Artist Managers on Music Videos, Artist Development, Long-term Strategy and True Fandom

About this episode

Ari discusses modern artist development with Aaron Greene and Neal O’Connor of Slush Management, focusing on long-term strategies and the importance of meaningful fan engagement.

This week on the New Music Business podcast, Ari sits down with Aaron Greene and Neal O’Connor of Slush Management, the artist-first team behind Porter Robinson, Eden, Jai Wolf, and more. Slush has helped their artists generate billions of streams, sell millions of tickets, and craft long-term careers rooted in creativity rather than quick wins. With 15 years of experience across touring, branding, and global fan development, they’ve become leaders in sustainable artist strategy and innovative experiential storytelling. In this episode, Ari Neal and Aaron dive into what modern artist development truly looks like. From building immersive worlds to cultivating real, lasting fan communities beyond vanity metrics, Neal and Aaron share how managers decide when an artist is ready for representation, why social media isn’t the only path to growth, and how long-term strategy beats short-term virality every time. The conversation also covers label paths (self-release, indie, major), when to tour, how support slots actually happen, and the importance of meaningful experiences. Hint: music videos might be more important than most folks realize.  https://www.instagram.com/slushmgmt/…

People in this episode

Host: Ari Herstand

Guests: Aaron Greene, Neal O’Connor

Topics covered

• artist management
• music videos
• artist development
• long-term strategy
• fan communities
• sustainable artist strategy

Keywords

• artist management
• music videos
• long-term growth
• fan communities
• social media
• artist development
• world-building

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Slush Management

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