Ari Hest: Thinking Out Of The Box.

My friend and musician, Ari Hest, dropped his record label and is embracing the new digital age of music. He's starting a new project simply called "52", where every week (for 52 weeks) he's going to put up a new song for his fans to buy. With multiple payment options you can get as much or as little as you want. You could buy each song for a $1 each if you wanted, or just a handful of songs... Alternatively Ari is doing a subscription model of sorts, where up front you can pay $20, $35, or even $75 dollars.

But look at everything you get for $75 dollars:
• 52 high quality mp3s, downloadable weekly from arihest.com
• Access to lyrics, blogs, voting polls + other interactive features
• Bonus tracks
• Autographed limited edition poster
• 1 Ari Hest sticker
• 1 Ari Hest 52 T-Shirt
• Behind the scenes video footage
• 1 Autographed CD of most popular 12 tracks, sent after 52 ends
• 1 ticket to an Ari Hest concert

(From www.arihest.com/52)

When I got out of my record deal this past summer, I decided it was time to try something a little different. It feels great to be an independent artist again, and I'm more inspired than ever to write and record. I was looking for a new way to present my music.

So my manager and I came up with the idea of a project which we're calling "52". Starting the first week of January, 2008, I'll be releasing one new, original song every week for a year through a new '52' website.

You'll be able to get the music 3 ways:

• by subscribing to 52, and getting all the tracks and extras for less
• one song at a time on a new mp3 store on my website
• on iTunes, Amazon, and other digital stores every few months

The 52 website:
In January, we'll be launching a new subscription website, where you can download unprotected mp3 files at a high-quality 320 kbps or more standard 128 kbps. Each week, I'll post a new mp3, lyrics, song notes, and a blog. As a member of the site, you'll receive an email once the new song is up, and be able to comment on the song, vote on your favorites, and interact with other people on the site. When the site launches in January, you'll choose a username and password so you can access all of the site.

You choose what's on my next studio album:
If you subscribe, you'll be able to vote and comment on which songs you like the best. At the end of the year, the songs with the highest votes will either be re-recorded or appear as-is on a studio record that will be released a few months later.

Stay tuned to www.arihest.com/52 for more info.