Meet the most influential man you’ve never heard of.
Bob Lefsetz, a 56-year-old blogger, is to music what Nikki Finke is to Hollywood — a reclusive, sardonic writer who has the ear of every exec in the industry, but is little known and of little consequence outside of it.
But while Finke traffics more in breaking news, the music blogger, who reaches more than 250,000 readers, has earned his rep as a tastemaker who’s been accused of packaging opinion as fact and of favoring his sources.
Lefsetz, too, is a digital oversharer, sending out missives about his health — as he did last week when he shocked readers by writing that he has leukemia.
But the most salient parallel between Lefsetz and Finke is that he is read. By everyone. Among the many people who wrote to Lefsetz after his leukemia post was former Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page.
“Bob Lefsetz is a passionate music fan who is an extremely compelling writer that strives to speak the truth,” said Atlantic Records CEO Craig Kallman. “We are lucky to have him in our industry as someone who can push our buttons and make us think critically.”
LefsetzLetters began in 1986 as a printed publication, moving to a blog and e-mail blast in 1999. It wasn’t until 2005 — at the height of the music industry’s battle with Napster, the rogue downloader, and the transition to digital — that Lefsetz’s newsletter really took off.
Though the reports, which can go on for pages, are Lefsetz’s primary source of income, he stopped charging the $110 subscription fee in 2000. Nor does he sell advertising or accept sponsors.
In an interview with The Post, Lefsetz, a balding, chubby-cheeked redhead who talks about Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne with the enthusiasm of a boy who just discovered them, said he makes more money from appearances and other business ventures than he did charging for LefsetzLetters. Lefsetz declined to reveal his annual income, except to say that it is in the “six figures,” making him that rarest of bloggers: self-sufficient.
Critics say Lefsetz derives a lot of his income from consulting gigs with some firms and people he covers — a clear conflict of interest.
“He gets consulting fees from ‘people’ . . . the ‘people’ he doesn’t slam in his blogs,” said one former label executive who asked not to be named.
One is said to be Ticketmaster Entertainment CEO Irving Azoff, who gets a shout-out in Lefsetz’s health-alert e-mail for providing medical help. Lefsetz admits that he previously had a financial relationship with Azoff, and labels including Warner Bros. and A&M, but that now he has no dealings with them.
“I don’t have vendettas and I’m not one of the club,” Lefsetz said. “People say I give Irving a pass, but if I’m saying something positive about someone, it’s usually because they are winning, and Irving is winning right now.”
Lefsetz, an entertainment lawyer by training, is said to be one thing that Finke is not: fair. He gives readers with differing views or people he has slammed equal say. Indeed, on New Year’s Eve, Lefsetz sent readers a letter from Anschutz Entertainment Group CEO Randy Phillips that contradicted a previous post.
“Bob isn’t in the industry, so that allows him to be aggressive, combative, and fearless,” said artist manager Jeff Rabhan.