Ari Herstand

In this week’s episode, I spoke with artist NEFFEX and his manager Ryan Sullivan. We breakdown NEFFEX’s impression release strategy in which he successfully released one copyright free song a week (yes, you read that right!) to eventually surpassing 4 billion DSP streams all independently. We also dive into his previous record deal with 12Tone Music, embracing TikTok’s open verse challenges as well as how he expanded his role as a songwriter and producer.

This week on the New Music Business, I spoke with the co-founder and partner at Brilliant Corners Artist Management, Jordan Kurland. Artists such as Death Cab for Cutie, Toro Y Moi, She & Him, Best Coast, Soccer Mommy, Real Estate, New Pornographers, and Pup are all amongst their diverse talent roster. We discussed what the role of an artist management entails, his history working with Death Cab, building career artists without relying on TikTok, as well as the best methods for artists who are seeking management.

Ryan Chisholm is the General Manager of Work of Art Management, as well as the Senior Vice President of Arista Records’ West Coast division. At WoA, the company currently represents notable artists such as Mike Posner, Trevor Daniel, Verzache, Tai Verdes, Wes Period and MILCK. Prior to WoA and Arista Records, Chisholm worked with Nettwerk Music Group under their Artist MGMT and A&R department. In this episode, we dove into Tai Verdes’ musical journey, the significance of TikTok, influencer marketing deals and gaining leverage with the major labels.

This week on the New Music Business, I spoke with Pink Noise’s business manager Khloe Churko, alongside tax preparer and fellow podcaster Stephanie Belcher. We dive deep into the weeds of music industry finances including bookkeeping, 1099s, LLCs versus S Corps, DBAs, how PROs pay artists, and so much more!

Did you know that there is a law on the books in California that states a company cannot bind someone to a personal services agreement for longer than 7 calendar years - unless they are a RECORDING ARTIST?! That’s right, in 1987 the slimy, slippery, soulless major record labels successfully lobbied the California legislature to add an amendment to exempt recording artists from this law meant to protect people from long-term, predatory contracts. But finally, California might have a chance to right these historic wrongs with the new Bill AB-2926 (Kalra) that has been introduced.

Spotify just released their new Loud and Clear report today which profiled a lot of really interesting figures. The three most surprising things that stuck out to me from this report are: How many DIY, self-released artists are earning...

Trousdale is a pop-folk trio born out of the USC's popular music program, consisting of band members Quinn D'Andrea, Georgia Greene and Lauren Jones. In this episode of the New Music Business, we discussed what their creation process entails, self-producing their last releases, as well as how they stayed productive during the pandemic and successfully embraced TikTok.

Over the past two decades, David’s work as a performer, talent scout, publicist, and programmer has led him to work closely with an enormous range of artists from the emerging to superstars, playing a pivotal role in artist development and content strategy. With indie rock quartet The Middle Eight from 2007-2016, David performed hundreds of shows, most memorably at The Kennedy Center in DC and in the major motion picture ‘The Rebound.' Most recently, his work as Head of Artist & Label Relations at Vevo has helped to shed light on some of the most talented new artists working today.

More Fatter is an indie-funk pop band from San Francisco, California, currently based in Los Angeles. During the summer of 2021, they embarked on a fully-independent statewide tour performing primarily in backyards. On this episode, half of the band members Tommy and Théo join Ari to discuss exactly how they successfully pulled this off, and share some very insightful tour stories throughout.

Talya Elitzer is the co-founder of Godmode, a GRAMMY-nominated artist development company whose label and management clients include genre-breaking artists like Channel Tres, JPEGMAFIA, and Yaeji. Prior to Godmode, Elitzer was a Senior A&R at Capitol Records (Katy Perry, Sam Smith, Beck), and a previous booking agent for WME (Britney Spears, Grace Jones) and Mick Management (John Mayer, Sarah McLachlan). At Godmode, Elitzer takes an unorthodox approach to artist development and marketing, with an unusually high track record for breaking artists who don't quite fit into pre-existing formats. She focuses on building sustainable operations for her artists, so they can maintain an uncompromising approach to their work.