144: Ari Herstand

144: Ari Herstand

Leo Sidran with Ari Herstand

Download

When Ari Herstand first came on the Third Story Podcast in 2016, he was still in the process of becoming. He struggled with the what he saw as a “duality” between being a musician / performing artist and a business person. Would success in one realm undermine success in the other? “I got to the point where I have accepted that I am equally both,” he tells me now. 

“Success is very personal and nobody can really define success for you,” he says. And Ari has spent much of the last decade examining many of the biggest successes in the independent music business, analyzing them, and then teaching them, first through is blog Ari’s Take, and then in his book How To Make It In The New Music Business. The Second Edition was published in November of 2019. It remains at the top of the Amazon charts and has been widely adopted by music business schools worldwide.

In fact, because of the success of both the book and the blog, he eventually started Ari’s Take Academy, an online music business school that he hopes will eventually compete as an alternative to “the traditional brick and mortar music colleges.” 

http://www.ascap.com/expo What does success mean in today's music industry? Because it definitely isn't defined the same way as it was just 10 years ago. Should you strive for a record or publishing deal? Should you live on the road? Should you focus on licensing? Should you work on building a die-hard fan base?

"The days of the big break are over." Author of the best-selling book, How To Make It in the New Music Business and independent musician who Forbes calls "The Poster Child of DIY Music," Ari Herstand discusses what it takes to make it in the New Music Business.

“Collectively we are smarter and more active than any other group or even professional marketing person out there,” he says of his Academy. “Because we have so many people working on this stuff and sharing their results with one another.”

Ari lives in Los Angeles, but was in New York recently developing the “1973 immersive experience” around his band, Brassroots District with some of the team that developed the critically acclaimed immersive show  Sleep No More.  

http://brassrootsdistrict.com Directed and animated by JonesAndYou IG: @jonesandyou http://www.jonesandyou.com YT: https://www.youtube.com/user/JonesAndYou LYRICS: These two feet they got a mind of their own Don't need direction they know where to go Wanna get new scuffs on these old soles Making ground in my home town Where sticky wet heat slicks the

Call the hotline to be invited to the Brassroots District Experience: 323-596-1973 http://brassrootsdistrict.com Vocals: Copper Jones, Ursa Major Drums: Bianca Richardson Keys: Drin Elliot Guitar: EMBI Guitar: Copper Jones Bass: Billy Lebua Trombone: Erik Hughes Sax: Kirsten Edkins Trumpet: Enrique Sanchez Percussion: Damon Grant Song by Ari Herstand Recorded by

Ari also curates this playlist on Spotify, which I love. 

There was no way I was going to let Ari off the hook without having him give me a little free advice about my own career and social media game. Last time we talked, he hooked up my website - he pimped my page. And this time I was ready with a specific ask: is it time after five years of doing this podcast - to create dedicated social media accounts for the Third Story. Ari told me unquestionably that it was time. So starting today, you can follow the Third Story Podcast on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, all of them @thirdstorypod. 

With Ari Herstand, Brooklyn, December 2019

To start out the new year, this conversation covers a lot of ground around the state of the independent music business today. Ari asks and answers the big questions: How can a project be bigger than just the music. What is the story? What is the difference between transparency and authenticity. How does one play to the strengths and limitations of social media platforms? Is the internet a real community? Spotify. Instagram. TikTok. California politics. Immersive experiences. Online education. It’s all here. 

Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, please leave a review on iTunes and consider supporting the podcast on Patreon and following the podcast on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.