From: Peter Chaikin<\/p>\n
Subject: re: Paul Anka<\/p>\n
Hi Bob<\/p>\n
I smiled at John Van Nest\u2019s sweet story about Paul\u2019s generosity and class. While working for JBL I had a similar experience. One day Al Schmitt phoned. \u201cHey Peter I wonder if you can help my friend Paul Anka straighten out his JBLs.\u201d \u201cOf course. I\u2019d be honored.\u201c I arrive at Paul\u2019s house where he takes me to his music room in which there\u2019s an electric piano with a set of small powered JBL speakers on top. \u201cPaul, How can I help you?\u201d \u201cOne speaker\u00a0isn\u2019t working.\u201d I see they\u2019re both connected to power but I notice one of the audio cables is not fully inserted. I give it a nudge, feel the familiar click of a 1\/4\u201d plug finding its home in the jack. \u201cPaul can you try it now?\u201d Paul seats himself at the keyboard and plays a few bars, turns to me and says \u201cAh! Thank You!\u201d As we walk to the driveway he asks \u201chow much do I owe you?\u201c \u201cNothing Paul.\u201c He says \u201cplease I insist.\u201d I say\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAl called me and I\u2019m honored to be here, so really it\u2019s my pleasure.\u201d Paul asks \u201cdo you like wine? \u201cI respond affirmatively. \u201cWell then wait here.. \u201c after a bit, Paul returns with a carton in his arms filled with bottles of wine, port and, liqueur. And, shaking my hand he gives me a key fob with husky gold links and a rotating medallion inscribed \u201cMy Way!\u201d I thank him profusely.\u00a0\u00a0Some weeks later we take one of the bottles to an Italian restaurant and casually hand it to our waiter for uncorking. After a long wait, a sommelier arrives eyes wide, and informs us this is a very rare bottle of wine. I\u2019m still grateful to\u00a0Al for gifting me this wonderful experience.<\/p>\n
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From: Hugo Burnham<\/p>\n
Re: Rich Robinson-This Week’s Podcast<\/p>\n
One of the most fun shows – of many – on our \u201925 \u2018Long Goodbye\u2019 Tour last year was in Nashville, when all the Crowes came down and Richie sat in with us. We had quite a few sit-in guests on the tour, but all pretty obvious ones for us (Lenny Kaye, Peter Buck, Jason Narducy, Kathy Valentine, Mike Mills, etc.) – but nobody expected to see a Black Crowe onstage with us! \u00a0It was fekkin\u2019 great. He and his brother are both lovely chaps.<\/p>\n
This is one I\u2019ll def. listen to.<\/p>\n
Hugo<\/p>\n
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From: James Patrick Regan<\/p>\n
Re: Rich Robinson-This Week’s Podcast<\/p>\n
Next to Dwight Yoakam and Peter Wolf this is the best interview you\u2019ve done and I love them all!<\/p>\n
Thank you!<\/p>\n
Best, James<\/p>\n
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From: James Welby<\/p>\n
Re: Rich Robinson-This Week’s Podcast<\/p>\n
I enjoyed the Rich Robinson interview.\u00a0 I am a long-time Black Crowes fan and have heard several interviews with Chris or the brothers together over the years.\u00a0\u00a0Jus the other day I heard a Chris and Rich interview on a podcast and as usual Chris ruled the roost.\u00a0 I have not heard Rich by himself\u00a0– it was a joy to hear him without big brother talking over him. I appreciated that he was honest about their “brotherly love,” without being sensationalistic.\u00a0 By the way, Rich’s various solo and side projects are great.<\/p>\n
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From: Jesse Lundy<\/p>\n
Re: Rich Robinson-This Week’s Podcast<\/p>\n
I’m a huge Crowes fan from Day 1. Rich and I are practically the same age and in those early years, I felt we were learning guitar in parallel (he’s better than me). Over the years, we’ve had every OG Black Crowe (except Johnny!) play at Ardmore Music Hall, but having Magpie Salute with Rich and Marc there was a career highlight.<\/p>\n
A real hero, for sure.<\/p>\n
This was by FAR the best interview I’ve heard\u00a0him do. So unguarded and open. Really great!<\/p>\n
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From: Ashley Bradley<\/p>\n
Re: Rich Robinson-This Week’s Podcast<\/p>\n
The best line of your interview was there at the end when you said Chris seems to take up the air in the room and Rich doesn\u2019t always speak up. His oldest boy and my son were best friends here at the Waldorf school in Nashville, and that educationally philosophy doesn\u2019t get much air time so I\u2019m glad he talked about it. career wise, was interesting to hear about his deep dive into instruments and patterns. When you know musicians here in daily life, you try not to ask about their work, just keep it about the home life but he talked shop with you that I wish I\u2019d asked him about back then!<\/p>\n
Ashley<\/p>\n
