Attorney Don Passman literally wrote the book on the music business: “All You Need to Know About the Music Business.” Here we delve deeply into today’s deal landscape, as well as Don’s story, how he got to be one of the foremost lawyers in the music business. If you want to know about record deals, and publishing deals, and 360 deals and touring deals…this is the place!

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Tune in today, July 28th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: HearLefsetzLive

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: LefsetzLive

You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

If Trump wins the election, there will be riots in the street.

The right believes by countering the protests, by waving the flag of law and order, they’re winning. What they don’t know is decades of tilting the playing field and working the refs has come back to haunt them.

If I talk about politics, and I’d rather not, like the rest of America I’d rather vote and get on with my life, paying cursory attention, those on the right get up in arms, they bite back, they tell me I’m wrong, but they don’t unsubscribe, whereas those on the left say nothing and if they’re sick and tired of being sick and tired they unsubscribe quietly and head into the night. Oh, then there are those on the right who want to make a point, they respond UNSUBSCRIBE when they know very well there’s a link at the bottom of each e-mail to do this, they just want to get their opinion heard. You see the right is working the refs and getting a disproportionate share of the left to question their numbers and beliefs, when each and every poll indicates the public overwhelmingly despises Trump and his policies.

That does not mean he won’t win. He’s helped by gerrymandering and voter suppression, and an expressed willingness not to accept the result if it doesn’t go his way. Then what?

This is not the America of 2016, never mind 1980. The problems of the underclass, of what’s left of the middle class, have festered to the point where people cannot take it anymore, they’re hopeless. That’s another reason Hillary lost, she represented more of what we already had, which wasn’t working for so many people. If I hear one more talking head or writer laud Obama my head is gonna explode. I’ve got nothing against the man, but he didn’t solve the underlying problems of America and Timothy Geithner succeeded in not only rescuing the banks, but paying them handsomely while the regular folk lost their homes and tried to stave off bankruptcy.

In other words, there’s no poll that will truly tell you the national mood, what’s blowin’ in the wind. But I’ll tell you it’s dissatisfaction, anger at minority rule for far too long. That’s right, Trump loses the popular vote and still gets in the White House. Gerrymandering results in a disproportionate number of Republicans getting into Congress, and the idea that less populated states like North Dakota and Wyoming get as many senators as California and New York is sticking in people’s craws.

Yes, everything is up for grabs.

There’s a belief that we adhere to a system, that the entire country buys in and we all play by the rules. But the Republicans haven’t played by the rules for decades and the Democrats have been too scared to stand up to them and the end result is people, not only the young, and of all colors, have taken to the streets to protest the state of America. And the only way to keep them down is through the use of the military.

You keep hearing the canard on the left that Trump won’t stay in office because the military is not on his side. I don’t see the federal law enforcement employees refusing to step up in Portland, what makes you think this is true, especially in a country wherein the commander of an aircraft carrier stands up for his coronavirus-infected sailors and he loses his job. Yes, that was political, just like the recent incarceration of Michael Cohen. As for Roger Stone, that’s no longer on the front page, unfortunately, but do you think America has forgotten about it? NO!

While the right oppresses, the left does nothing. Covid-19 rages and all Democratic governors and mayors can do is blame Trump. No one will stand up to the man, no one will outline a plan, a solution. Meanwhile, just yesterday Trump said we’ve got to push to reopen states. Do you think the public is ignorant, that they’ve got no clue as to what is going on? The news outlets and those in power keep blaming the young ‘uns, for partying. But the truth is these same young people stayed home under lockdown in March and April, and what was the result? NOTHING! There was no plan to transition from closed to opening, which should have been done slowly with testing and contact tracing, but those were absent.

In other words, it’s a free-for-all. And you expect the public to obey the law?

