The New Music Business with Ari Herstand

Today my guests are Malaysian singer Yuna, Ben Willis, and Carlo Fox, the founders of indie-pop!, a management company based out of Los Angeles. This is the first time I've had a conversation with three people at once for the show. Yuna was coming to us from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Ben and Carlo tuned in from Los Angeles.Yuna is an incredibly talented artist. She's done collaborations with Tyler, the Creator, Pharrell, Usher, G-Eazy, and the list goes on. We dig into how she got her start on Myspace to now being an independent artist in 2020, what it looks like, release strategy, and who the new gatekeepers are. Ben and Carlo have been in the industry for decades, and they talk about what radio looked like and what it looks like now. Yuna was signed to a major label and now she's independent. We also discuss how they approach music videos, playlist promotion, and who handles what.--Quick links:2:50 - Being in Malaysia during quarantine and what it's like10:25 - How Ben and Carlo connected and discovered Yuna15:25 - indie-pop!'s first client Dev and The Cataracs18:30 - What was the focus when setting up songwriting sessions and getting a label deal?21:02 - Transitioning away from the Verve Records label and working with Tyler, the Creator and G-Eazy27:53 - Setting up writing sessions when Yuna first moved to Los Angeles32:05 - What Yuna thought of the writing sessions when she first moved to Los Angeles34:36 - Who's handling what the label typically handles (promotion, release strategy, etc) now that Yuna's independent? 44:20 - How important is radio nowadays?44:25 - What does the release strategy look like in 2020? 54:00 - Who are the gatekeepers in 2020?59:40 - When you're releasing a new single, what are the conversations about the story like? How do you tell the story? 1:00:41 - The story behind "Stay Where You Are"1:05:45 - What does it mean to make it in the new music business? --Connect with Ari’s Take:Website: https://aristake.comAcademy: https://aristakeacademy.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/aristake_/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTakeYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aristake/Connect with Ari Herstand:Website: https://ariherstand.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstandTwitter: https://twitter.com/ariherstandYouTube: https://youtube.com/ariherstandFacebook: https://facebook.com/ariherstandConnect with Yuna: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yunamusicTwitter: https://twitter.com/yunamusicInstagram: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today my guest is the multi-talented Emily Kinney. Most people know her as an actress. She starred in The Walking Dead from 2011-2015. She's also been on Masters of Sex, The Flash, Arrow, Law & Order: SVU, and many others. She was also in Spring Awakening on Broadway.She just launched a podcast of her own called My Caffeine Withdrawal where she interviews musicians, actors, and other friends like Josh Radnor, Local Natives, K.Flay, and many others. She's also a very talented musician.We go in a different direction than other episodes. We touch on the business, but we straddle the line on how acting relates to music and how music relates to acting. We talk about the differences in both and the learning curves in both. She has a lot of releases under her name, so she has experience in the business of music and movies.--Quick links: 3:15 - Emily's podcast, how she's recording them, and what inspired her to launch it8:45 - Enjoying music vs. listening music for a purpose12:05 - Emily's recording process behind her song "Easy"15:25 - What happens if you're not easy to work with in the acting world?20:40 - Are there similarities between the different artistic mediums? 28:45 - Do you ever ask yourself if you question whether you're the best fit for the role you're playing? 31:06 - Playing in Spring Awakening on Broadway in New York and auditioning for film and TV38:33 - How did you learn the acting and music business worlds?43:09 - Defining success is extremely personal55:15 - Is Emily business-minded or does she bring on a team to handle everything? 1:01:45 - What it means to Emily to make it in the new music business--Connect with Ari’s Take:Website: https://aristake.comAcademy: https://aristakeacademy.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/aristake_/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTakeYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aristake/Connect with Ari Herstand:Website: https://ariherstand.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstandTwitter: https://twitter.com/ariherstandYouTube: https://youtube.com/ariherstandFacebook: https://facebook.com/ariherstandConnect with Emily Kinney:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmilyKinneyMusicTwitter: https://twitter.com/emmykinneyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmykinney/My Caffeine Withdrawal: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today’s episode I discuss the controversy surrounding the CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek’s comment: “you can’t record music once every three to four years and think that’s going to be enough.”I also go into how Spotify’s payment model actually works and if it’s fair or not.