The New Music Business with Ari Herstand

Today's guest is Clare Means. She's a Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter. She got her start performing on the Santa Monica Pier. Now she's known for her success on the livestreaming platforms, specifically Twitch, Facebook, YouTube Live, and Periscope. She's actually one of the most watched musicians on Periscope. Since quarantine started, she went all in on livestreaming. 

Clare talks all about her journey livestreaming, how she built up to be the most successful livestreamer on Periscope, and what it's looked like since she started livestreaming on all of the other platforms. She breaks each of them down and explains how you can make money on them. She makes her full living exclusively livestreaming. 

I've been so intrigued by her journey livestreaming, which is why I asked her to be an instructor for an Ari's Take Academy course to teach it. Use code NMB for 10% off: https://aristakeacademy.teachable.com/p/livestreaming-for-musicians

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Quick links: 

2:55 - About Clare Means and her setup

7:14 - Clare's livestreaming story and how she got started

11:23 - Stories from Clare street performing

17:07 - How Clare got people to stop and listen to her street performing

22:25 - What about street performing has made Clare a better livestreamer? 

27:20 - The platforms Clare livestreams to and why

31:24 - Monetization possibilities on each livestreaming platform

39:07 - Which platform Clare makes the most money on and where her engagement is the best

47:58 - Clare's advice to musicians who want to get started livestreaming

55:12 - What it means to Clare Means to 'make it' in the new music business

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Connect with Ari’s Take:

Website: https://aristake.com

Academy: https://aristakeacademy.com

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTake

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1

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

Connect with Ari Herstand:

Website: https://ariherstand.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstand

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ariherstand

YouTube: https://youtube.com/ariherstand

Facebook: https://facebook.com/ariherstand

Connect with Clare Means:

Website: https://www.claremeansmusic.com/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5gc2EPzFCpY9xxn1BGqjET?si=3UdTcG_-TsS1bu0-9Zprtw

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

Twitter:

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Today on the show is Marshall Betts. He is an agent formerly of Paradigm, but after Paradigm dissolved its entire music division and laid off hundreds of employees Marshall Betts along with a few of his co-workers at Paradigm launched a new agency... TBA Agency. Get it?

They got a lot of press when they came out of the gates, but they launched on September 1st of 2020. They took their roster with them, and it currently includes Courtney Barnett, CHVRCHES, Madame Gandhi (who was previously on the show), The War On Drugs, Hot Chip, and many more.

Marshall and I talk about everything in the live concert market, from when he thinks it's going to come back in the traditional sense to everything that's happening right now and what agents' jobs are. He talks about ticketed livestreams and drive-in concerts. He also talks about what he looks for when he's signing artists, and I was encouraged to hear what he said when he signs new artists.

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Oprah’s Drummer Madame Gandhi on Feminism, Activism, Music Video Budgets as an Indie Artist: https://aristake.com/madame-gandhi/

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Quick links:

5:10 - Is New York still a music industry hub?

7:44 - Shifting out of Paradigm and starting TBA

18:38 - How many people work at TBA? Is it expanding? How are you funding TBA?

22:58 - How are ticketing livestreams working for TBA's artists? 

24:50 - What are some of the deals for the ticketed livestreams? Is there a favorite platform?

27:20 - What are the production costs for the livestreams? How big are the crews?

29:32 - How do you keep the livestreams interesting and fun? What are the interesting tactics artists are doing to justify the ticket price?

32:33 - What is the range for ticket prices? What are the attendance numbers? Can you anticipate the livestream attendees based on the tickets they sell when performing live? 

37:25 - How is the livestreaming space evolving? Is it going to go away?

39:25 - Has TBA done any drive-in concerts?

42:48 - What's TBA's day to day look like now?

45:45 - Recommendations on what artists can do while they wait for live music to return

49:15 - What does Marshall look for when signing a new artist?

55:38 - What it means to Marshall to make it in the new music business

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Connect with Ari’s Take:

Website: https://aristake.com

Academy: https://aristakeacademy.com

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTake

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1

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

Connect with Ari Herstand:

Website: https://ariherstand.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstand

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ariherstand

YouTube: https://youtube.com/ariherstand

Facebook:

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Today's guest is Nick Gatfield. He has been in the music industry for decades. He was a major label executive for 25 years, most recently Sony Music UK, which he left in 2014. He's worked at various majors over the years, including Universal and EMI. He was there when they signed Radiohead and was also part of Amy Winehouse's team. 

