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  • Complete Independent Artist Website Tutorial

    Complete Independent Artist Website Tutorial
    2026/10/16
     Do you have an artist website? What platform did you build it on? Are you leveraging it to the greatest extent possible? Do you know why websites matter more than ever? In this episode of The David Andrew Wiebe Show, David walks you through setting up your new independent musician website from scratch. He also reveals his favorite tools and how he uses them to assist in the process. In This Episode: Why you must prioritize your website and email list as an artist The advantage WordPress holds over every other website builder Where to register your domains and get hosting How to draft a website design using AI (and the secret chatbot I use) The cheat code to building on WordPress The best tool for building an artist fan list The WordPress plugins I use (keeping it REAL simple) Designing an eye-catching homepage Designing an interior page – discography and music releases Key Resources: Ellipsus Namecheap SiteGround ChatLLM Divi Theme Kit Transcription: Today we’re looking at building an artist website. This tutorial is long overdue and probably should have come out alongside my first book, The New Music Industry. Back around 2015, putting together a video like this was a heavy lift because both hardware and software were more complex and expensive. Now the tools are accessible, editing is smooth, and putting together a tutorial like this is far more straightforward. Before jumping into the setup, we need to address why websites still matter. I have always believed you must have a space you own and control – a central hub where all your work resides. That’s your website. You control the colors, fonts, layout, logos, and imagery. That all falls under artistic branding, which dictates how the world perceives your work. Furthermore, you need to publish accurate information about yourself on your own domain. If there is no definitive, factual source documenting who you are, search engines and AI summaries will simply fabricate details about you. Many artists still insist that an Instagram profile, a Facebook page, or a YouTube channel counts as a website. They do not. Building exclusively on third-party platforms is building on rented land. Social media is valuable for distributing content, but rules change, accounts get restricted, and algorithms cut off your reach. You must own the racecourse and collect fan email addresses. This tutorial focuses on self-hosted WordPress using the Divi theme framework. WordPress provides genuine portability; if a host ever goes out of business, you can easily migrate your site elsewhere. If you don't intend to build a content-rich site, platforms like Bandzoogle can work, but WordPress provides ultimate control over your design and digital assets. You can do this. There is no genetic predisposition to technical setup or productivity. To start, we register our domain at Namecheap. After purchasing a domain, you point the DNS nameservers to your web host – in this case, SiteGround – using ns1.siteground.net and ns2.siteground.net. Inside SiteGround, you can set up a new domain or create a subdomain, such as music.davidandrewwiebe.com. With one click, SiteGround installs WordPress. Before building out pages, I used ChatLLM to draft a clean design wireframe based on strong visual hierarchy – keeping primary calls to action, featured music, and email opt-ins above the fold, like the clean layouts used by major artists. Next, we install our theme framework. Divi from Elegant Themes is ideal because its visual drag-and-drop builder makes laying out custom sections painless, and their lifetime license is very cost-effective. Inside WordPress, we install a few essential plugins: Kit (formerly ConvertKit) for email capture, Classic Editor Plus, Sassy Social Share, and an XML sitemap tool. After activating Divi, we set our global typography and color palette in the theme customizer – using a warm ivory background, a deep burgundy accent, and charcoal text with DM Serif Display and Inter fonts. Next, we strip out default sidebar widgets and build our core page structure: Home, Music, About, Contact, and Email. In the Divi visual builder, we construct the homepage section by section: We create a split hero section with an artist photo on one side and a headline, a single H1 title, a custom burgundy button, and an email prompt on the other. Below that, we add full-width dividers, a featured music showcase for the EP No Escape, and an inline Kit email opt-in form. We then create the Music page, laying out an H1 header, a featured release block for the Makeshift Romance EP, and a three-column release grid for catalog titles, complete with direct streaming links. While fine-tuning borders, spacing, and mobile responsiveness takes some patience, the core framework comes together cleanly in just over an hour. You now have a central, self-hosted platform where casual listeners can become owned subscribers. Take ownership of your platform, build your email list, and I’ll ...
