on “How the music industry learned to love piracy”Submitted Free ("The iTunes Store is a failure.") as a story · 19 points
HN discussionThe Lefsetz Letter on Mark Cuban: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2011/08/31/m... 5 Crippling Beliefs That Keep People Stuck, Unsuccessful, and Mediocre For Life: http://www.dumblittleman.com/2011/08/5-crippling-beliefs-tha... Do It Now: http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles/do-it-now.htm
Comment linking /wordpress/index.php/archives/2011/08/31/mark-cuban/
on “Ask HN: What are the most inspirational blog posts you've ever read?”Submitted Apple is running on fumes as a story · 12 points
HN discussionThere is absolutely no guarantee that you'll find your audience, and indeed the odds against doing so are increasing. For example: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2013/10/16/t... Services like GOG concentrate on good games. That's of course subjective (according to the distributor), but they do a lot of pre-filtering for you. Which Steam did, a role which they have since abandoned. Why do you assume…
Comment linking /wordpress/index.php/archives/2013/10/16/the-most-important-thing-you-will-read-all-day/
on “The Indie Bubble Is Popping”Submitted Lefsetz Letter - Apple/EMI/DRM - "Why the fuck should they cost more?" as a story · 9 points
HN discussionI think a decent case could be made for the fact that the internet tends to cause people to converge more, not less - the same anti-long-tail arguments apply (for example, see http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2011/11/08/t... ). That being said, the general point is valid - the current business model for generating entertainment is broken, leaving it ripe for disruption, and the OP's fallacy is the ass…
Comment linking /wordpress/index.php/archives/2011/11/08/the-myth-of-the-long-tail/
on “Y Combinator’s Short-sighted War Against Hollywood”Submitted The Streaming Era Has Begun.. as a story · 7 points
HN discussionIt's weird how this April Fools article about Apple buying Beats [1] doesn't seem ridiculous right now. http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2014/04/01/a...
Comment linking /wordpress/index.php/archives/2014/04/01/apple-buys-beats/
on “Apple Said to Be in Talks to Buy Beats for $3.2 Billion”Submitted “Tidal is Dead on Arrival” as a story · 6 points
HN discussionLefsetz wrote a pretty good one when this happened: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2015/07/22/b...
Comment linking /wordpress/index.php/archives/2015/07/22/bill-simmons/
on “ESPN suspends publication of Grantland”Submitted The United States of Cults as a story · 5 points
HN discussionHe did: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2013/06/02/f... He's worth following, particularly if you're interested in Things Media, and you like his stream-of-consciousness style.
Comment linking /wordpress/index.php/archives/2013/06/02/facebook-is-for-old-people/
on “Facebook is Getting Old”Submitted Remixing old songs with Spatial Audio is offensive as a story · 5 points
HN discussionI don't think a global wealth tax is practical, so questions of its desirability are moot. I don't think that an endlessly progressive system of taxation is that desirable either, but on the other hand I think your idea of market constraints are also a bit facile. Of course some people misjudge a market and go bust spectacularly, but most people with a lot of wealth tend to accumulate more. ISTM that Piketty is reac…
Comment linking /wordpress/index.php/archives/2013/10/16/the-most-important-thing-you-will-read-all-day/
on “Summers on Piketty”Submitted Authenticity – Snapchat and the end of “selling out” (Lefsetz Letter) as a story · 4 points
HN discussionFunny you mention that... http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2014/04/01/a...
Comment linking /wordpress/index.php/archives/2014/04/01/apple-buys-beats/
on “Apple in talks for $3.2bn Beats deal”Submitted Tidal: Artists Banding Together in the Name of Money? as a story · 4 points
HN discussionYep. His main blog is here: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
Comment linking /wordpress/
on “WhatsApp”Submitted Apple's Mistake as a story · 4 points
HN discussionAnyone interested in this should definitely check out this essay Bob Lefsetz. Re: Apple Music - "It's toast." http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2015/06/10/a...
Comment linking /wordpress/index.php/archives/2015/06/10/apple-music/
on “Apple Is Being Investigated for Possibly Conspiring Against Spotify”Submitted Amanda Palmer Kickstarter Event as a story · 4 points
HN discussion
