What Would You Like Me To Write About?

I'm planning the rest of the year's editorial calendar for the Zogblog and "We Are All Musicians Now"—and would love to get your input.

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Back when I was at Forbes, readers often weighed in with editorial advice, exhorting me to write about everything from their favorite up-and-coming musicians to the exorbitant price of parking tickets in Los Angeles.

I wrote plenty of unexpected stories, but I didn’t have final say about what went in the magazine. With the Zogblog and We Are All Musicians Now, though, I’m my own boss! Which means, ultimately, that you are my boss—I need to create compelling posts in order to convince you to subscribe. I need produce work so scintillating you share it with your friends and colleagues. Otherwise I’m not doing my job, and the model doesn’t work.

Now that I’ve been doing this for a couple months, I’d love to get more of your feedback and suggestions. Feel free to email me directly or leave a comment by clicking the button at the bottom of this piece.

Do you want more profiles? More think pieces? Wealth lists? Album reviews? Is there a particular subject I’m overlooking? Are there individuals you’d like me to write about? Should I toss in a photo essay every now and then? I’m all ears.

While you contemplate, here’s a sneak peek at what’s on tap right after Labor Day: You can expect to see stories that draw on fresh interviews with musicians ranging from veteran pop star Taylor Hanson to hip-hop pioneer Sharon “Sha Rock” Green.

I’ll try to keep to the schedule I’ve employed so far. On Tuesdays, that means Zogblog posts encompassing newsy items at the intersection of music, media and money. You’ll get installments of WAAMN on Fridays. The Zogblog will jump from topic to topic, while the book will have a more sequential and thematic feel.

To that end, here’s my tentative outline for the rest of WAAMN (I’ll be updating the Table of Contents every week to keep navigation simple). I’ve already done many of the interviews and some of the writing in the chapters listed below, but much of it is still a work in progress and therefore up for discussion. I’ll roll out each chapter over the course of roughly a month. That should put me in position for a potential physical release of WAAMN in the second half of 2022 (more on that later).

In the meantime, you can catch me talking about my latest posts in a new weekly spot on SiriusXM channel 106—Volume—as part of the “Feedback” show. I’ll be on Tuesdays at 8:20am EST for about 30-40 minutes with hosts Lori Majewski and Nik Carter. Enjoy your long weekend!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction: We Are All Musicians Now

Prologue: What Does “We Are All Musicians Now” Actually Mean?

PART ONE

Chapter 1: The Ownership of Genius

Part 1: Paul McCartney’s Biggest Regret

Part 2: How Michael Jackson Got His Master Recordings Back

Part 3: A $47.5 Million Bargain—The Best Music Publishing Deal Ever

Part 4: The Unlikely King Of Hair Metal

Part 5: Sean Combs And The Ownership of Genius

Intermission: Why Artists & Writers Are All Musicians Now

Chapter 2: The Genius of Ownership

Chapter 3: Rise of the Superfan

Chapter 4: Rockstar Investors

Chapter 5: Metaverse Universe

PART TWO

Chapter 6: Athletes Are Musicians Now

Chapter 7: Magicians Are Musicians Now

Chapter 8: Entrepreneurs Are Musicians Now

Chapter 9: Comedians Are Musicians Now

Chapter 10: You Are A Musician Now

Outro

Click here to subscribe to weekly serialized installments of my new book, We Are All Musicians Now, or check out my previous books right here.