Back when music ruled the world, back when people listened to artists, before it was all about their brand and the number of streams and money, the bard from Hibbing sang:

When you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose

You just can’t make it in America anymore. I just finished reading this book “Want,” by Lynn Steger Strong. It’s about the plight of a millennial couple. The wife’s got a Ph.D., but she can’t get a full-time professorship. Her husband leaves the bank because it’s soulless and unfulfilling and…they end up declaring bankruptcy. Student loans, dentistry problems, the vagaries of life…they happen to everyone and the only people who can survive them are those with rich parents or the thin layer employed on Wall Street and maybe in tech. Where is the hope for these people? They did everything right and it turned out to be wrong.

We didn’t expect the death of George Floyd to result in spontaneous combustion, not only protests in the blue cities, but the red, even overseas. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back, enough is enough.

So, federal troops, essentially secret police, rounding up people in the night…I’ll protest that to the end of time. The Holocaust taught us you stand up early, you just don’t let heinous activity continue in plain sight. Yes, there were news stories back then, but people shrugged and said it can’t be that bad, I don’t believe it, and then the camps were liberated and the photos came out and…

People still don’t believe it. Yes, the Jews are scapegoats. Are you following what happened with Wiley in the U.K., never mind Nick Cannon in the U.S? Sure, it’s anti-Semitism, but you get scapegoats when people feel oppressed and need someone to blame, no wonder it’s increased dramatically under Trump.

So, the people protesting/rioting/whatever believe they are powerless and the only way to stand up to the oppression is to take to the streets. They don’t care about the consequences. They’re willing to be gassed, get arrested, have their bones broken. They’re the last line of defense. This is the history of revolutions, if you studied them you’d know, and if Trump steals the election, or refuses to accept the vote, these protesters are going to go berserk and will be joined by many more, and the protests will not stop and it will not be business as usual.

Trump and Fox and Limbaugh and the rest of the right wing bloviators believe law and order will win the day, that if they keep denigrating the protesters, focus on destruction, they’ll remain in power. NO WAY! No one wants buildings burned down, businesses trashed, but the truth is it’s a result of Trump bringing in the feds. Before he did, the protests were not violent. In other words, it’s Trump who poured the gasoline on the smoldering ashes. Of course, if you’re in the right wing bubble, you believe just the opposite. That the public is scary and uncontrollable and must be kept down. That’s another thing the protesters have had enough of, social media that allows disinformation to run rampant. Just because Republicans are ignorant, that does not mean everyone else is. Do you have the equivalent of QAnon on the left? OF COURSE NOT!

Like Leonard Cohen sang, everybody knows.

But what the young and oppressed know, those who didn’t succeed in getting theirs after Reagan trashed taxes and before the cost of higher education went through the roof, is the game is rigged and they’ve lost and they’re no longer going to stand for it.

So, Trump wins. There are hosannas on Fox News. And just that quickly, they’re truly rioting in the streets, setting fires, overturning cars. And they’re not gonna stop, just like the protests haven’t stopped since May. And chaos will reign and the end result is Trump will declare martial law and the transition will be complete, we’ll live in an authoritarian state.

Blame the Republicans. Who are complicit, the Vichy regime.

Blame Fox and the rest of right wing news outlets, who did it for the money.

But don’t blame the protesters, the hoi polloi, the regular people. They’ve given up on the system, the law. They’re willing to sacrifice everything they’ve got because they don’t have that much. You can only push people so far before they’ll react.

So, read the news about the horse race. It’s irrelevant. The only people paying attention are those invested in the game. But most of the public opted out long ago. They just can’t win under these rules. And if you push them any further…

They’re gonna go wild in the streets and won’t stop until Trump and his cronies, including the spineless senators, either cave or crumble.

Come on, the rule of law didn’t save all those companies disrupted by the internet. And the record labels sued their customers, how did that work out? Just because you’re rich that does not mean you have power. Nothing can compete with the masses other than armor.

Beware of that.

This is what happens when government is out of touch with the people.

America slides into fascism and what do the Democrats do? Tell us to wait for the election. The same way they tell us their hands are tied as Covid-19 ravages the nation. Don’t they get it, IT’S NOT BUSINESS AS USUAL!

The system has failed the people. And the Democrats no longer represent the people. Rather the party is run by boomer elites who won money and power during the Reagan legitimization of greed and think they know better as their traditional constituency, blue collar and service workers, are told they must shut up and eat it, because the DNC knows better and the big enemy is the Republicans. Huh?