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From: Jeremy Facknitz<\/p>\n
Re: Loud&Clear<\/p>\n
Bob, I\u00a0think the \u201cSpotify is gonna die\u201d headline was clickbait, and it worked.<\/p>\n
But the point of the whole article is in\u00a0the last paragraph\u2026<\/p>\n
“The music industry has spent a decade obsessing over how to get a million people to listen to a song once. The next decade will be defined by artists figuring out how to get 1,000 people to care forever.”<\/p>\n
Spotify will probably be fine. And I don\u2019t think it\u2019s evil. But it\u2019s already\u00a0dead to me, and more and more artists like myself are abandoning it.<\/p>\n
I invested over $20,000 USD in online promotion from 2021 through 2025. I have tried and tried and tried to monetize my music online through social media, YouTube and streaming. There are moments where I wish I had burnt that money instead, so I could have at least smelled it. I can’t find the number of billions of dollars that make up the industry that\u00a0bleeds money from\u00a0artists online (sync coaching, streaming boosts, etc.), but I know I’ve paid my part.<\/p>\n
Now before you say \u201cmaybe you just suck\u201d (which is a valid point)… Despite\u00a0my failures online, I\u2019ve earned merit\u00a0for my songwriting, I’ve earned the respect of my peers in the industry, and I continue to make my living performing my original work all over North America. My day-job, my music – while nerdy, retro and slightly niche – is not \u201cgarbage\u201d like Daniel Ek says it is,\u00a0or people like you may presume it to be.\u00a0I\u2019m affirmed and celebrated on stages and in living rooms (house concerts) night after night.\u00a0It’s\u00a0just never transferred to the online world.<\/p>\n
I firmly believe only I can bring value back to my music. So my upcoming album and accompanying live album will only be sold on physical mediums with an accompanying download. NO STREAMING. Owners (not streamers or subscribers) will have something special and unique only they can experience. Think \u201csecret music\u201d.<\/p>\n
I hear you. \u201cBut it won\u2019t reach as many people!\u201d I don\u2019t care. \u201cBut you won\u2019t make any new fans!\u201d Yes I will. \u201cWhat if someone else monetizes your work by releasing your music or A.I. versions of your music online?\u201d That\u2019s hilarious. Good luck to them.<\/p>\n
If someone likes what I\u2019ve released in the past (which is still streaming everywhere but Spotify), they can trust they’ll probably like my new album and buy it. If they don\u2019t like what I\u2019ve done, they\u00a0probably won\u2019t like the new album and pass on it.\u00a0They don\u2019t need to HEAR my new album before purchasing it. They can buy it sight unseen (or rather \u201csound unheard\u201d).*<\/p>\n
* (You may recall this wild thinking wasn’t so wild in the 1950’s through the 1990’s).<\/p>\n
The album may sell 1,000 copies, or 100, or 10, or zero. I\u2019m at peace with that. If people value me enough to make a little extra effort to \u201cown\u201d my music, they\u2019ll do it. If they don\u2019t, they\u00a0won\u2019t. I’ll have a personal, cherished relationship with those\u00a0who do.<\/p>\n
Making my album available only on physical mediums won\u2019t change my income. I earned just under $4K off CD sales alone in 2025 (yes, CD sales! In 2025!) and I made next to nothing off my streams. I make fans in person, make transactions in person. I\u2019ve never monetized the people who discovered me solely online. The woman in India who was briefly obsessed with my song\u00a0for 2 months in 2021 never\u00a0bought a t-shirt or a ticket. Exposure is cool, but it doesn\u2019t buy groceries. This\u00a0is a business; a boutique business. I am the boss and I care about getting paid and feeling valued. The online world you make fun of us “oldsters” for chastising has never – EVER – offered me either of those things.<\/p>\n
More and more artists are waking up to idea of going small and creating their own industry. That might not kill Spotify – but it might knock it down a peg from its bullsh*t \u201cGod\u201d status.<\/p>\n
This is how I see it\u2026 \u201cnew\u201d, \u201coriginal\u201d music is just a Suno prompt away for the layman.\u00a0The game is over.\u00a0So we need a new game.<\/p>\n
The craftspeople are\u00a0gonna have to go deep underground to get any of that value back, and hope a handful of people will join us there.<\/p>\n
Luckily, a handful is all we need.<\/p>\n
Jeremy Facknitz<\/p>\n
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From: John Parikhal<\/p>\n
Re: Loud&Clear<\/p>\n
Great post, Bob. True – and it will fall on deaf ears. The ones making music and money are too busy creating, promoting and playing. The ones not making money just blame the audience for not having good taste – which is ridiculous, of course.<\/p>\n