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    1 時間 15 分
  • First Impressions: Stage by Groove Gainer

    First Impressions: Stage by Groove Gainer
    2026/10/02
     David was recently invited to check out Groove Gainer’s Stage – an app that helps turn your streaming listeners into real fans. In this episode of The David Andrew Wiebe Show, he takes you behind the scenes and explores the platform for the first time. While this isn’t a thorough tutorial, the first look gives you a good idea of what Stage can offer and how you can leverage it for your music. David plans to follow up this episode with additional instalments. In This Episode: What Stage by Groove Gainer is and what it does How Stage could replace multiple tools you’re already using Dashboard tour and features Building a Smart Link with Stage Checkout code to get a free month of Pro Key Resources: Stage: Enter code DAWCAST at checkout for a free month of Pro Transcription: Today I’m checking out Stage by Groove Gainer. This is the first time I’ve looked at this platform, so you’re coming along for the ride. I do know a little bit about it because I took a quick peek at the website beforehand. Initially, I thought this was a service like Songwhip. Honestly, I’d like a solid Songwhip replacement, since it was great before but isn't quite as good as it used to be. Stage allows you to turn your streaming listeners into a proper email list, which is something most of us can agree is very much needed. Looking at the website, it does look a bit like Songwhip: one link, every platform. If it provides detailed fan insights right out of the gate, that’s pretty incredible. It also includes an EPK builder, multi-platform streaming analytics, playlist pitch campaigns, a smart link feature, fan email marketing tools, and an AI music growth advisor. Let's dive inside and start poking around. I'm copying my Spotify artist link into the setup. Don’t be surprised if I don’t have a huge streaming audience; I didn't build my career off streaming, even though I've used it and profited from it. Once the profile links, the dashboard presents four main pillars: your identity, your data, your tools, and your AI manager. Under Artist Core, you connect your streaming and social profiles – Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Instagram, TikTok, and X. HANI, the built-in AI, reads your profiles to learn your catalog and sharpen its suggestions. The Data Stream section syncs monthly listeners, followers, and audience locations across 7, 14, and 28 days to give you real data without vanity metrics. Then there is the Strategy Engine, which offers seven core tools for releasing and promoting music. The Smart Link builder creates one page for every release across every platform, and best of all, it captures fan emails. That is how a casual stream becomes an owned fan. The suite also features a playlist fit analyzer, a Spotify promotion service that pitches to real curators, press release drafts, email marketing to your smart link contacts, and a release calendar. At the center of it all is HANI, your AI growth manager, which helps write pitch emails, draft release statements, and plan 30-day release campaigns. Testing the smart link builder with my synthwave track, "City Lights," the platform lets you select visual themes, customize colors, and paste in the track URL to populate links for Deezer, Apple Music, and Spotify automatically. That gives you a clean, functional landing page in seconds. I plan to return and update you as I continue exploring the promotion tools and seeing what they can do for my catalog. If you want to check it out for yourself, you can get your first month of Stage Pro for free using the code DAWCAST. Subscribe to The David Andrew Wiebe Show Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode of The David Andrew Wiebe Show, take a moment to subscribe. You’ll receive updates for future episodes, PLUS weekly digests and empowering music career recommendations sent directly to your inbox. Let’s make your passion goals a reality. We’re here to help. Until next time, stay empowered.
