Posted: Oct 28, 2019

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Ari Herstand. This is an excerpt from his book How to Make It in the New Music Business (second edition). This post was originally published on Music Connection.

 

"Before you release your next single or album, make sure you set it up for the best chance of success. Don’t forget to do these 26 things before the release..."

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Posted: Oct 1, 2018

Category: Merch

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**Guest post written by Ari Herstand, the author of How To Make It in the New Music Business. It originally appeared on Ari's Take.

 

"When you’re on tour, merch can be your number-one income generator. Believe it. Bands stress over their guarantees, door splits and turnouts. If you want to survive financially with your music, you must understand the importance of merch sales..."

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Posted: Aug 21, 2017

Category: Touring

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**Guest post written by Ari Herstand, the author of How To Make It in the New Music Business.

 

"I’ve made a ton of mistakes and got screwed over by talent buyers, promoters and club owners more times than I’d like to admit. I learned everything the hard way and it took me years to figure out how to actually book a successful, money making tour. The biggest thing you want to remember when thinking about setting up a tour is: do not book a tour just to go on tour..."

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Posted: Dec 19, 2016

Category: Social Media

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**Guest post written by Ari Herstand, the author of How To Make It in the New Music Business. It originally appeared on Ari's Take.

 

"I get it. It’s so annoying every time a new social site pops up or updates their platform and then you have to completely relearn it (or start to lean in). The DIY world was a hell of a lot simpler when there was just one social network that mattered: Myspace. But those years are behind us. Let me help you make some sense of this all before we dig into it..."

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Posted: Oct 24, 2016

Category: Licensing

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**Guest post written by Ari Herstand, the author of How To Make It in the New Music Business. It originally appeared on Digital Music News.

 

"I’ve been lucky enough to have my songs placed about 30 times over the past 6 years in TV shows, films and commercials. Well, luck really had little to do with it. There’s very little luck involved in the music industry. Lazy people like to say that it’s all luck. That’s just plain ignorant. There’s no such thing as a “lucky break.” There are little victories. There are opportunities. There are people working their asses off behind the scenes..."

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Posted: May 31, 2016

Category: Technology

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**Guest post written by Ari Herstand. It originally appeared on Ari's Take.

 

"I just released a music video. It cost me exactly $0 to make and it looks pretty darn awesome if I do say so myself. Well, I can say so because I didn't make it. I kind of had nothing to do with it - other than writing and recording the song of course (and showing up and shooting the thing). So how did this happen?"

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Posted: Sep 15, 2014

Category: Promotion

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**Guest post written by Ari Herstand. It originally appeared on Ari's Take.

 

"Of course everyone wants a 5 star album review in Rolling Stone or an 8.7 in Pitchfork, but you have to be realistic about your press pursuits. If you have never received press, there is a very slim chance that you will get an album review in a popular blog or nationally distributed magazine. Your best chance for media coverage is your hometown papers, magazines and blogs or local publications in cities you're touring to..."

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Posted: Aug 4, 2014

Category: Licensing

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**Guest post written by Ari Herstand. It originally appeared on Ari's Take. 

 

"There is no one way to get music placed on TV (or in film). In addition to how I've gone about it, I've spoken with many of my musician friends who make livings on song placements about this." So what is their advice?...

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Posted: Jun 10, 2013

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Ari Herstand, a DIY singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, CA with 500+ shows under his belt, as featured in his blog "Ari's Take". 

 

"The most popular "myth" to debunk these days by talking heads in the biz is that it's not about who you know. Everyone will say "just be great - you don't need connections!" Bull...Most of the opportunities that musicians get aren't because they are undeniably great. It is because they are nice guys and gals who people like to be around."

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