The New Music Business with Ari Herstand

You probably know Chris Douridas from Los Angeles' iconic, trend-setting radio station KCRW. He was the host of Morning Becomes Eclectic in the '90s. He has been at the station for about 30 years. Chris is someone who has hired most of the staff that we know at KCRW and is an extremely influential figure in the Los Angeles music scene. Chris also started the premiere music showcase, School Night. He is also a music supervisor and was nominated for a Grammy award for his work on American Beauty and has music supervised a number of films, including the Austin Powers trilogy and Shrek 2.Chris and I discuss how he listens music and what it takes for what it takes for him to play a new song on his radio show. We also talk about how he puts together the music for films he's working on. Chris also shares a hilarious story about his first time on air as a radio DJ. ---Quick links: 2:59 - Chris Douridas's first experience with radio6:00 - Switching from doing news to music20:14 - How do you know how much time to talk before the lyrics start?26:40 - What emails do you choose to open?31:15 - How Chris searches through SoundCloud32:30 - What percentage of music you play is from other means vs. being pitched?34:40 - Have you received any packages that stood out to you?35:20 - Every artist has the same tools as the labels. 37:42 - Do you still discover music live?39:20 - What is School Night?52:12 - How do you answer the question of, "What kind of music are you into?" 59:20 - Music supervisors' job is to help find the sonic boundaries of a movie.1:04:10 - Chris's Grammy nomination for American Beauty1:12:12 - What project that you are working on are you most excited about? 1:16:40 - Where do you see the podcast medium headed? 1:18:00 - What do you think it means to make 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 Chris Douridas:Twitter: https://twitter.com/chrisdouridasKCRW: https://www.kcrw.com/music/shows/chris-douridas Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode comes to you from Foundation Management's offices in Brooklyn, New York, which is Lauv's management company. I sat down with Emma MacDonald, Lauv's label manager. Lauv is an independent artist, and I profiled him the second edition of How to Make It in the New Music Business. He is one of those incredibly successful artists without a label. In fact, he was the most spun artist in 2019 and has, to date, more than 4 billion streams.Emma is employed directly by Lauv through his A5B label. She runs all of his label operations, including radio and marketing campaigns. We discuss what their release strategy looks like, how they worked the rollout for his most recent album, and the waterfall effect.---Quick links: 2:35 - About Emma MacDonald and Lauv's A5B label4:25 - Lauv being fully independent and his publishing deal with Kobalt6:15 - What Emma's role as label manager is11:31 - Why Lauv is so heavily involved in the process14:00 - What are the label services that AWAL provides Lauv? 15:50 - Is Emma working with AWAL's radio marketing company In2une?17:30 - How does anyone make the decision to pursue an expensive radio campaign? Why Lauv's story wouldn't be a success on a major label21:42 - Spending tons of money on a radio campaign for your first song isn't a good idea.30:00 - What is Lauv's release strategy? Is there a formula? 32:33 - What does waterfall mean?41:59 - When the album is out, is there more of a campaign? 44:00 - What are all of the assets that you like to have for a full on release campaign? 51:04 - What are the budgets for visualizers and music videos?54:58 - How do you choose where to put the videos: YouTube, Vimeo? 1:09:39 - What it means to Emma to make 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/aristake1 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's episode is with superstar music supervisor Jen Malone. She has placed music and worked on Euphoria, Atlanta, Creed 2, The Resident, Boomerang, Baskets, Shelter, Lady Dynamite, and Step Up. That's just scratching the surface. She has worked in sync licensing now for over a decade. She is so well established and so well respected. I was so happy to finally get to talk to her.We dug in deep on sync licensing. We talk about what a music supervisor does. She also gave advice and tips on how independent artists can get their music synced and things to look out for in the contracts, quote requests, and things you should strike from the deals. We also discussed how to setup your music to pitch to supervisors effectively and have the best chance of having your music synced. ---Resources mentioned:Your Music, Your Future: https://yourmusicyourfuture.com/Discovery Networks Corners Composers in Music Royalties Battle: https://variety.com/2019/music/news/discovery-networks-composers-music-royalties-1203434924/---Quick links: 10:18 - What is a music coordinator? 