--Quick links:1:56 - What Daniel Ek said3:20 - How the music industry reacted to Ek's statement9:10 - Art creation and new music business release strategy13:15 - Making a living on Spotify streams and playing the playlisting game23:35 - Breaking down the Spotify payment system33:20 - Being successful without playing the Spotify playlisting game--Connect with Ari’s Take:Website: https://aristake.comAcademy: https://aristakeacademy.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/aristake_/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTakeYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aristake/Connect with Ari Herstand:Website: https://ariherstand.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstandTwitter: https://twitter.com/ariherstandYouTube: https://youtube.com/ariherstandFacebook: https://facebook.com/ariherstand Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today my guest is Allie X. She's a Canadian singer-songwriter and artist who's been living in LA for the last few years. She is an incredibly talented artist and has over 100 million streams and 1.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify.We talk about what her journey has been like the last few months and how she's shifted her plans and release strategies. Then we go into her background, how she became Allie X, and how she's been so successful without the support of a major label. She has a very interesting story and cool ways of doing things.--Quick links:2:45 - Moving back to Canada and changing schedule9:30 - Allie X's work schedule now11:18 - What Allie X's team looks like13:00 - Unique business model and the profit share25:19 - Getting into a publishing deal after moving to Los Angeles29:49 - Finding the Allie X aesthetic and visual brand35:30 - Finding the right people to work with and how to reach out to them38:25 - What does an Allie X promo strategy look like?47:50 - How the Canadian government has supported Allie X's career and what it takes to apply for these grants57:00 - What it means to Allie X to make it in the new music business--Connect with Ari’s Take:Website: https://aristake.comAcademy: https://aristakeacademy.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/aristake_/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTakeYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aristake/Connect with Ari Herstand:Website: https://ariherstand.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstandTwitter: https://twitter.com/ariherstandYouTube: https://youtube.com/ariherstandFacebook: https://facebook.com/ariherstandConnect with Allie X:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alliexxxxandraInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/alliex/Twitter: https://twitter.com/alliexWebsite: https://alliex.com/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0wnYgCeP013HkKoOyC5V32 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today my guest is John Funge. He's the CEO and co-founder of The Music Fund, a startup company that issues advances to artists for their streaming revenue. They're not a record label even though labels are typically the ones offering advances to artists. They are innovating and disrupting in the music industry, and John goes over their business model. As I dug deeper and interviewed artists who're using them, it seemed like a very cool company. Now they're partnered with Ari's Take. Quick links: 3:25 - About The Music Fund and what they do10:00 - Does The Music Fund's business model work?20:00 - How the algorithms account for massive playlist adds and spikes/drops in royalty revenue23:17 - Success stories from artists who've used The Music Fund25:20 - Should I apply for The Music Fund? What data should you be looking at before you apply?31:10 - How investors are involved--Connect with Ari’s Take:Website: http://aristake.comAcademy: http://aristakeacademy.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/aristake_/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTakeYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aristake/Connect with Ari Herstand:Website: http://ariherstand.comInstagram: http://instagram.com/ariherstandTwitter: http://twitter.com/ariherstandYouTube: http://youtube.com/ariherstandFacebook: http://facebook.com/ariherstandConnect with The Music Fund:Website: https://themusic.fund/Twitter: https://twitter.com/themusicfund/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/themusicfund/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's episode was recorded live in Los Angeles in my guest's, Jonathan Azu, backyard. This was the first in-person interview I've done since the coronavirus shutdown and we've all been locked in quarantine. But Jonathan has a beautiful backyard where we could safely social distance, so we set up there. It was nice to be in the physical presence of somebody for once. I've missed that so dearly.Jonathan Azu is an artist manager for artists like Cory Henry, Luke James, Emily King, and Michelle Williams among others. He used to be the executive vice president and general manager of Red Light Management. He is also a two-time Billboard magazine 40 Under 40 power player. Over a year ago, he launched his own management company called Culture Collective.We talk about how he shifted his business model now that live touring is shut down. We also talk about how the music industry can be more racially diverse and equitable, specifically how music companies can address the racial inequalities that exist at an executive level but really all levels.A Forbes 2017 article outlined that hip-hop and R&B genres are responsible for 25% of all music consumption and over 29% of all on-demand streams across the United States. However, executives of color are still relatively scarce atop major music companies. The top 10 out of 10 on the Billboard Power 100 list are all white, and there's only two people of color in the top 50. Azu breaks this down on why he thinks this is and how to fix it because it's a problem.