This is not the sixties. This is not the America of the twentieth century. Furthermore, it’s no longer the greatest country in the world. Covid-19 has proven this. 2008 demonstrated our country ran on greed, Covid-19 has proven that the government is unprepared for bumps in the road, just like our citizens have no money in the bank.

As for the Republicans…

Trump won because people hated Clinton. It’s just that simple. Give the Republicans credit, their hate campaign worked, they defined Hillary over the course of fifteen years and the public bought it. The only problem was they were part of the problem, causing gridlock in D.C. to the point where nothing was getting done anyway.

And they decry Trump, and then get into lockstep behind him when he gets elected. Like an abuser who keeps going home for the punch, who sacrifices her ideals and her safety because she’s afraid of being kicked out and ending up broke on the street. As if the only way these elected officials could earn a living is in Congress.

And now we’re here.

Can’t say you couldn’t see it coming.

Scratch that. We couldn’t. The spontaneous combustion of the public was heretofore unforeseen by anybody alive. Protests never spread this broadly in the sixties. And it was mainly the youth. And to a great degree, when it comes to Vietnam, the white college age youth.

There’s always a trigger event, isn’t that what history teaches us? The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand triggered World War I and the Arab Spring was triggered by an overeducated fruit vendor self-immolating. George Floyd is killed and what do the Republicans say, what is their talking point? MORE WHITES DIE! And while you’re at it, what about Chicago? Talk about being out of touch. The Republicans speak to their base, which is far less than fifty percent of the public. And they wouldn’t be in power if it weren’t for gerrymandering and voter suppression, did they think there would be no consequences?

And now Trump is trying to recreate 1968. Believing that law and order will win the day, that that’s what America wants. But that was back when hippies were the enemy. Who exactly is the enemy here, African-Americans, the white people protesting in Omaha and Salt Lake City?

At least give credit to the NFL for backing down, realizing the slaves on their plantation had had enough. Colin Kaepernick protests and they excommunicate him, take away his bread and water, isn’t that what blackballing and refusing to let him play and make money is all about?. They were teaching the rest of the players a lesson, get out of line and…this could happen to you.

And the funny thing is the NFL, and most notably the NBA, are dominated by African-Americans, and the music charts are dominated by African-Americans, do you think oppression of them is going to resonate with the majority of the public?

But Trump keeps waving the white nationalism flag. And whenever he does Tucker Carlson denies any racism and pushes back, saying everybody on their side is innocent, while he laughs all the while.

Carlson was never this bad before. Bad, but not this bad. He’s doing it for ratings.

And Roger Ailes knew you had to give the appearance of being “Fair and Balanced.” They don’t even use that motto anymore.

Go to the website, watch Fox News, it’s an alternative universe. Not dissimilar to the one you find on Facebook. And if you make noise about it they tell you it’s about freedom of speech. How did we get here, with the water so muddied that facts are up for grabs and spin is everything?

Meanwhile, our nation is ruled by an uneducated nitwit billionaire. We thought Bill Gates was bad, Mark Zuckerberg is much worse, he’s got no conscience, it’s all about the company and its shareholders.

We did not foresee the siloing of the news. We did not foresee social media. But that does not mean the ills should be left unaddressed.

But the public at large has gotten the message. Despite all the duplicity. They know that the country is no longer working for them and democracy is up for grabs, so they’ve taken to the streets.

It was not supposed to go down this way. It was the Republicans who were supposed to fight back, with all their guns protected by the NRA and an inefficient Congress. Instead, it’s those without weapons, but numbers, who are leading the charge.

As for the gun club, they are the ones responsible for reopening this country too soon, protesting on statehouse steps. Yup, everybody’s afraid of a gun, until EVERYBODY’S AFRAID!

What are they afraid of?

That they’re losing their rights slowly over time to the point where the country will resemble a dictatorship in Eastern Europe. They keep telling us it can’t happen here, while it does.