11:41 - How pitching music has changed over the years15:38 - How do you like to be contacted when? 17:38 - Are there any tools that you use for audio clearance and recognition?21:54 - How do you find new music?23:18 - What's your process like when coming into a new project?24:20 - Who created the sonic vibe of Euphoria?25:15 - What is the process on working with the director? 28:55 - When did you come into Creed 2? 32:40 - Can you work on multiple shows at once?34:00 - How much does your personal taste influence your selections for the projects you're working on?36:30 - How do you pick music for scenes that are difficult? How do you create such a juxtaposition?41:05 - Are there any standout independent musicians that you've seen get a "break" from one of their placements?44:30 - What are the music discovery trends you've seen over the past years? 47:55 - Do you curate any playlists? 49:00 - How do you stay organized when you're working on so many projects at once?50:35 - What are the differences working with the different platforms? Is there a standard placement rate?52:30 - The Discovery channel devaluing music and screwing over musicians58:10 - Jen Malone sides with musicians and helps them negotiate licenses1:01:20 - How much negotiation is allowed with the contracts you're working with? What advice would you give to someone who wants to have their music synced? 1:08:30 - How do you define 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:  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to episode number one of the New Music Business podcast! This interview with Andy Grammer was recorded live during my book signing event at Barnes & Noble at The Grove in Los Angeles on January 16th, 2020. I've conducted hundreds of interviews over the years. Most of them were private, one-on-one just for me to write about. This was by far one of my favorite interviews I've ever conducted. Seriously. Andy dropped gem after gem after gem for artists, songwriters, and managers on how to approach songwriting, a music career, and just life in general.Multi-platinum selling pop artist Andy Grammer is all about inspiring and empowering the world by communicating his truths through his music. Grammer is the first male pop star in a decade since John Mayer to reach the Top 10 at adult pop radio on his first two singles. His discography includes a succession of anthemic pop hits, including "Keep Your Head Up," "Fine By Me," "Honey, I'm Good.," "Good to Be Alive (Hallelujah)," and "Fresh Eyes." His most recent album Naive is home to his latest single, "Don't Give Up On Me," which quickly reached the Top 10 on iTunes and is already certified gold.---Quick links:2:37 - Andy's journey from before his first album came out5:30 - How longer were you on the Promenade performing? 9:20 - The importance of giving. It's about the audience.10:10 - What kept you going through the soul-crushing gigs? 13:00 - Was there a shift in your perception that enabled you to leap to the next stage in your career?17:15 - How did you transition from playing the Promenade to doing radio tours?\18:55 - Manager as a partner22:03 - How do you know when you've reached the bar?25:00 - Do you have a practice or routine that enables you to crush your fear regularly? Has the fear ever gotten to be so much that you can't handle it?28:30 - Does your fear ever prevent you from writing new tracks, especially since you've already written so many hits? 30:10 - How don't you know if you've written a good song after a session?33:15 - Andy's co-writing process39:32 - Can you remember when you first went into a top-level writing session? What was that like?40:45 - How do you remain humble with all of your success?47:10 - What is branding?51:50 - Do you have a way to process songs that are just for you?54:50 - How do you make 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 Andy Grammer:Website: https://andygrammer.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andygrammer/Twitter:  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the New Music Business Podcast! This is my first podcast I've ever hosted and I'm excited that you've decided to join me here. I have conducted hundreds of interviews over the years writing for Ari's Take and other music publications, but most of the interviews weren't ever released publicly. I love interviewing people and some of these conversations are too valuable not to share in their entirety. So, here we go...This podcast will focus on people who are innovating in the new music business. I will dissect their stories of success and pull out practical tips and inspiring anecdotes that will hopefully help you succeed as well. You're going to hear from artists, managers, music supervisors, radio DJs, agents, label heads, publishers and everyone else who Is kicking butt in the new music business. There isn't just one way to succeed in the new music business. There are a hundred ways to succeed. And we will explore those ways with some of the brightest minds of the industry.Join us!---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/aristake1 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.