Stories from the Edge of Music #56: How do you define an artist?
A guest column by Bob Lefsetz
Bob Lefsetz lives in L.A., and writes The Lefsetz Letter, a free mass e-mail that has thousands of readers.
AN INTRODUCTION TO A MUSIC BIZ GURU
Bob Lefsetz is an American lawyer who’s been writing his e-mailed “letters” several times a week — I’ve been a reader since it was a printed missives you’d get every fortnight. Back then, it cost US$110 a year.
These days, it’s free, and he has thousands of readers — the cream of the international music business, from major label presidents down to independent musicians. And even Substack scribblers like me.
Now he merely sounds grumpy, and frequently gets into politics (he hates Trump and do-nothing Democrats with equal invective). He is also a ski buff with medical problems — I delete any of his posts that mention Aspen or Vail, or doctors.
However he’s a most perceptive writer about music trends, even though he stoutly defends the two most-hated industry organizations, Spotify and Ticketmaster.
That said, you should get a subscription; you can thank me later!
A few months ago, he created a list of what and who an artist is, and he gave m permission to reprint it. If you’re an artist, I hope this encourages you. If you know an artist please share this with them. It’s long, so I’ve divided it into two parts — the second half will be included next time.
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AN ARTIST …
• Endures negative feedback.
• Takes risks on a regular basis.
• Does not create to satiate the audience but themselves.
• Creates because they need to.
• Works without the audience in mind.
• Knows that they will oftentimes be ahead of the audience.
• Knows to ignore their most vocal critics. It’s usually more about the person who is criticizing than the work.
• Knows the audience has expectations, but is not concerned with fulfilling them.
• Is willing to go broke.
• Knows the more you know, the longer you’ve been doing it, the harder it gets, even though you are that much more skilled.
• Realizes that putting one’s foot in the pool is the first step and most people are unwilling to do this.
• Is willing to learn.
• Knows that inspiration creates the best work, but that sometimes creation begets inspiration. In other words, once you grease the wheels you might be inspired to do something great.
• Knows that those who respond first are the ones to be most ignored.
• Knows they are not a brand. Brands are consistent, artists are not.
• Needs to grow. Once they stop doing this, they’re dead.
• Gets frustrated but carries on.
• Gets angry but doesn’t respond.
• Knows the most ardent supporters are those who are silent.
• Finishes.
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VIDEO(S) OF THE WEEK
Back in the day (all of three years ago) a British band nobody had heard of had a sly, funny, unexpected hit. Wet Leg became an overnight success, and has been working solidly ever since. Here’s a reminder of that hit, filmed at the Glastonbury Festival two years ago:
Now, all this time later, they have a new album due in July and called Moisturizer, and here’s the first frothy pop song from it. Well, whaddya think? A hit, or a miss? Well, as they used to say in the old days, at least you can dance to it…
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QUOTES OF THE WEEK (OUR NEIGHBOUR IN DISTRESS)
“And here you are, Donny. Golf clubs in one hand, the world in the other. Selling gold cards while markets hemorrhage like a Vegas ATM. Pull that Titleist out of your rectum and face the tune. This ain't Mar-a-Lago Monopoly anymore. This is real life. You fucked with it. You broke it. Fix it.” — Bill King,
(Substack)“Donald’s brain is broken, and he is not fit to operate a Pez dispenser, much less to serve as president.” — Scott Dworkin,
(Substack)“(Donny Convict) turned a $400-million inheritance from his tyrant Klansman father into a $1.2-billion loss. He became so toxic that bankers refused to lend to him, and he had to turn to Russian mobsters to finance his harebrained schemes. He went broke running casinos. He filed for bankruptcy six times. He bought an airline and ran it into the ground. That’s just a partial list of Donny’ accomplishments.
“And to all that, now we can add (that he’s) bankrupted an entire planet.” — Jeff Tiedrich,
(Substack)++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NEXT TIME…
More Lefsetz on who and what an artist really is, some updated festival news, more Substack recommendations, and some assorted odds and ends to make you smile.
Meanwhile, there’s still nothing here behind a paywall, but the $6 monthly fee will go up for new people in a few weeks. All the good folk who are here already will be grandfathered at the current rate.
It's always nice to be reminded! I like the list a lot. I don't think you 'become' an artist, I think you just 'are' an artist - and hopefully you carry that through life, even though there will be periods of time where you simply can't create - not because you're too busy, just because it's not always flowing, and this is ok, totally ok.
Gracious my friend.