Billy Joel and Steve Jobs

People argue that Steve Jobs was the greatest salesman in history, because of his near immeasurable success at producing and selling simple and beautifully crafted products.

If there were a Steve Jobs of music, I’d argue it was Billy Joel.

To craft his products, Steve Jobs would always start with the user experience and work from there to make the technology, not the other way around.

The craftsmanship mirrors Billy Joel's creative pattern.

Billy Joel cared about his fans and the experience of listening to the music. It all had to be great by his standards — and that’s why he hated writing music.

Billy Joel always started with writing the actual music. Then he would come up with lyrics that felt punchy, usually of course telling a life story through that.

Usually the life experience was what got him in the chair. The stories feel relatable because they a collection of life phases and hardships.

He always prioritized poetry and punchy words, and would very often steal from other musicians or poets.

Billy Joel grew up with classical music, and he still listens to it to this day. He’s a classical music-inspired, rock ‘n’ roll performer from Long Island, New York. He took from Sinatra, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, etc. He's a Bob Dylan fan through-and-through.

I love that about him.

Cultured.

Curious.

Creative.

Ruthlessly careful about crafting his music.