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    9 分
  • The New AI-Age Artist Model

    The New AI-Age Artist Model
    2026/09/25
     AI can handle most of the grunt work. Its ability to complete the task to your satisfaction depends heavily on the quality of the instructions given. But it’s hard to deny that automation is now well within reach for the average person. It’s just a matter of how you utilize it. In this episode of The David Andrew Wiebe Show, David explores how business models have been changing in the age of AI, and how artists can adapt these models to their careers. In This Episode: How James Schramko has adapted to the AI age, and what that means for artists The psychological effect of giving everything away The multi-step funnel model Why capturing emails is still essential The supporter model New ways to leverage your content and frameworks Why singular calls to action (destinations) are crucial How you can better leverage platforms like Patreon and KLEQ The educator model Positioning your content to attract your target audience Key Resources: Trapped in Your Own Business? The Model That Frees You (Two Decades of Receipts) Patreon KLEQ The “Free Frameworks, Pay for Personal Access” Model Entrepreneur coach James Schramko has been in the online space for 20 years. In that time, he’s never seen faster change in the last year. The core of his business model remains the same. He runs a membership site that gives his students access to his knowledge and expertise. What has changed is the number of offers he promotes (which is down to one, called Mentor, which he charges $1,800 USD per month for), and the number of things he’s giving away (ALL of his playbooks). This is, effectively, the “Free playbooks, pay for personal access” model. Playbooks James used to charge for what he calls his “playbooks,” which we could also call processes, frameworks, secrets, whatever word rings true. This is what he’s now giving away, entirely for free. The psychological effect, as David points out, is “Whoa, I can’t believe he’s giving all of this away. But I’m not sure how to apply it. So, I should hire him to show me.” Paying or Personal Access What can’t AI duplicate? Personal experience, taste, judgment, accountability. This is not to say there won’t come a time when AI won’t be able to do these things, mind you. The point is, even if you’ve got all the information in hand, if you don’t understand it, find it too cumbersome to implement it yourself, or want to ensure you’re applying it correctly, your instinct is going to be to pay for access to the person who created the frameworks in the first place. And as someone who’s opening the kimono on everything, don’t you think you should charge more for access to you? The 3 AI-Age Artist Models David shares three possible AI-age artist models. He quickly admits there may be others and would love to hear your thoughts. Here are the approaches covered in this episode: The multi-step funnel model. Give away everything upfront. Make your entire discography available for free in exchange for an email address. When visitors enter their email address, they are taken to the next page where they’re introduced to your offer – e.g., private membership, monthly live calls, merch items, etc. for $127 per month. The supporter model. Post your lyrics, guitar tabs, and sheet music to your blog. Set up a podcast where you share all your music, commentaries, interviews, and other audio content. For video, create lyric videos, music videos, behind-the-scenes content, and rig rundowns. Drive all traffic to Patreon or another subscriber-based platform that can be monetized. The educator model. As a music producer, you’d showcase your recording process, gear, techniques, software, approach, microphone positions, and so on. Position your content for the audience you want to attract. Then, charge a premium to hire you. This is just one example of an educator model, and other approaches can work. Subscribe to The David Andrew Wiebe Show Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode of The David Andrew Wiebe Show, take a moment to subscribe. You’ll receive updates for future episodes, PLUS weekly digests and empowering music career recommendations sent directly to your inbox. Let’s make your passion goals a reality. We’re here to help. Until next time, stay empowered.
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    11 分
  • The Power of Staying Informed with Kira Shishkin

    The Power of Staying Informed with Kira Shishkin
    2026/09/18
     Is the news manipulating your emotions? If so, how, and… why? Is there a better way to stay up to date with the latest headlines without feeling powerless, angry, and fearful? In this episode of The David Andrew Wiebe Show, David interviews Kira Shishkin, founder of informed.now, the leading news-by-SMS research and delivery service in North America. In this conversation, Kira shares about DJing, the problem informed.now was intended to solve, an accident that nearly took his life, and more. In This Episode: What it means to be a DJ, according to Kira How music production has become more automated Why Kira believes being a DJ is about helping people discover music they didn’t know they needed Why being creative doesn’t always translate to being popular Why Kira is disrupting sensationalized, uncredible news The truth about news, propaganda, and the media slant What Kira noticed about a delusional 70s movie What Kira believes the pandemic revealed about our unpreparedness Why you have no choice but to pay attention to our increasingly globalized world How news manipulates your emotions to force reactions Why informed.now has remained a human-centric company Why independent creators should focus on communication in the age of AI How you can level up your workflows by leveraging AI How AI can rapidly increase your results and satisfaction Why you can’t let AI take responsibility for results (at least not yet) How Kira wound up in a coma Why you can continue to expect greatness from informed.now Key Resources: informed.now Subscribe to The David Andrew Wiebe Show Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode of The David Andrew Wiebe Show, take a moment to subscribe. You’ll receive updates for future episodes, PLUS weekly digests and empowering music career recommendations sent directly to your inbox. Let’s make your passion goals a reality. We’re here to help. Until next time, stay empowered.
