Ari Herstand

When you have new, unreleased songs or demos you'd like to share with your team, you need a way to send them. Sounds simple enough, however, I can't tell you how many times I get sent broken links, 'empty' Soundcloud playlists or Dropbox links that won't stream - or are, gasp, 50...

Over the course of my 600 shows I've hired 9 drummers, 9 bassists, 7 guitarists, 5 keyboardists, 5 singers, 4 trumpet players, 2 trombonists, 2 saxophonists, 2 cellists and 3 violinists. Not to mention the various session players for recordings.I've also been hired as a trumpet p...

In the past, I would have told you all about the show I saw last night. From these great bands with a killer horn section, pocket drummer and bassist, angelic singer, yadda yadda yadda. Because the show was great and I’d really love to give props to the bands I saw. But I’m n...

The first thing that most young songwriters in the US hear is “you need to sign up for ASCAP or BMI to make sure you get your songwriter royalties.” I have to hand it to ASCAP and BMI’s PR departments. They do a great job of making themselves known. So much so, that most so...

I’m still about 300 emails behind from what I missed at SXSW. I completely forgot to turn on the vacation responder when I left. Only a couple people freaked out at my delay. When I'm at a music conference it's impossible to keep up with any work not pertaining directly to the...

In honor of Women’s History Month, I’ve started a (living) list of badass female producers. This was inspired by Ebonie Smith’s op-ed in Billboard which was inspired by the previous Billboard article “Where Are All The Female Producers.” Well! Some of them are right her...

At this point I'm sure you've heard by now that “songwriters just got a raise!” Woohoo! But what does this really mean? And how do you get your money? Ok, lemme break this down for you in plain English. Currently streaming services (otherwise known as DSPs - Digital Service P...

There’s a moment that every musician experiences when you get what you think could be the final masters back from the mastering engineer. You sit in your car with extremely close friends. And you confide in them that this is your new song off of your new album. You spent the be...

I love podcasts. More specifically, educational podcasts. Even more specifically, educational podcasts about music, business and thinking differently. Oftentimes, though, I'm at a loss when I'm caught up on a podcast I love or just in the mood for something different. I don't lis...

I’ve played about 30-40 house concerts over the past 7 years or so. They are some of my favorite shows I’ve ever done. Now, I’ve played everywhere from bars, theaters, festivals, colleges, clubs and arenas. You name it, I’ve probably played some kind of venue similar to i...