The Bob Lefsetz Podcast

Legendary record label executive, Seymour Stein, is the ears behind countless amazing careers including The Talking Heads, Madonna and The Ramones. Stein shares stories from his early years helping to compile the Billboard charts in NYC and spending a summer in Cincinnati to learn the record business from Syd Nathan when he was only 15 years old. For Stein, the songs are what attracts him to a band, musicianship comes second. He is not only an great businessman but a true music fan and fountain of knowledge. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

World-famous DJ, Kaskade talks about growing up outside of Chicago, attending the University of Utah and playing his first shows on Monday nights in a basement club in Salt Lake City. He packed the club, giving him the money to purchase his first studio equipment. He then followed his wife to San Francisco to find a city with a flourishing music scene where he began to make his mark and ultimately led the way to the top of the electronic dance movement Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jim McCarthy is CEO and co-founder of Goldstar, an event discovery service that helps people stay informed of local live entertainment. The company launched on Valentine’s Day in 2002 boot-strapped and lean and without much in the bank. Today, Goldstar is available in 26 cities around the country and has over 8 million members. Jim shares his insights on how a service-oriented mentality has been at the core of his company’s success. We also delve deep into his early years as an english teacher in Japan and working for Noah’s Bagels in San Francisco. 00:30 - What is Goldstar? 26:45 - Attending Harvard 36:00 - Teaching English in Japan 44:45 - Noah's Bagels 56:45 - Founding Goldstar 1:14:45 - The business of live entertainment 1:21:15 - Being customer service forward Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1974, Jerry Greenberg was the youngest president of any major record company. At age 32, he took the reigns of Atlantic Records and went on to sign a myriad of legendary acts including ABBA, Foreigner, Genesis and The Blues Brothers. Jerry shares some amazing stories about his early years and about the artists he worked with such as the time he played congas for Led Zeppelin during an encore at Madison Square Garden. 1:00 - Michael Jackson 12:00 - His band was called The Passengers 17:00 - Percy Sledge, "When a Man Loves a Woman" 21:00 - Atlantic Records - Job offer, but he was on the way to Vietnam 35:00 - How Led Zeppelin came together 44:00 - Bad Company, Foreigner 1:06:00 - John Prine, Dr. John, Alice Cooper 1:16:00 - Best Drummers Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Waddy Wachtel was chosen by Keith Richards to play lead guitar for his side project The X-pensive Winos. That gig was the culmination of so many session gigs and performances for the guitar virtuoso whose list of credits spans rock & roll history as he supported the Everly Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Iggy Pop, Adam Sandler, and Warren Zevon. 13:00 - Stevie Nicks 21:00 - Les Paul at Summer Camp 36:00 - Moved to LA 1:08:00 - The Rolling Stones 1:24:00 - Co-writing Werewolves of London 1:33:00 - Fleetwood Mac 1:41:00 - Working with Adam Sandler 1:56:00 - Greatest guitarists of all time Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Manager extraordinaire & Canadian Idol TV judge Jake Gold returns to the program to recap the Music Media Summit in Santa Barbara, CA with some insight from behind the scenes, reactions to the interviews with music and tech executives at the event as well as analysis of where the music industry is going next. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Troy Carter talks about growing up in Philadelphia, working with Lady Gaga, hip hop's dominance, and Spotify's approach to working with artists. From his brief career as an artist to going through a tough time with Will Smith to spending his last pennies on dinner to win the business of Lady Gaga, the interview is packed with surprising stories and wisdom for the next generation of artists and managers. 17:00 - Rising up in the Philly music scene 29:00 - Troy joins Sanctuary 39:00 - Managing Lady Gaga 48:00 - Silicon Valley & investing in tech 1:13:00 - Q&A Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oscar-winning filmmaker Bryan Fogel talks about his documentary Icarus. He discusses his upbringing, his comedy and acting career which spawned the off-broadway play Jewtopia prior to creating the film about doping which exposed the biggest scandal in sports history and brought home the Academy Award. 02:00 - For the first month, Oscar didn't leave his side 20:00 - Started Icarus 48:00 - Success of Jewtopia 1:02:00 - Hanging with Lance Armstrong 1:12:00 - Doping experience 1:25:00 - Icarus results 1:43:00 - What's next? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

VP of Amazon Music Steve Boom tells his story starting out as an engineer at Compaq, spending years in Europe doing business development for Yahoo! before moving back to San Francisco, and ultimately joining Amazon Music. Boom talks about how Amazon Music is changing the landscape by delivering a more natural and intuitive music listening experience on Alexa. 07:00 - Programming at Compaq 14:00 - 10 years at Yahoo! London to SF 22:00 - Amazon Music begins 27:00 - Bezos' involvement and the decision making process at Amazon 33:30 - Echo launch after Prime Music 55:00 - Alexa as a member of the family and Amazon Music Unlimited Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rob Glaser tells the story of his career sharing his passion for media, politics, tech, and bowling. Rob's intelligence is palpable as he foresaw many twists and turns in these industries while navigating pivotal moments in the history of Microsoft prior to launching his own publicly traded company RealNetworks. 01:00 - Attended Fieldstone with Jason Flom in NYC 06:00 - Started hacking 09:00 - College radio station background 18:00 - Wrote a Left wing column in the Yale University newspaper & debated with David Frum 19:00 - 1st computer at age of 19 28:00 - Left IBM for Microsoft with Steve Ballmer 42:00 - RealNetworks launch of Real Player 50:00 - Bowling - ESPN 51:00 - Napster, MusicNet, Rhapsody 1:03:00 - Air America & politics 1:08:00 - Tech privacy reckoning 1:12:00 - Q&A Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.