The New Music Business with Ari Herstand

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Platinum Selling Producer / Songwriter for Drake, Travis Scott, Halsey, Khalid - Rogét Chahayed Sep 09, 2020

Show notes

Today's episode was a live podcast episode for Ari's Take Academy students with guests Rogét Chahayed and his manager Greg Katz. Rogét 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.

We got into both the production and business sides. We discussed producer points, splits, songwriter credits, publishing, and how to get a publishing deal. Rogét also gives great advice to aspiring songwriters and producers on how to get started.

This podcast was live for Ari's Take Academy students. At the end of the conversation, they were able to ask Rogét and Greg questions.

Quick links:

2:45 - How Rogét went from studying classical music to working with Dr Dre

8:04 - About Rogét's first production

11:00 - How Greg started managing Rogét

13:45 - Being under credited and what that was like

16:35 - Advice to artists and producers on how to protect themselves from being under credited and screwed

21:25 - What's the difference between a songwriter and producer?

24:04 - When do you discuss splits?

27:50 - Breaking down the producer point system

30:08 - Is it more common to get an upfront producer fee or a backend royalty at Rogét's level?

35:20 - Breaking down Rogét's publishing deal with Kobalt

40:11 - Pointers to songwriters when looking for a publisher/publishing deal

44:30 - Student questions

58:28 - What it means to Rogét and Greg to make it in the new music business

Connect with Ari’s Take:

Website: https://aristake.com

Connect with Ari Herstand:

Connect with Rogét Chahayed:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RogetChahayed

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rogetchahayed/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#1 Malaysian Artist Yuna and Her Managers on Being Independent Again Sep 02, 2020

Show notes

Today my guests are 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.

Yuna is an incredibly talented artist. She's done collaborations with Tyler, the Creator, Pharrell, Usher, G-Eazy, and the list goes on. We dig into how she got her start on Myspace to now being an independent artist in 2020, what it looks like, release strategy, and who the new gatekeepers are. Ben and Carlo have been in the industry for decades, and they talk about what radio looked like and what it looks like now. Yuna was signed to a major label and now she's independent. We also discuss how they approach music videos, playlist promotion, and who handles what.

Quick links:

2:50 - Being in Malaysia during quarantine and what it's like

10:25 - How Ben and Carlo connected and discovered Yuna

15:25 - indie-pop!'s first client Dev and The Cataracs

18:30 - What was the focus when setting up songwriting sessions and getting a label deal?

21:02 - Transitioning away from the Verve Records label and working with Tyler, the Creator and G-Eazy

27:53 - Setting up writing sessions when Yuna first moved to Los Angeles

32:05 - What Yuna thought of the writing sessions when she first moved to Los Angeles

34:36 - Who's handling what the label typically handles (promotion, release strategy, etc) now that Yuna's independent?

44:20 - How important is radio nowadays?

44:25 - What does the release strategy look like in 2020?

54:00 - Who are the gatekeepers in 2020?

59:40 - When you're releasing a new single, what are the conversations about the story like? How do you tell the story?

1:00:41 - The story behind "Stay Where You Are"

1:05:45 - What does it mean to make it in the new music business?

Connect with Ari’s Take:

Website: https://aristake.com

Connect with Ari Herstand:

Connect with Yuna:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yunamusic

Twitter: https://twitter.com/yunamusic

Instagram:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emily Kinney on the Art and Business of Acting and Music Aug 19, 2020

Show notes

Spotify's Payment Model and Your Release Timeline Aug 12, 2020

Show notes

In today’s 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.

Quick links:

1:56 - What Daniel Ek said

3:20 - How the music industry reacted to Ek's statement

9:10 - Art creation and new music business release strategy

13:15 - Making a living on Spotify streams and playing the playlisting game

23:35 - Breaking down the Spotify payment system

33:20 - Being successful without playing the Spotify playlisting game

Connect with Ari’s Take:

Website: https://aristake.com

Connect with Ari Herstand:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Allie X on Creating Her Artist Package, Breaking Into LA and Staying Independent Aug 05, 2020

Show notes

Today my guest is Allie X. She's 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.

We talk about what her journey has been like the last few months and how she's shifted her plans and release strategies. Then we go into her background, how she became Allie X, and how she's been so successful without the support of a major label. She has a very interesting story and cool ways of doing things.

Quick links:

2:45 - Moving back to Canada and changing schedule

9:30 - Allie X's work schedule now

11:18 - What Allie X's team looks like

13:00 - Unique business model and the profit share

25:19 - Getting into a publishing deal after moving to Los Angeles

29:49 - Finding the Allie X aesthetic and visual brand

35:30 - Finding the right people to work with and how to reach out to them

38:25 - What does an Allie X promo strategy look like?

47:50 - How the Canadian government has supported Allie X's career and what it takes to apply for these grants

57:00 - What it means to Allie X to make it in the new music business

Connect with Ari’s Take:

Website: https://aristake.com

Connect with Ari Herstand:

Connect with Allie X:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alliexxxxandra

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alliex/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alliex

Website: https://alliex.com/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0wnYgCeP013HkKoOyC5V32

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Artists Can Get Advances Without Signing To a Label Jul 29, 2020

Show notes

Today my guest is John Funge. He's 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.

As I dug deeper and interviewed artists who're using them, it seemed like a very cool company. Now they're partnered with Ari's Take.

Quick links:

3:25 - About The Music Fund and what they do

10:00 - Does The Music Fund's business model work?

20:00 - How the algorithms account for massive playlist adds and spikes/drops in royalty revenue

23:17 - Success stories from artists who've used The Music Fund

25:20 - Should I apply for The Music Fund? What data should you be looking at before you apply?

31:10 - How investors are involved

Connect with Ari’s Take:

Website: http://aristake.com

Academy: http://aristakeacademy.com