But now he's out of the major label game and runs an investment company called Twin Music. They invest in artists, recordings, and various artists' assets. I will let Nick explain how it all works because he is so knowledgeable on this due to his decades worth of experience in the industry. It's clear that he cares about artists and this new model. One of the first artists he signed to this new deal was Allie X, who was on the show about a month ago. I encourage you to check out her episode to learn how this deal works from an artist's perspective.

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Allie X on Creating Her Artist Package, Breaking Into LA and Staying Independent: https://aristake.com/allie-x/

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Quick links:

3:53 - How London is doing amidst the pandemic and how the industry is shifting

10:55 - What is Twin Music and what's the business model? 

22:22 - What does the exit strategy look like for Twin Music / the artist? 

25:03 - Does Twin Music just put up the money or is there a team that helps the artists? 

27:18 - Who are Twin Music's distribution and publishing partners? 

29:54 - Is Nick's business model scalable or is it just a wave that will eventually pass?

35:42 - Will major labels always have their place in being the driving force behind popular culture or is the industry shifting away from them? 

37:50 - What percentage of artists that Nick signed when working at the major labels made their advance back on their first album?

46:38 - What does an investment look like? How does someone invest in an artist? 

53:42 - What can an artist expect from an investment deal? Does it work like an advance?

56:25 - What does it mean to Nick to make it in the new music business? 

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Connect with Ari’s Take:

Website: https://aristake.com

Academy: https://aristakeacademy.com

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTake

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1

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

Connect with Ari Herstand:

Website: https://ariherstand.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstand

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ariherstand

YouTube: https://youtube.com/ariherstand

Facebook: https://facebook.com/ariherstand

Connect with Nick Gatfield:

Website:

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My guest today is a my good friend Victoria Canal. She is a 22-year-old artist, singer, songwriter, and now producer based all over the world. She was based in Los Angeles, but when the coronavirus shutdown hit, she moved to Amsterdam where her parents live.

Victoria and I discuss how she's been handling the last six months. This was supposed to be her breakout year. She had two massive tours scheduled. She had just finished one supporting the band Tall Heights. Then she leveled up to an even bigger tour supporting Leslie Odom Jr. She also just came out with her EP, 'Victoria,' and as you can imagine, the release strategy changed quite a bit. So we talked about that. 

I had Victoria's manager, Andrew Leib, on the show a few months back. You can get the other side of Victoria's career. He talks about why he wanted to sign Victoria and what it has been like working her so far. Listen to Andrew's episode here: https://aristake.com/red-light-manager-andrew-leib/

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Victoria's interview on The Third Story Podcast with Leo Sidran: https://aristake.com/victoria-canal-instagram-engagement/

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Quick links: 

3:23 - About Victoria and what it's like living in Amsterdam during the pandemic

8:40 - Victoria's manager discovering her and her journey as an evolving artist

15:28 - What was it like working with a different producer than the one that helped write the songs?

23:05 - Learning production and potentially producing for other artists

24:38 - Victoria's daily routine

26:30 - Victoria's creative and songwriting phases and mental health

31:30 - How Victoria is handling not being able to perform and having her life shut off

39:35 - What's it like releasing a body of work during this time? What are the expectations? 

49:41 - Do find yourself being more pressured to create and release content?

52:32 - The relationship between artist/fans/humans is important

55:50 - What it means to Victoria to make it in the new music business

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Connect with Ari’s Take:

Website: https://aristake.com

Academy: https://aristakeacademy.com

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTake

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1

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

Connect with Ari Herstand:

Website: https://ariherstand.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstand

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ariherstand

YouTube: https://youtube.com/ariherstand

Facebook: https://facebook.com/ariherstand

Connect with Victoria Canal:

Website:

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I don't have a guest today, but I'm going to talk about the new law that was signed, AB2257, in California that amended AB5. AB5 is a California law but has implications all over the states. If you haven't heard about AB5 I'm going to talk all about it. 

