Ari Herstand

1) You Don't Have A StoryWhen was the last time you read a show preview or album review of a band that discussed the actual music: the song structure, guitar tones, harmonic and melodic choices, drum tones, the pocket, innovative syncopation, varied time signatures, sonic flouris...

From left: Margaret Gregory, Alejandro Manzano, Tyler Ward, Mike Falzone, David Choi, Meghan Tonjes, Peter HollensI originally wrote this for Digital Music NewsThis past weekend in Anaheim, CA was the world's largest gathering of YouTube lovers. Nearly 19,000 people attended the...

Every scene has them. The bloggers, the radio DJs, the music editors, the local Twitter stars, the club and festival bookers. Gatekeepers are an elusive group of somebodies who once were nobodies.What they all have in common is they love the culture of music. They're typically no...

I get a lot of emails from musicians asking me questions. I try to answer as many as I can, but I've been noticing a few serious email faux pas lately that I feel I need to address. This isn't meant to shame anyone, just help you understand how to best use the form of communicati...

Last month I profiled Jeff Price's Audiam on Digital Music News and how he looks to fix YouTube's royalty system. That's all well and good, but even if things worked perfectly in the YouTube royalty world, creators still rely on viewers to click ads. Then for those ads to generat...

Last weekend at the ASCAP Music Expo at the Loews Hollywood Hotel I attended the Music Supervisor panel containing 5 music supervisors who actively place music in film and television.Over the course of my career, I've had about 30 TV placements (20 in the last year from my new re...

Why do we love it when politicians talk about themselves? Why do we love hearing them stump on the campaign trail talking about how great they are?Well maybe we don't love it, but we accept it. And vote for them.But we hate musicians who talk about themselves.In the hip hop commu...

Back in the day artists created and managers managed. The end.When I hear artists today say 'I just want to make music, I don't want to do any of the business stuff.' I want to scream 'YEAH, ME TOO!'But that's not today's reality.Artists who are lucky enough to have a manager who...

My ears are ringing.I bring ear plugs wherever I go. They're in a little plastic pinch-to-open container on my keychain. I put them in whenever I'm at a loud concert. Well most concerts really. Except for those at the Hotel Cafe. Because they know how to mix. It's a listening roo...

Until you have real fans who passionately love your music. Who fall asleep to you. Wake up to you. Drive to you. Work to you. Play to you. And make love to you. You need to figure out ways to get people out to your shows.In your early stages you won't have fans. You'll have peopl...