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    52 分
  • The Renegade Musician Masterclass

    The Renegade Musician Masterclass
    2026/09/11
    The Renegade Musician is David Andrew Wiebe’s definitive, most up-to-date guide for independent musicians, detailing how to grow your fan base, leverage your releases, get more and better gigs, and more. In this episode of The David Andrew Wiebe Show, we do a deep dive into the introductory material, which includes the cover design, origins, starving artist syndrome, the Spotify delusion, and living your true worth as a musician. In This Episode: Why you must observe where the crowd is going, and run the other way Why being a Renegade Musician means developing acumen and competencies in multiple areas Why letting go of prominent “starving artist” figures helps reprogram your artistic mind How liberation without compromise is a lofty but achievable ideal Why artists must become intimately familiar with the value they bring to the world Why Spotify and streaming royalties aren’t the ultimate income source for artists What it looks like to be a true renegade Key Resources: The Renegade Musician: Step out of the shadow of the old music career model The Strangest Secret: Earl Nightingale’s seminal personal development resource (affiliate link) Renegade Millionaire: An essential entrepreneur book by Dan Kennedy and Lee Milteer (affiliate link) Why I Don’t Think 1 Cent Per Stream on Spotify is Going to Save the Music Business: the blog post referred to in this episode God Wants You to Be Rich: by Paul Zane Pilzer, this book proves unlimited riches (affiliate link) The Renegade Musician Masterclass This masterclass is just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to explore all the principles, strategies, tactics, frameworks, and mental models that guide a Renegade Musician to achieving success on their terms, pick up your copy of the book. Here are the key lessons covered in this episode: The Book Cover – The Wolf & The 3 Pillars The book cover doesn’t just look cool – there’s a significance to the imagery of the wolf. The platitude of the “lone wolf” applies here, because, of course, renegades disrupt and betray. German-American novelist Charles Bukowski has been quoted as saying: Wherever the crowd goes, run in the other direction. They are always wrong. Wherever the crowd goes, run in the other direction. They are always wrong. – Charles BukowskiShare on X This truism, however, has also been repeated by the likes of Earl Nightingale, as David points out. But wolves also symbolize loyalty, family, teaching, communication, intelligence, and wisdom. Of these, David highlights Community, Intelligence, and Wisdom. You can find additional reference in an earlier podcast episode. Foundations & Inspiration – Dan Kennedy and Origins David elaborates on the significance of direct-response marketing expert Dan Kennedy in coming up with The Renegade Musician concept. Especially the Renegade Millionaire book, which Dan wrote in collaboration with business and life strategist Lee Milteer. This is somewhat understated, but in this chapter, David also points out how important it is for independent musicians to develop their attitude and mindset, while gaining competence in areas like communication, leadership, digital marketing, PR, and other business aspects. Starving Artist Syndrome – Liberation Without Compromise Vincent van Gogh is often pointed to as the poster child of the starving artist. Yet, Van Gogh never pursued the commercialization of his art. So, how accurate an example is this, and should we continue pointing to it as a reason not to pursue our passions? There are many ways to create an income, with jobs being the most prominent. We’ve also seen the rise of the creator economy in recent years, showing yet another way for people to engage an audience and earn an income from their activities. But the danger is that you can just as easily leave one form of “slavery,” as David describes it, only to walk right into the hands of another master – live streaming video games from the 90s, twerking in front of a camera, producing dozens of articles per day on making money online… Liberation without compromise is doing what you love to do and earning an income from it without compromising your values and identity. Artists often feel unworthy of earning a higher income, which is why David suggests exploring the value that art brings to the world. From the importance of creativity in a child’s development to music’s ability to heal, an artist must become intimately familiar with their total, holistic package, not just the ability to sing, play an instrument, or write lyrics. The Spotify Delusion – Penny Per Stream and Platform Traps The moth-to-flame attraction to Spotify is widespread. Yet, there isn’t really a solution to the streaming dilemma. So long as you’re playing the algorithm game that’s been set up by a company that has different interests than you as an independent musician, realistically, there are no paths to victory. But there are many vehicles for the ...
