Ari Herstand

The music community got a major win when California governor Gavin Newsom signed AB2257 into law, the bill I and so many others, namely the organization I helped found, Independent Music Professionals United, helped write and get passed to save the California music economy from collapse.

Rogét Chahayed is a Grammy-nominated producer and songwriter whose songs have sold over 30 million copies. He's worked with some of the biggest names in the business, including Halsey, Travis Scott, Drake, Miguel, G-Eazy, Ke$ha, Calvin Harris, Carly Rae Jepsen, and more. I talk with him and his manager, Greg Katz, to get the production side as well as the business side.

In this episode I talk with 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.

  Last month, we at Ari’s Take had the distinct honor and pleasure of presenting one of Los Angeles’ first (and only) concerts since March!  The concert was the release show for the incomparable Annabel Lee for her new song “Los...

Emily Kinney is an actress, musician, and podcast host. Most people know her as an actress who starred in The Walking Dead from 2011-2015, Masters of Sex, The Flash, Arrow, Law & Order: SVU, and many others. She was also in Spring Awakening on Broadway.

If you're an artist in Los Angeles, stop what you're doing and jump on this. Today, the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs Public Art Division (DCA) and the City Council, led by Councilman David Ryu of Council District 4,...

In this 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.

Allie X is 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.

John Fung is 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.

One of the biggest reasons that artists sign with major record labels is for the upfront cash.  The advance is very attractive for artists getting a 6- or 7-figure check waved in front of their face - even if it...