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Referenced articles: 

California's Music Economy is About to Crash: https://aristake.com/ab5/

I Met with AB5 Author Assemblywoman Gonzalez. Here's How It Went: https://aristake.com/gonzalez-meeting/

I Met with Senate Majority Leader of CA About AB5. Here's How It Went: https://aristake.com/senator-hertzberg-ab5/

Finally, The California Music Industry Gets Relief Under AB5: https://aristake.com/ab5-musician-relief/

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Quick links:

1:30 - What are AB5 and AB2257?

7:49 - What was AB5's purpose?

9:20 - AB5 is very pro-union

11:42 - Implications of AB5 and meeting with Lorena Gonzalez for "clean up" bill language

18:42 - Putting public pressure on lawmakers

23:55 - Coming to an agreement with language with AFM for Assemblywoman Gonzalez 

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Connect with Ari’s Take:

Website: https://aristake.com

Academy: https://aristakeacademy.com

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTake

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1

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

Connect with Ari Herstand:

Website: https://ariherstand.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstand

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ariherstand

YouTube: https://youtube.com/ariherstand

Facebook: https://facebook.com/ariherstand

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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.

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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

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Connect with Ari’s Take:

Website: https://aristake.com

Academy: https://aristakeacademy.com

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTake

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1

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

Connect with Ari Herstand:

Website: https://ariherstand.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstand

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ariherstand

YouTube: https://youtube.com/ariherstand

Facebook: https://facebook.com/ariherstand

Connect with Rogét Chahayed:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RogetChahayed

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

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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.

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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? 

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Connect with Ari’s Take:

Website: https://aristake.com

Academy: https://aristakeacademy.com

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTake

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1

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

Connect with Ari Herstand:

Website: https://ariherstand.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstand

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ariherstand

YouTube: https://youtube.com/ariherstand

Facebook: https://facebook.com/ariherstand

Connect with Yuna: 

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/yunamusic

Instagram:

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Today my guest is the multi-talented Emily Kinney. Most people know her as an actress. She starred in The Walking Dead from 2011-2015. She's also been on Masters of Sex, The Flash, Arrow, Law & Order: SVU, and many others. She was also in Spring Awakening on Broadway.

She just launched a podcast of her own called My Caffeine Withdrawal where she interviews musicians, actors, and other friends like Josh Radnor, Local Natives, K.Flay, and many others. She's also a very talented musician.

We go in a different direction than other episodes. We touch on the business, but we straddle the line on how acting relates to music and how music relates to acting. We talk about the differences in both and the learning curves in both. She has a lot of releases under her name, so she has experience in the business of music and movies.

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Quick links: 

3:15 - Emily's podcast, how she's recording them, and what inspired her to launch it

8:45 - Enjoying music vs. listening music for a purpose

12:05 - Emily's recording process behind her song "Easy"

15:25 - What happens if you're not easy to work with in the acting world?

20:40 - Are there similarities between the different artistic mediums? 

28:45 - Do you ever ask yourself if you question whether you're the best fit for the role you're playing? 

31:06 - Playing in Spring Awakening on Broadway in New York and auditioning for film and TV

38:33 - How did you learn the acting and music business worlds?

43:09 - Defining success is extremely personal

55:15 - Is Emily business-minded or does she bring on a team to handle everything? 

1:01:45 - What it means to Emily to make it in the new music business

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Connect with Ari’s Take:

Website: https://aristake.com

Academy: https://aristakeacademy.com

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTake

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1

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

Connect with Ari Herstand:

Website: https://ariherstand.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstand

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ariherstand

YouTube: https://youtube.com/ariherstand

Facebook: https://facebook.com/ariherstand

Connect with Emily Kinney:

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/emmykinney

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

My Caffeine Withdrawal:

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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.

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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

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Connect with Ari’s Take:

Website: https://aristake.com

Academy: https://aristakeacademy.com

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTake

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1

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

Connect with Ari Herstand:

Website: https://ariherstand.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstand

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ariherstand

YouTube: https://youtube.com/ariherstand

Facebook: https://facebook.com/ariherstand

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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.

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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

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Connect with Ari’s Take:

Website: https://aristake.com

Academy: https://aristakeacademy.com

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArisTake

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aristake1

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

Connect with Ari Herstand:

Website: https://ariherstand.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ariherstand

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ariherstand

YouTube: https://youtube.com/ariherstand

Facebook: https://facebook.com/ariherstand

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

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