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    29 分
  • The Renegade Musician: Understanding the Concept

    The Renegade Musician: Understanding the Concept
    2026/09/04
    In his book, David defined The Renegade Musician as a concept. What is a concept, exactly, and why does it matter? In this episode of The David Andrew Wiebe Show, David illuminates the idea of a concept through well-known and understood cultural concepts like the American Dream and Ikigai, as well as why a purely intellectual understanding of these is insufficient. In This Episode: What the “American Dream” really is What “Ikigai” actually means The importance of real-life experience and surrounding yourself with other renegades The true test of The Renegade Musician Key Resources: The Renegade Musician: Step out of the shadow of the old music career model The Renegade Musician Concept The Renegade Musician book defines being a renegade musician as a concept, philosophy, ideal, and a movement. In this video, David expands on what it means to understand it as a concept. The key takeaways from the video are that: The American Dream. It’s not 1.93 kids, a golden retriever named Charlie, and a white picket fence, though some may aspire to that. The American Dream is equality, opportunity, and the freedom to pursue your highest aspirations. Ikigai. David argues that not only has this concept been overexplained, but also misrepresented. The definition of Ikigai is “purpose for living.” Ikigai Venn diagrams have frequently made their rounds on social media, but these are not true to the concept. David says the only thing he would add to the simplest definition is “a purpose for living that shifts with circumstances, priorities, and time.” The renegade musician. You can’t just declare yourself one. You’ve got to be around one. The only way to “get” a concept is to be around it. Who are you learning from? Who is your renegade coach or mentor? Subscribe to The David Andrew Wiebe Show Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode of The David Andrew Wiebe Show, take a moment to subscribe. You’ll receive updates for future episodes, PLUS weekly digests and empowering music career recommendations sent directly to your inbox. Let’s make your passion goals a reality. Until next time, stay empowered.
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    4 分
  • The Renegade Musician: True Renegade

    The Renegade Musician: True Renegade
    2026/08/28
    What does it actually mean to be a renegade? Do artists automatically become renegades simply because they’ve chosen a path that most people don’t? In this episode of The David Andrew Wiebe Show, David expands on the renegade musician and how artists can empower themselves to discern and assert their true value in the world. In This Episode: What it means to be a renegade Why musicians identify with the concept (and why they might not be true renegade musicians yet) Why achieving true renegade status is challenging The simple technique you can use to differentiate your music The true value of a musician The tired TED Talk format David despises Why everyone can become wealthy The critical importance of knowing your value as a musician Key Resources: The Renegade Musician: Step out of the shadow of the old music career model God Wants You to Be Rich: by Paul Zane Pilzer, this book proves unlimited riches (affiliate link) Key Points on Becoming a True Renegade Here’s what David covers in this episode: A renegade is someone who deserts, betrays, or disrupts their country, a set of principles, or religion. This is effectively the dictionary definition of a renegade, and a good starting point. Renegade musicians desert and disrupt the norms that don’t serve them. While there are plenty of artists who already identify as being a renegade, that isn’t a given. The question isn’t whether you’re doing things differently from most everyone in society; the question is whether you’re doing things differently from most artists. When you don’t think for yourself and simply “follow the leader,” you end up with the same results as the people you’re following. So, who are you associating with, and what books are you reading? This is what determines your future. Understanding your true value as a musician. You aren’t just a skilled craftsperson, but also an entertainer and a healer. Music has so many benefits – including how it supports the development of the brain – that continually get minimized and marginalized. You must get it out of your head that you’re playing a zero-sum game. Pilzer’s book, God Wants You To Be Rich, shows that there are riches enough in this world for every single person to be wealthy. If this isn’t your core belief, you may have cognitive dissonance surrounding your financial future, which is sabotaging it. Subscribe to The David Andrew Wiebe Show Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode of The David Andrew Wiebe Show, take a moment to subscribe. You’ll receive updates for future episodes, PLUS weekly digests and empowering music career recommendations sent directly to your inbox. Let’s make your passion goals a reality. Until next time, stay empowered.
