Most people now know Ari Herstand as the guy who helped them fly with their instruments. His Carry Your Instrument On The Plane… It’s The LAW blog post went viral and has been viewed over 300,000 time with over 40,000 Facebook Likes. In just under two years, Herstand’s music business advice blog, Ari’s Take, has been nominated by the LA Weekly as the best music blog in Los Angeles and has become a go to resource for DIY musicians.

Ari Herstand is a DIY musician who has played over 600 shows around the country, has opened for or toured with Ben Folds, Cake, Matt Nathanson, The Milk Carton Kids and Ron Pope, and has had his music featured in countless TV shows.

Herstand has written for many of the top musician trade magazines and websites including Music Connection Magazine, Digital Music News, American Songwriter, Playback Magazine, CD Baby, Tunecore, ReverbNation, Discmakers, ASCAP, Hypebot and others.

As an actor, he has co-starred in TV shows including 2 Broke Girls, The Fosters, Sam & Cat and Touch.

Before acting and blogging, Herstand spent a full year working on his newest release, Brave Enough, in his former home of Minnesota. Teaming up with his long-time engineer and close friend, (Grammy nominated) Paul Marino, the two organized an all-star band, including Herstand’s “favorite drummer on the planet” Dave King (The Bad Plus), to create his 3rd full-length record.


Herstand is best know for his live looping: combining the trumpet, beat boxing, keys, acoustic guitar, percussion and vocals to create a full, sonic live experience.

He recently joined the Digital Music News team as a staff writer. Herstand brings the musician’s perspective to most current topics.

Brave Enough is out digitally everywhere streamed or sold. The vinyl and CD can be purchased on ariherstand.com

Patti Silverman has spent the last 9+ years in the space where music and tech converge. While at Columbia Records, she developed a reputation as an early proponent of music tech. To run marketing campaigns for artists including Adele, Band of Horses and Passion Pit, Patti scouted innovative products and breakthrough technologies. This interest in the “future of music” brought Patti to SF, where she joined the SF MusicTech Summit as Communications Director. In her role, Patti became a master connector, supporting innovation in the music industry by bridging relationships between tech, artists and labels. She continues to work with the SF MusicTech Summit community as an Advisor. Taking her dedication to innovation a step further, Patti now works directly in tech with clients including 10x Management and Hydric Media. She was named one of the "30 Top SF Twitter Users to Follow" and can be found onstage speaking at tech events and judging hackathons.