Bob Lefsetz and his infamous Letter
The story of how someone who didn’t make it into the music industry, actually did
Bob Lefsetz is well-known by musicians, producers and artists worldwide. The US born music critic has been often referred to as a “music pundit” over the past several decades. Disregarding his vexed reputation, Bob has managed to do something many haven’t. He successfully claimed a solid spot in the music industry without having exceptional musical talents or producer skills for that matter.
You might wonder how did he do that. But let’s first start with the question who is Bob Lefsetz? Many have asked this question, including Gene Simmons, to Bob’s face. In short, Bob is the guy who speaks via a personal newsletter to the music enthusiasts all over the world who long for the good old days when music was different and it reached previous generations in a compelling way. The longer version of the story is that Lefsetz was obsessed with music and tried different ways to become part of the industry, yet for one reason or another that never happened. Briefly, he was an entertainment lawyer and a consultant for some major record labels but that didn’t pan out exactly as planned.
His story gets real interesting at the end of his college experience. As a younger fellow he dreamed of becoming a music journalist one day. When one of his college professors denounced his writing, he decided to search for another route that would guarantee him a place in the music world. A few years of unsuccessful attempts to break into the field passed by before he got the brilliant idea to take up writing again. Realizing that he can do better, he seized an opportunity that presented itself after the dot-com bubble burst. Bob got to know his way around a computer and that’s how The Lefsetz Letter in its current email form began.
Not a very well-known fact is that before his email digest existed, he actually used to send out the same newsletter since ‘86, the old-school way. He would print out his issues and then mail them…by post! Can you believe that?! He was onto something big even before he registered with his first @aol.com address. That shows one hell of a dedicated person. Over the years, the Lefsetz Letter has grown into a force of its own that secured Bob a solid spot in the music industry.
That success story is literally based on a newsletter. But not just “any” newsletter. What makes The Lefsetz Letter so special is Bob’s burning passion about the world of music. After countless unsuccessful attempts to make it in the music industry, he decided to go all in on what he knew best — his knowledge about and ability to objectively analyse the music industry. The rest is pretty much history and a long one at that.
This also raises an interesting question. How did Bob manage to stay relevant and grow his readership when nowadays music and film critics are becoming more and more irrelevant? And let’s not forget he did that and still is doing that only with the help of his newsletter. That same newsletter which is regularly read by so many music celebrities and figures.
Bob has built himself this reputation based on the substantial expertise acquired over years of experience. In the industry people care about that. They look up to him. Musicians care about what he has to say. How otherwise would you be able to get under Kid Rock’s skin so easily if Bob was indeed a nobody (what many seem to claim)? Thing is, the personal newsletter served him as a reliable platform that has helped him become and remain relevant to this very day. If he was to only run a website, he might have had big success, but nevertheless this strategy wouldn’t really work in 2017. By getting into people’s inboxes year after year, he secured himself a safe spot where his readers want to see his name and hear from him. They know Bob and they rely on what he has to say.
He explains it best in his interview with Recode:
“You know, the funny thing about email is, I stumbled into that at the beginning of the century and everybody said, “Go to the blog format.” And I was against that, because at the time, a lot of the people I reached, people in the music business, were not that web savvy. The irony is [that] everybody’s web savvy now, but because of noise in the channel everybody switched back to newsletters.”
He is one of the people who understood email ever since the day he pressed send for the first time with Lefsetz Letter. Bob recognized the potential email holds and grabbed the holy inbox by the horns. Putting as much value as possible for his readers and sticking with his idea about the Letter paved his way to success. It is remarkable what he achieved by simply going the extra mile and betting on email. Because to him, The Lefsetz Letter is more than just a regular newsletter. It’s his own way of achieving his dream. The personal newsletter offered him a way to express himself and build his own empire. Take this as an inspirational entrepreneurial story if you will.