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    5 分
  • The Renegade Musician: A Cent Per Stream

    The Renegade Musician: A Cent Per Stream
    2026/08/21
     Wouldn’t it be great if Spotify (and streaming sites more generally) paid more per stream? Wouldn’t it be awesome to earn $0.01 every time your music was played, instead of the current $0.003? In this episode of The David Andrew Wiebe Show, David expands on a blog post he originally wrote in August 2020, explaining why a cent per stream won’t save the music business. While he agrees with the movement in general, he also illuminates the many threats that would make a cent per stream a drop in the bucket. In This Episode: Why a cent per stream isn’t going to save the music business What “decimal money” is How the economics actually work out when you’re paid a cent per stream Why increasing income from streaming would be like a drop in the bucket Why there will always be societal issues looming over artists Key Resources: The Renegade Musician: Step out of the shadow of the old music career model Why I Don’t Think 1 Cent Per Stream on Spotify is Going to Save the Music Business: the blog post referred to in this episode A Cent Per Stream on Spotify In this video, David alludes to a blog post he published in August 2020 titled “Why I Don’t Think 1 Cent Per Stream on Spotify is Going to Save the Music Business.” Here are the key takeaways from this resource: Oftentimes, it’s just as easy (or hard) to get people to pay $300 for a product as it is to get them to pay $0.0003. So, why put all your time, energy, and resources into Spotify? There are so many other ways to earn a higher income on the effort spent – advertising, donations, affiliate marketing, merchandise, bundles, memberships, and more. Increased restriction and policing of the platforms. Whether YouTube or Facebook, it seems like new policies go into place every other week, restricting creators from speaking their minds, reaching their audiences, and getting clicks. Banning, shadow banning, account closures, and even active censorship frequently put creators in a position of compromise, especially when relying exclusively on big tech platforms. The harmful effects of net neutrality and localization. This is already happening. The internet is no longer the same, across the world, for every person. Access depends on where you live, the device you’re using, who you identify as, and more. If you weren’t already feeling like a needle in a haystack, net neutrality and localization reduce your chances of being seen, heard, and discovered. And wasn’t that the core value proposition of the internet for artists, that you could reach a worldwide fan base? The possibility of mass consolidation of the internet. What if the internet wasn’t a massive collection of websites and apps, but rather a single central hub where people were forced to go to do everything? What if a single company made all the rules? What if they controlled and regulated all your activities? This hasn’t happened yet, but it poses a greater threat to independent creativity on the internet than just about anything else. You’re Invited to Subscribe to The David Andrew Wiebe Show Thanks for tuning in. If you enjoyed this episode of The David Andrew Wiebe Show, take a moment to subscribe to receive updates for future episodes, along with weekly digests and empowering independent artist recommendations sent directly to your inbox. We’re here to help you achieve your passion goals. Until next time, stay empowered.
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    4 分