A couple of Lefsetz gems this week:

“The major labels have lost their luster.  By wanting to reside in the twentieth century, by playing by old rules.  By wanting instant success, instant riches, at a high price to the consumer.  But that era is never coming back.

Today we’re closing the door on the twentieth century.  Today we’re drawing a line in the sand, that acts last, not executives.  The future of this business will be based on artistry.  The music will come before commerce.  It has to.  The old tricks of scarcity and publicity used to drive the old moguls’ priorities no longer work in the new world.  There will be a new set of moguls.  Who know this.  No one from the old world has evidenced an ability to adapt.”

and this………

“Madonna may have made a deal with LiveNation, but that does not mean she’s the ubiquitous cultural icon she once was.  No one can be.  There’s no center and too much choice.  We watched those shows on network television in the sixties because we had no choice.  As soon as we had options, we abandoned the networks for cable.  And now some are abandoning the box completely for the Web.

It’s kind of funny to see Madonna trying so hard.  And that’s what she’s doing.  Rather than kicking back and figuring out how to play in the new world, she’s just ramping it up old style.  Add on the glitz, add on the glamour…  Like someone under forty who wasn’t around the first time through is even going to give a shit.  Like kids are going with their buddies to see her at overinflated prices because of the new hit.  Nah, if they go to the show at all it will be with their parents, as nostalgia.

Give Radiohead and Trent Reznor props.  They’re living in the now.  Madonna is living in the twentieth century.  It’s as if Michael Jordan assembled a superstar team of young ‘uns to go for an NBA championship…  It would be creepy.  And just looking at Madonna is creepy.  Wasn’t she the one with the air conditioned teeth and the chubby thighs?  Wasn’t she the one with the sassy mouth, but the body of the girl next door?  Wasn’t she attractive because she was playing dress-up?  Wasn’t she Susan in that movie?  Wasn’t that truly her own screen success?  When she was an underdog, someone who didn’t fit in, as opposed to a superstar giving dictation?

But this isn’t solely about Madonna.  It’s about Jay-Z.  It’s about anybody who sold millions of albums under the old paradigm.  You just can’t do it anymore.  You just can’t get enough eyeballs.  You’re a niche product, no matter how hard you flog yourself.

I was sitting in a restaurant in Toronto.  And I put forth the question, have you heard the new Madonna track?

Karen, one of Canada’s foremost music journalists, on the trail of everything new and trendy, said no.

Tanya, an exec at EMI Music Publishing, said no.

Felice said no.

And I said no too.

But according to the chart, the Madonna track was number one.

I guess the chart doesn’t mean much anymore.”