As for the news media… It just reports, it doesn’t take a side, like a ref in a rigged game it calls the fouls but it doesn’t call the game, when the whole enterprise must be questioned.

Workers can’t make ends meet while billionaires fly around in private jets.

Relief is given to financial institutions, corporations, while the government can’t eke out a few more dollars for the proletariat because it’s gonna break the bank. Screw the bank, how about the whole damn country?

Meanwhile, Trump rules with impunity. We make fun of him, books delineating his flaws are published, and there’s no change.

The polls say he will lose, but that assumes the election will be held and not rigged and the result accepted. Yes, have you been reading about the “secret powers” of the presidency? Sounds ridiculous, but it’s true:

How Powerful Is the President?

No one is afraid of the protesters. This is not a riot where they believe they’re coming for their goods, that their safety is in question. There’s no doubt this is a protest against the government, not fellow citizens. That’s what the right does, not the left. So, the public is behind the demonstrators, who just don’t stop, who just won’t give up.

So, Trump sends federal troops to Portland and says he’s gonna send them to more cities and what do the Democrats do? NOTHING! Yup, he tells us exactly what he’s going to do, and has a long history of doing what he says, but the elected officials and their bought-in media just accept it.

But the people are not. And the last time I checked, the government was supposed to be by the people, for the people, ain’t that a laugh.

Even if the Democrats sweep D.C. in November…what happens in the interim? What happens between November and the inauguration in January?

Oh, let’s see, in Wisconsin and North Carolina the outgoing regime attempts to strip the newbie’s powers. If you don’t think that’s a harbinger for D.C…you believe it can’t happen here, while it has!

The protesters are standing up for you, whether you know it or not. They’re even standing up for the Republican dimwits addicted to Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, because this is exactly what they’re afraid of, a government run amok, where their individual freedom is compromised.

Meanwhile, the right keeps yelling about their freedom whilst curtailing ours, like the right to abortion.

As for federal troops, how about arresting anybody who won’t wear a mask?

All anybody wants to talk about is this. If you think the country is running somnambulantly, with heads in holes like ostriches, you’re wrong. Because people know what is at stake, EVERYTHING!

Don’t tell me about the rule of law, don’t tell me about precedence. Speaking of precedent, that’s how the legal system works, stare decisis. And as for the ultimate arbiter, the Supreme Court, Mitch McConnell refused to accept Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland and…he got away with it and now the Supreme Court is stacked to the right and we just pray that Roberts’s conscience will save us. Then again, where was he on voting rights, the law protecting minority access to the polls? Now if you’re black you have to wait hours to vote at few polling places. Meanwhile, in a raging pandemic you can’t even vote by mail.

These protests are heartening. It’s the best I’ve felt in three years. They give me hope. That the entire country just isn’t going to go down the drain. Most Americans have been depressed, for decades, but they have felt powerless since the election of Trump. It’s good to know some people are mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore.

We’re the last line of defense, you and me. It’s our responsibility to stand up to fascism. Which never sleeps, just like rust.

People have the right to protest peacefully.

But this is intolerable to our whiny, delusional president, who believes he can spew falsehoods and people will accept them. He’s not on the people’s side, he’s on HIS side, just like his hero Putin.

Come on, the guy won’t release his tax returns, won’t investigate the Russian bounty in Afghanistan while the Republicans defend him and keep blaming it on Clinton’s e-mails. Trump tells us Putin is a fine, trustworthy man, why do we keep thinking he doesn’t believe it?

This is it, the last line of defense before America goes down the drain.

If you think the election is gonna solve our problems then…you’re probably wealthy enough to be enduring this pandemic no problem.

We don’t live in 1789. The Supreme Court’s embrace of “originalism” is faulty. We saw what happened to this perspective in the music business, it couldn’t stop piracy, it couldn’t bring people back to CDs. After losing half of recorded music revenue the business embraced the future, in this case streaming, and then revenues went up! It’s time for our courts, our government, our entire country to live in the present as opposed to the past, to throw off old precepts and address the issues at hand. Which boil down to America no longer working for most people. And that you can only push people so hard before they’ll revolt. THANK GOD!