
The Music Business
How artists, labels, managers, publishers, promoters, and money actually behave.
This is the main personal section: what I think now, what I remember, what I got right, what I got wrong, and what everyone else has conveniently forgotten. It is written, dictated, supplied, or approved by me—not a generic “voice of” approximation.
Expect music-business war stories, political arguments, historical corrections, useful provocations, and the occasional sentence that makes an old enemy sit up much straighter.


How artists, labels, managers, publishers, promoters, and money actually behave.

The strategy, risks, personalities, touring, and decisions behind a global breakthrough.

When having no respectable option became a competitive advantage.

Crossing markets, languages, and cultural assumptions without flattening the music.

Records were only the beginning; attention itself became a business.

Independent commentary from someone who distrusts slogans, tribes, and simple answers.

OSS, SOE, the early CIA, espionage culture, propaganda, and family stories from inside the mythology.

Success, failure, reinvention, and the education hidden inside an expensive mistake.

Why on Earth would a guy like Trump welcome an endorsement from persons who have so much on tape that contradicts exactly what he has beensaying? RFK…

The Atheist view of the world would have to disapprove on principle every regime that has a religious basis behind its "right" to rule. Such rule…

As usual, everyone in the Middle East has buried their heads in the sand - talks past each other and only thinks from their sole point of view. As an…

The Iran regime is not a regime that should be supported in any way BUT at the same time lets get the facts straight. John Bolton has always had…

Interesting to hear Senator Marco Rubio on CNN discuss the Iran-Israel news of yesterday. He refers to Israel as the "Jewish State". By definition he…

It is amazing and a great lesson in marketing that if one is prepared to outright lie it is a great advantage and nearly impossible to counter. In…

Israelis must be scratching their heads in disbelief these days. Most governments and Westerners generally have been too afraid to criticize Israeli…

The US Constitution was written before the realities of today were known. Checks and balances is a great idea BUT there are no checks and balances…

Sat April 6 What is the difference between Hamas and Israel? Each side points fingers at the other and both miss the point, 1. Israel is a state…

Antakya? Never heard of it before the recent earthquake that devastated SW turkey and NW Syria. Oh you mean Antioch? Heard of that. Dates back over…

This evening I had the misfortune of flipping across my TV channels and came across an interview between Tulsi Gabbard and Tucker Carlson on FOX…

The Russian play book is at work now in Moldova. Russian operatives are stirring up descent and pro Russian propaganda against the current government…

For those of us that were thinking that the Fox "News" hosts could not really be believing all the nonsense from the Trump camp about stolen…

Russia has been trying to justify its invasion of Ukraine by pretending that it is still a superpower with a "natural" sphere of influence which it…

For all the complaints about the "over reach" of government as it relates to regulations, when we see the devastation in Turkey we should realize all…

For all the talk by Putin and his spokesmen that Russia is going to win the war in Ukraine, the penny has still not dropped that the West cannot…

Tom Verlaine of the NY band Television died last week at the age of 73. I had not seen Tom for many years but remember well when I organized the…

Better Late Than Never. Glad to see The Cramps song Goo Goo Muck is getting the attention it deserves. Ivy does the guitar so hopefully she has heard…

US TV shows give a lot of coverage to Ukraine even as the disclosures of the June 6th committee keep coming. Some commentators mention the idea of an…

Hypocrisy is alive and well in the 3 one god religions. How many Christians do you know that support the idea of "Turn the other cheek"? How many…

I have never been a fan of Tucker Carlson. Never trusted his practiced sincerity. He tells lies so well with a straight face that one can see why he…

The unfortunate truth of the war in Ukraine is that it is beginning to dawn on everyone that the only way to end it is the assassination of Putin…

Well its Christmas time again and the world is still deep in trouble. Burying one's head in the sand is alive and well it seems, 1. At least there is…
Admirers, skeptics, former allies, competitors, critics, and lifelong enemies are all welcome. An audience that agrees with everything is either not listening or trying to get a deal.
Read the stories, check the facts, challenge the conclusions, and argue intelligently. History becomes much tidier after the people who made it have stopped talking. I have not.