Artist Magic

Los Angeles based Ari Herstand, is the author of the best-selling book How To Make It in the New Music Business. It remains at the top of the Amazon charts and has been widely adopted by music business schools worldwide.

His music business advice blog, Ari's Take, has become the go-to resource for independent musicians on how to run a successful music career in the NEW music business. Herstand's well-researched, relatable, no BS approach is why so many musicians continue to trust him for advice--and why we got along so well.

Not only is he an entrepreneur, but Ari is also an independent musician who has played over 700 shows around the country, has opened for or toured with Ben Folds and Cake, and has performed on Ellen, and has had his music featured in countless TV shows, commercials and films. He currently leads the 1973 funk project Brassroots District.

Ari and I talked about an excerpt from his book, Creating the Artist’s World, Vision, Aesthetic, and Story. He and I share the same philosophy that as an artist, having a brand--you know, your THING--is absolutely crucial to finding success. And as artists, I think a lot of us are so focused on being authentic. I hear it all the time: I don’t want to be phony, I want to be honest. But we’re going to talk about why focusing on pure authenticity can be detrimental to your success. Why? Because sharing everything about you all of the time--posting whatever you want in the name of being authentic and true to yourself--ends up dulling your message. You need to be more focused than that.

Show notes can be found here: http://www.megan-kuhar.com/blog/ari-herstand

Understanding your messaging and identity is the #1 step to building your brand, but it doesn’t stop there—you gotta have a consistent visual brand, too.

In this episode, I talk about 4 things you HAVE to do for a better visual brand. They are:

#1: PERSONALIZE templates, but don't ALTER them completely

#2: Have 1-3 fonts chosen for your brand (use http://fontsquirrel.com, http://pixelsurplus.com to find some new ones)

#3: Have 1-3 colors chosen for your brand (use the color palette on http://coolors.co)

#4: Make a name logo and save it as a transparent background image

Join my "How to Build a Brand Without Feeling Like a Phony" masterclass waitlist at http://megan-kuhar.com/masterclass

Thanks to Jessica Dutton at Music Teacher Business Launchpad Facebook group for hosting me for this topic in a live video. *

Recently, I chatted with Madeline and Lindsay, two of my clients and the musicians who make up duo The Twosdays, to talk about how their approach towards social media has changed since enrolling in my program Fan Finder.

Before taking the course, Lindsay explained that marketing and social media was just something that she “really had to try to care about.” She goes on to explain that not only was it difficult to approach, but that she was actually afraid of how to use it. “I was scared of infiltrating,” she said.

Now? Madeline and Lindsay are having fun, reaching their audience, and using social media as a means to develop a loyal fanbase.

You can listen to the episode now to hear how Lindsay and Madeline went from Fearful to Fierce on social media, and how you can learn my 3-step formula for building your brand for FREE!

Links: megan-kuhar.com/masterclass

Show notes: megan-kuhar.com/blog/madeline-and-lindsay

When improvisational chamber group/band/ensemble 9 Horses came to the Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music (where I work) as a guest ensemble-in-residence, I knew I had to get them on my podcast.

Joe Brent, Sara Caswell, and Andrew Ryan are living the realities of being professional musicians—or as we continue to say in 2019, “musicians of the 21st century.” (When will that century distinction end, btw?) The members of the trio collectively have experiences under their belts like working with Regina Spektor and Esperanza Spalding, composing music across multiple genres, and oh yeah, violinist Sara Caswell’s 2018 GRAMMY nomination for Best Improvised Jazz Solo.

This conversation took place crammed in a tiny basement recording studio, streaming Live on Facebook, and it definitely touched a lot of bases. To be honest, sometimes we slid into the bases, knees in the dirt and dust kicked up everywhere. It was productive, fun, and enlightening.

Here’s some of what we talked about:

What curriculum they'd include if they built a Conservatory of Music from scratch

How they feel about social media & marketing (fair warning, it's a heated discussion...)

How music is becoming "genreless," and

Whether there actually is enough time to practice.

I want to make sure I take a moment to thank a few people who made this conversation possible at Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music, especially dean Susan Van Vorst, Erika Haskell, and Bill Hartzell, as well as Scott and Julie Mawaka, whose generous support allowed for 9 Horses to visit with our students and help them create an educational, life-affirming experience. Thank you!

Show notes are available here: http://www.megan-kuhar.com/blog/the-21st-century-musician-with-9-horses

You have probably heard about planning your social media content ahead of time. While batch working and scheduling content helps with time efficiency, overwhelm, and content quality, the idea of planning your content might cause you to feel FROZEN! Where do you start? What do you say? How can you actually come up with all of those ideas at once?!?

I have a goal this year to plan all of my social media content a month in advance. But I didn’t just start by deciding I wanted to schedule things ahead of time. There are a few things you need to do before you get to scheduling your content or using planning tools. That’s what I want to talk about today. So let’s get to it!

Links:

• Free Masterclass: “How to Build a Brand Without Feeling Like a Phony”: megan-kuhar.com/masterclass
• Sign up for the Fan Finder waiting list and receive a special bonus offer! megan-kuhar.com/fanfinder