SongCon, April 21-24, 2022 in NYC (or Zoom)

Applications close Wednesday, March 9th at 6pm EST

Acceptance letters sent Tuesday, March 15th

Join Ari Herstand, author of How To Make it in the New Music Business and CEO of Ari’s Take, along with Danny Ross, founder of Anti Social Producers Club, Forbes Music Columnist, and hit songwriter for…

A SONGWRITING CONFERENCE UNLIKE ANY OTHER

For 3 days and 4 nights, join some of the best songwriters and producers in the world who have Platinum records and Grammy-winning songs under their belts as they mentor you through songwriting, recording, beat making, production, toplining, and the business behind it all.

On the final day, showcase your work in front of industry vets including:

Kobalt Publishing A&R

Roundhill Publishing A&R

Canvasback / Atlantic Records A&R

Nettwerk Music Group A&R

Little Underground Management

Van Pelt Management

Page 1 Management

50 tickets available for the in-person event in NYC

50 tickets available for the virtual event on Zoom

APPLICATION CLOSED

ITINERARY

(all times EST)

Thursday 4/21

5:30pm - 6:30pm - Registration and Reception

6:30pm - 6:45pm - Welcome Speeches / Weekend Outline

6:45pm - 7:15pm - Ari Herstand interviews Danny Ross

7:15pm - 7:45pm - Danny Ross interviews Ari Herstand

7:45 - 9:00 - Drinks (for NYC), Breakout meets (for Zoom)

Friday 4/22

9:30am – 10:00am – Registration

10:00am – 11:30am – 6 Masterclass sessions

11:45pm – 1:15pm – 6 Masterclass sessions

1:15pm - 2:15pm – Lunch (provided)

2:30pm – 4:00 pm – 6 Masterclass sessions

4:00pm -7:00pm — rest and dinner break

7:00pm - 9:00pm - Producer sharing round: “From Voice Memo to Grammy”

Saturday 4/23

9:30am – 1:30pm – Songwriting Session 1

9:30am - 1:30pm - Inspiration Quest (for Songwriting Session 2 writers)

1:30pm – 2:30pm – Lunch (on your own)

2:30pm - 6:30pm — Songwriting Session 2

2:30pm - 6:30pm - Inspiration Quest (for Songwriting Session 1 writers)

8:00pm - 10:00pm - Songwriter Round

Sunday 4/24

Masterclass Sessions (subject to change):
Synths 101
Songwriting in the Streaming Age
Film Scoring for Disney
Pop Vocal Production
Ableton for Songwriters
Recording Live Instruments

Application fee is $10

Applications close Wednesday, March 9th at 6pm EST

Acceptance letters sent Tuesday, March 15th

APPLICATION CLOSED

Ari Herstand

CEO, Ari's Take

"The poster child of DIY Music" - Forbes

Los Angeles based Ari Herstand, is the author of the best-selling book How To Make It in the New Music Business. It is a #1 Amazon best seller in 3 categories and is being taught in over 300 universities in just the US alone. It has also been translated into Russian. He is also the host of the popular podcast the New Music Business.

He is currently the founder and CEO of the music business education company, Ari's Take. Started as a 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 industry. Ari's well-researched, relatable, no BS approach is why so many musicians continue to trust him for advice. He offers encouragement without condescension and maintains a "we're all in it together" attitude not found elsewhere in the space.

Ari Herstand is an independent musician who has played over 1,000 shows around the country (nearly all self-booked) and over 100 shows in the college market alone (booked with agency representation), has performed on Ellen, and has had his music featured in countless TV shows, commercials and films.

Ari has written for many of the top musician trade magazines and websites including Music Connection Magazine, American Songwriter, Digital Music News, Playback Magazine, CD Baby, Tunecore, Roland, Discmakers, ASCAP, Hypebot and others. He has been a featured speaker at SXSW, BBC One's Amplify, ASCAP Music Expo, SF MusicTech, CD Baby's DIY Musician Conference and Berklee College of Music.

