The senior editor of media and entertainment at Forbes. He is the author of four books, including his newest, which was just released last month and is called, “A-List Angels: How a Band of Actors, Artists, and Athletes Hacked Silicon Valley.” His writing has also appeared in the likes of the New York Times, the Washington Post, Vanity Fair, and Billboard, to name just a few. And he has even been a speaker at South By Southwest and done a TEDx talk.
"I do look at it a lot like an album release and, in fact, try to plan it out as such, with everything from excerpts to interviews. The way I see it, every (book) excerpt that you put out with a different publication, it's like a different single."
"Unfortunately, I've also witnessed the reality that a lot of artists are going through now, which is, there is no tour. So, I had a whole book tour planned throughout March and April going across the country hitting all the major markets, a mix of book signings at bookstores and Q&As and stuff at other venues... So, doing as much virtually as I can, just like many of the musicians out there who've got work and projects coming out over this period."
"These...ideas... they did come back to me over and over again, A-List Angels and my last couple books before that, and it's kind of like if you, I guess writing a song you just keep getting this thing in your head, you gotta... put pen to paper and see how it turns out."
"I put together a concert in this, like, two thousand-year old fort called the Tower of David in the old city of Jerusalem."
"I think the most important lesson for those who are starting out is make sure to own as much of your own work as you possibly can. At the same time, to recognize that it's not always possible to do that depending on your circumstances when you're starting out."
"Don't carpet bomb writers. You can tell when you're a writer and somebody is just copy/pasting names or mail merging or whatever and it's not directed to you. And, it is the worst. And we get, I'm not exaggerating, hundreds of emails a day. It is oppressive."
"I think when you're coming up as an artist, exposure is so important and... (with reality shows) what else are you going to do, are you going to turn down that big moment?"
"Are there more equitable ways of compensating acts (than Spotify's model)? I think, for sure, but it's what we got and it's better than what there was before, which is to say Napster and Limewire and all that. I think that the record business of the 90s and prior was really kind of artificially inflated."
"Labels would tell acts, 'There are too many good songs on this album. Save a couple for the next one and just throw in some more filler tracks.' I've actually heard stories like that."
"I think it's gonna be a really tough next year or so for live events, including live music, and so by extension for all of the music business because that's where so much of the income is coming from for artists."