ARI HEST LAUNCHES SUCCESSFUL DIY EXPERIMENT “52”
HUNDREDS SUBSCRIBE IN THE FIRST MONTH
First Live Performances of New Material on March 2008 Tour
NEW YORK CITY, NY – On January 7, New York indie artist Ari Hest launched an ambitious new experimental music project titled “ 52, ” a web-based subscription service designed to deliver a new song each week throughout 2008. In March, Hest will debut the new material in New York City before embarking on a West coast tour.
In the first month, Hest has registered over hundreds of subscribers – mostly by word-of-mouth - and released four new original songs: “One Two,” “I'll Be There (To Make You Miserable),” “In A Rush,” and “Digging for Icicles.”
The self-funded project is a grass roots approach that takes Hest back to his pre-Columbia days. In a recent interview with Billboard Magazine , Ari explains, “At this point, I'm marketing to the fan base that I've already built up. I spent a lot of time touring and have a group of supporters because of that.”
The truly DIY effort reflects not just in the writing and recording, but also the design of the “52” business model and website. It's a two man collaboration: Ari at the artistic reigns and his manager, Danny Hest, drives the design and creation of the “52” website, all self-taught.
For Ari, the project is already a success. He comments further, “At this point I feel really positive about the project… My costs are incredibly low… I'm one song in and I'm already in the black.”
ABOUT “52”: The site offers three levels of subscriptions: Basic ($20), Preferred ($35) and Premium ($75). All subscription rates are for the calendar year of 2008 and include 52 high quality mp3s, downloadable weekly from arihest.com, access to lyrics, blogs, voting polls and other interactive forums. The Preferred and Premium levels have additional benefits. Further information is available at http://arihest.com
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