Application fee is $10

Applications close Wednesday, March 9th at 6pm EST

Acceptance letters sent Tuesday, March 15th

If accepted, a ticket will cost:

Joel Hamilton

Notable Credits: Paul McCartney, the Black Keys, Matisyahu

Joel Hamilton is a Grammy and Latin Grammy nominated Brooklyn-based record producer, engineer, musician, and co-owner of Studio G Brooklyn with partners Tony Maimone and Chris Cubeta. Joel performs as a musician with Sasha Dobson and the band Book of Knots.

https://www.instagram.com/joelhamiltone/

Dan Edinberg

Notable Credits: Anderson .Paak, Sting

Dan Edinberg is a producer and songwriter based in New York City. A multi-instrumentalist, he is known for his stylistic versatility. Dan’s work spans R+B (co-wrote “Reachin’ 2 Much” feat. Layla Hathaway on Anderson Paak’s Grammy-winning album Ventura); Afrobeats (produced/co-wrote the majority of Beninese artist Shirazee’s debut EP Home and Away, with “Juju feat. SAINt JHN” played by Ebro Darden on Apple Music Beats 1); folk (produced upcoming EP for Guyanese singer-songwriter Juke Ross, RCA/Palmtree Records); pop (produced/co-wrote Michael Blume’s EP Cynicism & Sincerity, S-Curve Records); and emerging artists, including Reyn Hartley (independent release “Snitch” currently 10 million streams worldwide and 24K TikToks), TylerxCordy, and Kidd Kenn (Island Records). Dan is also a founding member of influential psychedelic soul band The Stepkids (Stones Throw Records), with whom he performed at Glastonbury and Bonnaroo, and produced for legendary rapper Pharoahe Monch.

https://www.instagram.com/danedinberg

Dana Nielsen

Notable Credits: Rihanna, Adele, The Smashing Pumpkins, Neil Young, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Weezer, The Avett Brothers, Bob Dylan, and Kanye West.

Based in Los Angeles, Nielsen has amassed credits that run the stylistic gamut from Neil Diamond to Slayer and just about every style in between. Nielsen’s work can be heard on albums by a diverse roster of artists. He worked as an engineer on Kanye West’s Yeezus(Roc-A-Fella) and Rihanna’s Loud (Def Jam), recorded Bob Dylan’s Tempest (Colombia), and recorded Neil Young and Crazy Horse for their album Colorado (Reprise). As a composer, saxophonist, singer and programmer, Nielsen’s own music and/or voice can be heard on countless TV commercials, as well as hit shows like Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, America’s Next Top Model, and the Duplass brothers’ HBO series Room 104. Throughout his career, legendary producer Rick Rubin has frequently tapped Nielsen’s skills for various projects including Justin Timberlake’s FutureSex/LoveSounds, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Stadium Arcadium, and The Smashing Pumpkins' "Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 1" (Napalm), which Nielsen recorded and mixed. In 2008 he mixed Neil Diamond’s #1 selling album, Home Before Dark, and in 2013 Nielsen worked as an engineer on Black Sabbath’s Rick Rubin-produced 13, the band’s first album to top the UK charts in 43 years. Nielsen has also recently recorded and mixed albums for Santana as well as The Avett Brothers.

www.dananielsen.com

Libby Larkin

Marc Plotkin

Notable Credits: Sufjan Stevens, Dispatch, NYU Clive Davis Professor

Marc Plotkin is an American Songwriting Award-winning artist, a Grammy shortlisted producer, a Bloomberg BusinessWeek Top 25 Entrepreneur, and a Professor at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. He’s worked with Dispatch, Sufjan Stevens, Hiromi, and many more.

