According to a 2007 story in the Washington Post, Bob Lefsetz is on Rhino records payroll and is a consultant for Rhino Records and a consultant at Warner Brothers. A clear conflict of interest since his weekly Rhino column also has a playlist on Spotify.
BUT
while it truly pains me to say it, I don’t believe the conflict of interest infected his opinion about Taylor Swift removing her songs from Spotify, I think his loathing of taylor Swift.
First the quote, this is on how Lefsetz Makes his money by J. J Freedom De Luc in March 2008 (here):
“That’s the age-old question,” says Larry Solters, the spokesman for Ticketmaster, Nielsen SoundScan and the Eagles, and a regular Lefsetz reader. “How does Bob make his money? I don’t think anybody knows.”
Lefsetz says that’s because he isn’t really making any money.
Oh, sure, he gets checks from Celebrity Access and Yahoo! Music, which reprint some of his screeds. And Rhino Records pays him for monthly podcasts. And he’ll get a stipend for speaking at events like the Concert Industry Consortium and the upcoming Music Matters convention in Hong Kong.
He’s done some consulting work for record companies, including Warner Bros., which seems to run counter to his assertion that he’s beholden to no one. (“It’s not something I pursue,” Lefsetz says of consulting contracts.) And he used to have a radio show, too, until the station sold his hours for infomercials.
“I live on a no-cash basis,” he says. “I live in a rent-controlled apartment in Santa Monica. . . . I don’t have kids or all these other expenses people have. If I’m going to dinner, somebody else is picking up the tab.”
The ski vacations? Cheap flights to Colorado and even cheaper accommodations: Lefsetz is dating Felice Mancini, daughter of the late composer Henry Mancini, and the family owns a condo in Vail. “People have this fantasy that I’m living some exotic, marvelous life. . . . I laugh when people think there’s a big pile of money somewhere. . . . NO! You’re just not willing to live and sacrifice the way I do. And believe me, I’ve sacrificed.”
Two names: Rhino Records and Warner Brothers. WB owns Rhino and Lefsetz gets a monthly paycheck from Rhino and consults with WB and as a guest speaker at the Concert Industry Consortium, an annual trade convention, he referred to Warner Music Group chief Edgar Bronfman Jr. as “a fucking idiot”.
I firmly believe that anybody willing to call the head of the record label he is consulting for a fucking idiot is not corrupted by Spotify.
Here is Lefsetz for dummies.
A small town lawyer
Worked for Iron Maiden’s home Sanctuary Records
Started his letter in 1986.
Terrible about music -I mean, really, nearly no ears at all.
Pretty good on the business side.
Can’t write for toffee.
And somewhat fearless.
And on Rhino’s payroll and therefore has a conflict of interest with Swift.
But I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