Back in the day, when I had a lot more influence over recommending to radio, we would spend at least one day a week just listening to albums – looking for anything that wasn\u2019t getting airplay but was better than good. It yielded 1-2 \u201cworth talking about\u201d songs. Then we would network on the PHONE, talking to others who did the same deep dives and, if we were lucky we agreed on 1 \u201creally good\u201d every week. Most everything else was dreck, at best.<\/p>\n
In other words, most of those \u201cbest try\u201d songs just weren\u2019t good enough. Some artists never gave up and a few had real breakthroughs. But most accepted they weren\u2019t good enough and did something else.<\/p>\n
Spotify democratized the process. And a lot more musicians made more money. Unfortunately your well-reasoned and data based insights will never persuade the rigid minds – sort of like hard-core MAGA. One they decide they are right, they stop listening.<\/p>\n
John<\/p>\n
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From: Mike Vial<\/p>\n
Re: Loud&Clear (Streaming Complainers)<\/p>\n
Bob, you must get so much hate for writing this.<\/p>\n
I assume you get the loudest laments from us locals with little to no audience.<\/p>\n
Look, I can complain about not getting paid for >1000 streams on my track a year; but my college roommate in 2001 used to dump his pennies, dimes, and nickels\u00a0into the tip jar at the Kalamazoo coffee house because he didn\u2019t want to carry it in his pockets. \u201cNot worth it, Vial.\u201d<\/p>\n
So us local artists who sold CDs, we must accept that an audience member at the coffee house, bar, house concert, even club gig bought a cd, but it was often just a tip.<\/p>\n
A tough reality:\u00a0People probably rarely listened to the CD the local had Discmakers press to sell at gigs. I bet many a local band has even found one of their own CDs at the Salvation Army or Goodwill in their town! (Yes! Even I have! Lol!)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a hard truth. It scratches one\u2019s ego. Now, the numbers are public\u2026<\/p>\n
And when the technology changed. Us locals feel like we are ripped off. But Why? Heck, most complaining musicians aren\u2019t going to acquaintances\u2019 gigs, buying their acquaintances CDs either, are they.<\/p>\n
The math changed\u2026<\/p>\n
In 2006, in 2012, the time it took to make that $5-15 at the merch table was quick! It was a cool time to print 1000 CDs and sell them. I made my first EP, sold enough to break even in few months.<\/p>\n
I felt so great!<\/p>\n
A streaming a fan to make $5\u2013takes so many more minutes. It\u2019s depressing.<\/p>\n
But everyone is living in this same era. Who\u2019s crying for the video game developer? The complaining musician is like all of now at the gas pump. Everyone is living with the same oil crisis\u2026what did my dad say? \u201cYou\u00a0aren\u2019t special! Grow up.\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019m so tired of the local scene still complaining about streaming. Hey, are they still writing the date 2016 on their checks?<\/p>\n
No. They aren\u2019t: It\u2019s 2026 and they are using Venmo and Cash App and Netflix and Apple TV and living in a digital world in every other part of their lives. (Sure, it is better to use cash to psychologically budget oneself, but convenience wins over culture. I know there is a fair debate about technology in our lives, but that\u2019s for a cultural debate.)<\/p>\n
And what have you reminded the musicians, Bob? We can\u2019t have technology only advance and change in one area of recording. Technology will affect the listener too! Making\u00a0the songs on recording gear has never been more affordable. That was the counter argument that finally shut me up.<\/p>\n
Sure, it hurts\u2026But my local side hustle isn\u2019t part of the larger music industry. (Or is it?) \u00a0Either way, I\u2019ll complain to my wife; the 35 people who saw me at the local little gig last weekend don\u2019t need to hear me lament about streaming. They have problems of their own, and they want to escape \u2018em through an hour of live music, just like me.<\/p>\n
Mike Vial<\/p>\n
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From: Afriqua<\/p>\n
Antisemitism in the dance music world<\/p>\n
Hi Bob,<\/p>\n
I’m Adam, a Virginia born, Berlin-based producer, pianist, and DJ. I perform as\u00a0Afriqua. I was in Tel Aviv to play a Purim show when the US-Israel strikes on Iran began. Israeli airspace closed. I spent days in a hotel safe room, got driven to Eilat, crossed into Egypt, and eventually made it back to Berlin through Athens.<\/p>\n
When I got home, I posted a\u00a0video\u00a0saying thank you to my hosts who took care of me:<\/p>\n
\n