Tiger Darrow

Notable Credits: Cautious Clay

Based in New York City, Tiger Darrow is an award-winning singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. Beginning her career as a classically trained cellist, Tiger crafts her songs with intricate string arrangements and distorted beats, fusing the aggressive with the delicate. The Dark-Alt pop singer draws inspiration from Julia Michaels, Lana Del Rey, and St. Vincent. As a performer, Darrow has been featured in dozens of artists’ music, including Durand Jones and the Indications, Vaeda Black, Thomston, Pool Cosby, Ming, Kendl, OTR, Yanni Burton, Wakey!Wakey!, and more. Her voice and music have also been featured in a variety of soundtracks and commercials such as Robert Rodriguez’s Machete and Red 11, Cathy Yan’s award-winning Dead Pigs, The Magicians, the History Channel’s Nelson Mandela Redrawn, and 2016’s 48-Hour Sci-Fi Film Festival winner, Sunspring. Opening for artists such as Edie Brickell and The New Bohemians, The Eagles, and Erykah Badu.

https://www.instagram.com/tigerdarrow/

Cody Fitzgerald

Notable Credits: Disney’s Noelle score, Lawrence

Jump-starting his career when a song he wrote and produced in high school was synched in an international Apple ad, Cody Fitzgerald has gone on to become a fixture of the Brooklyn indie rock scene. His band Stolen Jars has been featured in The New York Times, NPR, and lauded by David Byrne of The Talking Heads, all while Fitzgerald has co-written and co-produced feature-length film scores for The Rewrite (2014), Hard Sell (2016) and, most recently, Disney’s Christmas movie Noelle (2019) – making him, and his scoring partner Clyde Lawrence, the youngest composers to ever score a Disney movie. Fitzgerald has also top-lined for a number of artists, including The Glitch Mob and Dabin and done production work with bands like Lawrence and Hi-Lo Jack.

https://www.instagram.com/stojomusic/

Chris Sclafani

Notable Credits: Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, the Weeknd

Chris Sclafani is a Grammy-Award winning engineer; vocal producer, mixer, and multi-instrumentalist based in NYC. Along with his work on Ed Sheeran's "Divide" (which the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album was awarded), he has received 2 other nominations in the Album of the Year category (Justin Bieber's "Purpose" and Ed Sheeran's "X"), worked on another Grammy-winning album (the Weeknd's "Starboy") and has been involved in 9 other Grammy-nominated projects. Also he has received 7 Official Charts UK awards for his production, vocal production, engineering, and songwriting work, as well as engineered 12 Billboard No.1 songs. Over the years Chris has vocal produced artists such as Ariana Grande, Julia Michaels, Halsey, Joe Jonas, Selena Gomez, Camila Cabello, Gwen Stefani, and Billy Porter to name a few. During his time working with Benny Blanco he worked with artists such as Maroon 5, Rita Ora, One Republic, Katy Perry, Rixton, Charlie XCX, Sean Paul, Rihanna, Jessie J, The Roots, and many other talented people.

Dahlia Lagos

Dahlia Lagos is a Colombian American bilingual singer, songwriter, and producer. She has written, and produced songs for STARZ’s groundbreaking and critically acclaimed tv show VIDA- placing songs with the bands FEM’d, Digibich, and Shamana Mama on the VIDA soundtrack. Her music has been featured on Showtime's "The L Word: Generation Q," HBO's "We're Here," CW's "Katy Keene," to name a few. Most recently, Dahlia scored episodes for Hulu's Latinx Heritage Month "Acentos Bienvenidos." She has also worked on VICE, Viacom, Match.com, Smartwater, and Google campaigns, making her one of the go-to producers for companies such as Mean Machine, BigNoise, and WOMG. In 2020, Dahlia wrote Sergio Jr's (formally of In Real Life) first single, "No Es Facil," which peaked at #15 on the Latin iTunes Chart and co-wrote/co-produced his follow-up singles that are scheduled for release in 2022. She is currently writing and co-producing with Rami Afuni (SAINt JHN, Kiesza, LastMonday,) Jake Bowman (Kendrick Lamar), Zulaica (Sergio JR, Paty Cantu), Martin Estrada (Gashi, Macy Gray,) and The CheatCodes. She currently also has several tracks on hold with multi-platinum artists in both America and abroad and is working on her solo project as an artist.

Dominic Florio

Notable credits: Mothica, Rosie, Lenii, Dezi

Dominic Florio is a multi-faceted/multi-genre songwriter, producer, and artist based in Brooklyn, New York. Writing and producing for artists like ROSIE, Mothica, Kathryn Gallagher, PHANGS, Libby Larkin and more – Florio focuses on direct honest lyrics with a pop forward sound and a dash of nostalgia. His work has also been heard on Discovery Channel, Hulu, MTV, and more.

