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How To Get More Mailing List Subscribers

Last night I had an incredible show at one of my favorite places to play in the country, The Hotel Cafe. I got to meet many awesome Ari's Take readers. At the end of the night, after I finished chatting with everyone by the merch booth, I glanced at my mailing list clipboard and...

Why Music Managers Just Don’t Cut It (The NEW Team)

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...

Carry Your Instrument On The Plane – It’s The LAW

I fly a lot with my guitar. It's a $2,000 Taylor. Over the years, airlines (namely US Airways and United) have told me that my guitar MUST be checked. This usually happens at the gate. However, at LAX they have their own guards checking you BEFORE you even get to security. A few...

Your Gear Will Get Stolen

Years ago I got back late after a local gig and was exhausted. I carried in my guitar and cash box, but left some of my other gear in my car - including my $2,000 trumpet (no judging - I was young, stupid and TIRED). The next morning, as you would imagine, I awoke to a smashed ba...

How To Network Like A (Music) Pro

Musicians hate the word 'networking.' It feels contrived and dishonest. Marketers and entrepreneurs love the word and the act. These people are constantly out meeting new people and... wait for it... networking.So why do musicians hate it so much, but traditional entrepreneurs lo...

You Don’t Find A Manager, A Manager Finds You

I've never had a manager. Don't take this as I never wanted one. I made it the goal of 2008 to find a manager. I didn't find one that year (but I did open for Ben Folds). I didn't find one in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and I'm still self managing my career myself (and have managed ot...

Don’t Try Out For A Singing Show…

...unless you know how to leverage it. I got a few questions this past week about my take on singing contest shows (from Request a Topic form below). I touched on it in You Should Try Out For American Idol, but I'm going to go a bit deeper.+You Should Try Out For American IdolLet...

Skip The Party Tonight, Become a Rockstar Tomorrow

Darren Campbell wrote in (via the Request a Topic below) and asked I write on this... so here it is!'The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want most for what you want right now' - Zig ZiglarSome people claim that college is about the party. College isn't...

What’s a Publicist and Should I Get One?

I was going to write an entire post about the world of music PR and discuss when it's time to get a publicist and what you should expect to pay and WHAT THEY DO (most musicians have no idea), but I figured why not just interview a successful music publicist (and one who I have wo...

Copyright Your Song or GLEE Will Steal It

I know basic US music copyright law. I mean, I'm no lawyer, but I studied it in college and just spent a couple hours on the US Copyright website to brush up. Technically as soon as you put your song in a fixed form (paper, cd, digital counts - performing it does not) then it's c...

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How To Get Your Music on TV, Video Games and in Movies (Sync Licensing)

I study the sync licensing realm (getting songs placed in film, tv, commercials, video games) quite a bit. On the...
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