LEFSETZ ON BREAKING A NEW BAND

Some great comments on breaking a band from music industry commentator Bob Lefsetz’s latest newsletter, "…truly savvy agents and managers have these hit acts UNDERPLAY!"

"You don’t want to make it IMPOSSIBLE to get a ticket, but you don’t EVER want someone to be able to attend a show on a whim. No, you’ve got to plan in advance, you’ve got to WANT to go, because each and every show SELLS OUT!"

"It’s a PRIVILEGE to be able to attend. And, having acquired this privilege, attendees are going to SPREAD THE WORD! AND, they’re going to BUY THE CD!"

"Oh, they’ve got the MP3s from the Web, but you’ve got to OWN a piece of your favorite act. You need the TOTEM! It’s a BADGE OF HONOR!…"

"…You don’t give a flying fuck if the music’s on the radio. Hell, the target audience doesn’t respect the radio. And, the target audience knows how to ACQUIRE the music, get TURNED ON TO IT!"

"Just put up a Website. With A LOT of information. Tour diaries. Details on making the album. TECHNICAL details."

"And stream the studio record. And give away some demos and live MP3s."

"Your WEBSITE is your own personal MTV/radio station. As long as it’s honest, you can do ANYTHING on your Website. Because it’s YOURS! It doesn’t LOOK like you’re working it. A Website is an OASIS on the Internet. An island."

"That OTHERS CAN LINK TO, but you don’t ever want your natives invading any other spaces. No, the key is to get EVERYBODY to want to go to YOUR Disneyland."

"And there are very few Disneylands out there. People FIND the great acts."