Grant Michaels

Notable credits: Ringo Starr, Selena Gomez, SIa

Grant Michaels is a Songwriter /producer who has worked with members of The Beatles , The Beach Boys , Billy Idol , Barenaked Ladies, Sia , Sza , Selena Gomez , The Struts and Banners (co-wrote platinum selling 500,000,000 streaming single “ Someone to you “ ) He also enjoys writing/producing with artists and bands who’s name begins with another letter of the alphabet then B or S.

Josh Ford

Josh Ford, is a producer, writer, engineer, and multi-instrumentalist. He studied at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU, and this summer he is going on tour with his indie pop artist project, Fake Dad. Josh is a strong believer in the Home Studio, something he utilizes exclusively when recording/producing, as well as when taking on mixing and film score projects. He sees songwriting and production as the same thing, and he hates for his foods to touch—you know, like a toddler.

Kiri Stensby

Notable credits: Caroline Polachek, Eartheater

Kiri is a New York City-based musician, producer, and audio engineer. She got her start at the Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music at NYU, where she initially intended to study songwriting, but in her first engineering class she quickly fell in love with the technical aspects of music creation. Being able to carve and shape sounds became her calling. Kiri considers herself blessed to have primarily found work mixing and producing in the alternative pop genre (Eartheater, LEYA, Caroline Polachek) which has given her the opportunity to work with delicate orchestral instrumentation alongside textural heavy beats. Getting to mix extremely dichotomous music, whether soft synths and a club beat, or a string quartet with layered noise samples underneath is what Kiri finds most exciting, and has marked most of her discography to this day. She also dabbles in commercial work for Funimation and various TV networks.

Mike Grubbs

Notable Credits: Wakey!Wakey!, One Tree Hill

Michael Grubbs of Wakey!Wakey!, has 20 million+ streams and 50k albums sold worldwide and headlined tours in 14 countries. They reached critical acclaim with their album Almost Everything I Wish I'd Said the Last Time I Saw You which reached No. 1 on the Billboard's Heatseekers Chart. He’s also known for his role on the show One Tree Hill where the band's music has been featured. He fronted the Brooklyn indie band Cheap Synths, co-scored the Hulu series Everyone Is Doing Great and is now one of Austin’s go-to music producers.

Tessa Butler – Creative Manager, Kobalt Music Publishing

Tessa Rae Butler is currently a Creative Manager at Kobalt Music Publishing. Her passion for music and helping creators has led her to various jobs within the music industry over the years, but has landed happily at her home in music publishing. Tessa has successfully landed releases with artists such as Tiësto "Insomnia", Gryffin "Piece of Me (with LOVA)", Eli & Fur "Broken parts", Valentino Kahn and Wifisfuneral "Digest", Now United "Wave Your Flag", Seori "Lovers in the Night", Taska Black and Violet Skies "When I Come Home" and more. She helps to connect dots for creators on a daily basis by setting up sessions, pitching music, creating writing camps and finding opportunities for Kobalt's writers, producers and artists.

Danielle Middleton – Senior Director, Page 1 Management

Danielle Middleton is Senior Director of North America operations at Page 1 management where she has signed Grammy nominated Clicknpress and songwriter powerhouse Travis Mendes. Page 1 represents a roster that includes songwriter/producers writer-producers Joel Little (Taylor Swift, Khalid, Imagine Dragons) and Grammy nominated Drew Pearson (Zac Brown Band, Kesha, Phillip Phillips) as well as recording artist Jawsh 685, among others.