--Quick links:4:20 - How Jonathan Azu and his artists have been doing since touring has been shut down12:50 - What Azu's artists are doing in quarantine - how they are staying busy16:05 - Artists doing live streaming events18:53 - About Culture Collective and Azu's journey to get to where he's at today29:07 - Advice to white colleagues asking for advice on curbing systemic racism in the music industry35:33 - About The Black Music Coalition39:15 - Lack of racial diversification in the Billboard Power 100 list41:35 - Shifting internships to paid internships and going outside typical recruiting tactics - should there be mentorship programs?43:18 - Would reparations be the correct route to approach racial injustices in the music industry?54:08 - Are people losing interest in the black lives matter movement?59:10 - Was having an all black roster for Culture Collective intentional?1:05:05 - Azu's artist Emily King two Grammy nominations--Connect with Ari’s Take:Website: https://aristake.comAcademy: https://aristakeacademy.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/aristake_/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTakeYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aristake/Connect with Ari Herstand:Website: https://ariherstand.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstandTwitter: https://twitter.com/ariherstandYouTube: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today on the show is Laura Escudé. She is a fantastic violinist, producer, and Ableton's first ever official certified trainer. She was hired by Ableton to teach people how to use Ableton Live. She then went on to tour with artists like Kanye West, The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, Harry Styles, Mariah Carey, Logic, Herbie Hancock, and Jay-Z to name a few. Now she teaches people how to do what she did for those shows: program huge arena shows.We also chat about how she's making it work with the entire touring industry shut down and what you can do as well. We've known each other for a few years, so I loved catching up with her.--Laura's 'Hustle Healthier' article: https://medium.com/@lauraescude/hustle-healthier-a-manifesto-on-how-touring-artists-and-professionals-can-put-their-health-first-62505f588f66Check out Laura's course: https://bit.ly/laura-escudeUse code ARISTAKE for 10% off--Quick links: 2:55 - Where Laura's quarantining from, what she's been up to, and her studio gear5:05 - Being the first ever Ableton certified trainer and what it means6:23 - Landing bigger gigs because of the Ableton certification9:14 - What was expected of Laura when she became an Ableton programmer13:40 - Where Laura is set up during a live set for an artist she's working with14:45 - Laura's extensive touring schedule and her health crisis18:12 - About Laura's company, Electronic Creatives22:25 - California's gig worker law AB530:10 - Laura's advice to artists who want to tour with big artists35:00 - About Transmute--Connect with Ari’s Take:Website: http://aristake.comAcademy: http://aristakeacademy.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/aristake_/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTakeYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aristake/Connect with Ari Herstand:Website: http://ariherstand.comInstagram: http://instagram.com/ariherstandTwitter: http://twitter.com/ariherstandYouTube: http://youtube.com/ariherstandFacebook: http://facebook.com/ariherstandConnect with Laura Escudé:Website: https://lauraescude.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelauraescudeInstagram: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I recorded this week's podcast guest Nick Bearden live from his studio, Retro Lab Studios, in Nashville, Tennessee. He's a sideman, bassist, guitar player, producer, and sound engineer.Nick Bearden has played thousands of shows with Jamestown Revival, but we go heavy on the business side of managers, where he shares a story on one of the shadiest managers I've ever heard of. We also discuss how freelancers operate.---Quick links:3:15 - Nick Bearden, Jamestown Revival, and his instruments8:05 - How not to do business in the music industry + sync licensing boom of 200918:45 - Tour managing22:05 - Shady managers and getting ripped off31:48 - How to know when someone is ripping you off34:07 - How Nick finds gigs as a freelancer and who he's performing with39:41 - The story of meeting and working with Jamestown Revival1:12:58 - The music industry is always paying attention, whether you realize it or not1:18:38 - Jamestown Revival's experience being signed to a major label1:28:05 - Nick's advice for freelance musicians who want to be a "session cat" and touring musician1:33:50 - How Nick defines making it in the new music business---Connect with Ari Herstand:Website: https://www.aristake.comInstagram (personal): https://www.instagram.com/ariherstand/Instagram (Ari's Take): https://www.instagram.com/aristake_/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aristake/Twitter (personal): https://twitter.com/ariherstandTwitter (Ari's Take): https://twitter.com/ArisTakeYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1Connect with Nick Bearden:Twitter: https://twitter.com/nickbeardenInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickbearden/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Nick-Bearden-84750813293/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's guest is Bina Fronda. She's the marketing director for Ultra Records. Ultra Records has released artists like Steve Aoki, Alexandra Stan, Alan Walker, Lost Frequencies, and more. This was recorded live from Bina's apartment in Brooklyn, NY. She had just gotten back from a concert and festival.We talk about a bunch of stuff, but specifically we dig into influencer marketing. The thing that I was interested to learn about was how they get in touch with TikTok "influencers" (people with huge followings on the platform, or social media in general). If you ever wondered how those influencers choose which song(s) to dance to, well, oftentimes it's labels paying them to do those dances, skits, or anything like that. --Quick links:3:54 - Who distributes Ultra Records, and how long Bina has been at the label9:50 - Amazon Music's official playlists and getting support from Amazon11:57 - About Ultra Records and a background of the label15:05 - Bina's role as a marketing director at Ultra Records17:20 - Bina walking us through the the single release process31:07 - The rollout strategies for each release and when the planning and rollout begins37:15 - Who are dance influencers and how do you get in contact with them?41:15 - What is a Latin influencer?48:23 - How TikTok influencer marketing works and how to connect with them54:45 - How to gauge effectiveness of a TikTok campaign1:00:00 - Gamer artists on Twitch and how to connect with them1:06:45 - Ultra Records' advertising campaigns with Facebook, Google, YouTube, etc1:17:20 - Where Ultra Records puts most of its ad spend1:19:15 - Does Ultra Records run the ads for the releases or do the artists and their managers do them?1:20:40 - What does it mean to Bina to make it in the new music business?--Connect with Ari’s Take:Website: https://aristake.comAcademy: https://aristakeacademy.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/aristake_/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTakeYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aristake/Connect with Ari Herstand:Website: http://ariherstand.comInstagram: http://instagram.com/ariherstandTwitter: http://twitter.com/ariherstandYouTube: http://youtube.com/ariherstandFacebook: http://facebook.com/ariherstand Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a live episode, virtually, on Zoom, and we invited Ari's Take Academy students to be part of it. They were able to ask questions at the end of the episode.The episode is with Seth Kallen. He's an artist manager for JP Saxe, X Ambassadors, Jukebox The Ghost, and many others. He talks about how to get opening slots on tours and how he was relentless early on. We discussed creating during quarantine, sync licensing, and touring. Stick around to the end of the episode. We had some great questions from the students. We even had someone from Moscow, Russia ask a question. Seth gave very knowledge answers to them and was super generous with his knowledge and wisdom. --Seth's article on Medium: https://medium.com/@SethKallenThisFiction/what-do-i-miss-i-miss-live-music-the-fight-to-save-the-concert-business-during-a-global-pandemic-b91d64d1b26b-- Quick links: 3:28 - Where Seth is quarantining from and how his life as a manager has shifted since quarantine started5:56 - How it's been for Seth now that he's established himself as a manager - does he go to all of his artist's events? 8:20 - Finding a balance between work and passions10:40 - Livestreamed shows are not a replacement for live shows13:40 - What is an artist manager and what do they do?17:30 - What parts of his artists' career is he involved in?20:50 - How Seth got started managing Jukebox The Ghost24:13 - Did Seth finish college? 26:18 - What is a day-to-day manager?28:20 - How Seth discovered X Ambassadors34:10 - How X Ambassadors went from drawing 5 people to a venue in New York to billions of streams, playing numerous venues, and being one of the biggest bands in the world at one point40:20 - The pitch to get opening slots on bigger tours for artists43:35 - Being relentless, persistent, and showing your worth; Ari's story about opening for Ben Folds55:20 - JP Saxe's rise to fame and how Seth connected with him1:09:20 - How JP Saxe pays it forward and why he remembers those who've helped him in his career1:12:09 - ATA student questions--Connect with Ari’s Take:Website: https://aristake.comAcademy: https://aristakeacademy.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/aristake_/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@aris.takeTwitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTakeYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aristake/Connect with Ari Herstand:Website: https://ariherstand.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstandTwitter: https://twitter.com/ariherstandYouTube: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.