Ari Herstand

When my high school band released our very first (and only… RIP Jahaziwoga) CD, there was one game in town to get it sold online. That was CD Baby. Shortly after, they were the first and only company that allowed self-released artists to get their music into iTunes. Maintaining...

Photo: Paul Kitagaki Jr./The Sacramento Bee California is on fire. But this economic blaze will ignite abruptly on January 1st and will affect the California music industry so drastically that it could completely burn it down. As the fifth largest economy in the world and the...

This is an excerpt from my new book How to Make It in the New Music Business (Second Edition). Grab it here. The question I get asked frequently by older musicians is “does age matter.”There’s no simple answer because it all depends on what your goals are. But I’ll tell...

I just got back from a really inspiring songwriting retreat in Mammoth Lakes, California. It was organized by a singer/songwriter friend here in the LA scene. Five of us left the whirlwind of the city and escaped to the mountains. Each morning we went on a hike. Inspiration Quest...

Vulfpeck | Photo by Michelle ShiersYou’d be hard-pressed to find an act out today who has enjoyed as much success as Vulfpeck - without the assistance of a manager or a label. I’ve been following these funky trendsetters for the past four years or so and have seen them catapu...

Stefanie VinselIt’s funny how some venues consistently offer life-changing experiences. Maybe it’s the history of the room. Maybe it’s the quality of acts. Maybe it’s the sound system, the front of house engineer, the venue staff or the sight lines. Or maybe it’s just h...

Let’s just start by saying the US copyright office needs to hire better web developers.I just went through the painstaking process of their electronic filing system. Although it has been updated over the years, the website looks and functions like it was built in 2003. It is no...

I try to listen to The Daily podcast by the New York Times every day. Mostly I’ll put it on at the gym or in the car. I’m all about multi-tasking. Who has time to do just one, singular thing anymore?! The Daily is a really good, in-depth look at the top stories of the day. Of...

This piece was updated May 9th, 2019A 2015 Berklee College of Music report found that anywhere from 20% to 50% of music payments do not make it to their rightful owners. Kobalt calculated that there are over 900,000 royalty streams per song. How do you make sure you regis...

My friend is a pop producer in LA. He used to play in a progressive funk band in Minneapolis back in the day and our bands used to play shows around the Midwest together when I was a rock/pop singer/songwriter. We lived together with 5 other musicians in our house and had a rehea...