Amy Birnbaum – A&R, Round Hill Music Publishing

After having worked in Broadway production at Jujamcyn Theaters (Book of Mormon, Jersey Boys, Spring Awakening, American Idiot), Amy had the honor of working in company management and music marketing on the Tony Award winning Broadway production and US National Tour of FELA! Amy has performed, produced events and booked bands at Bonnaroo, SXSW, Calgary Folk Festival, Ottawa Folk Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Edmonton Folk Festival, Vancouver Folk Festival, Brooklyn’s Prospect Park Summerstage, Lincoln Center’s Songbook Series, Al Sharpton events, Brooklyn Bowl, Joe’s Pub, The Apollo, Bowery Ballroom, The Knitting Factory, The Troubador LA. She was proudly a backup singer and manager for Daptone Records artist Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens and has shared the stage with Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, The Roots, Burning Spear, Langhorne Slim, and has recorded with Mark Ronson and Foreigner. Amy is a graduate of Indiana University with a BA in Music and Style Studies of Jazz, Soul and RnB. Amy signs talent to the Round Hill Music publishing roster, maintains the company’s social media accounts, and has worked extensively in clearing music samples. Amy is a proud volunteer mentor for the RIAA's Grammy U program, a volunteer mentor coordinator for The Trombone Shorty Apprentice Program, and a member of AIMP’s youth division.

Chris Cline – A&R, Canvasback Music and Atlantic Records

Chris Cline is an NYC-based A&R and Product Manager for Canvasback Music and Atlantic Records. He has worked on campaigns for Alt-J, Grouplove, The War On Drugs, as well as his own roster, which includes Briston Maroney, MICHELLE, Genevieve Stokes, and gabby start. Chris got his start pursuing music production and audio engineering at Full Sail University before starting to scout for Atlantic Records in the fall of 2017.

Annie Elise – A&R, Nettwerk Music Group

Annie Elise currently serves as an East Coast A&R representative for Nettwerk Music Group, the Vancouver-based music conglomerate which is widely recognised as one of the world's most influential and forward-thinking major independent labels. While studying music production at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Annie was disappointed to find only 2% of recognized music producers on top charts were female. She quickly found a passion in advocating for and elevating women working behind-the-scenes, working with music tech companies like Kilohearts, MXL mics, and Baby Audio to make music technology more accessible to women, and joined the Created By Women initiative through Spotify to recognize songs 100% created by women. She was hand-picked to join the Nettwerk A&R team at the end of 2021 to aid in translating her mission to the NMG roster, and has enjoyed working with artists like Axel Flovant, SCayos, Bad Snacks, Chris James, The Polar Boys, Anomolie, Mia Asano, and many others. She hopes to continue to use her work to advocate for minorities in music. @annieelisemusic // https://nettwerk.com/

Laura Jones – CEO / Producer Manager, Little Underground Management

Laura Jones is the founder of Little Underground Management, a Grammy award-winning producer management company based in New York. Her clients have produced and mixed records for everyone from David Bowie to Panic! At The Disco, A Tribe Called Quest to Weezer. After building her business in London, England, where she successfully managed independent artists, she moved from the UK to the US 8 years ago and switched her focus to producers. Building the company from the ground up, her roster has since spawned a multitude of Grammy nominations, received several platinum and gold selling records and worked on boundless critically acclaimed albums. Her aptitude for match-making producer and artist has heralded many great records at her hands. This, combined with her passion for connecting new creatives and empowering them with the tools to make the best possible music, has meant that Little Underground has been responsible for some of the most exciting ‘breakout’ records of the past decade; ‘Lost In The Dream’ by The War On Drugs, ‘Clean’ by Soccer Mommy, ‘A Seat At The Table’ by Solange and ‘Soft Sounds From Another Planet’ by Japanese Breakfast, propelling both artist and producer to new heights.

Lysee Webb – Founder, Van Pelt Management

Lysee Webb is the founder and owner of Van Pelt Management; representing award-winning producers, engineers, creative directors and recording studios.Her clients have worked with top-selling artists including Alabama Shakes, Kacey Musgraves, Phoenix, The Killers, Adele, SZA, Taylor Swift, John Legend, Beyonce and more. Prior to creating Van Pelt, she worked alongside Julian Casablancas (of The Strokes) as he assembled his new band, The Voidz, and set up his independent record label, Cult Records.Before joining forces with Casablancas, she worked in artist management, overseeing the careers and day to day activity of Azealia Banks, Interpol, The Drums and Scissor Sisters. She currently resides in Brooklyn with her husband and son.