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 see you in the next tutorial.


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.

*This page contains affiliate links. https://davidandrewwiebe.com/?p=29047




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. https://davidandrewwiebe.com/first-impressions-stage-by-groove-gainer/




Click the “play” button above now to watch David’s video review of Victor O. Schwab’s How to Write a Good Advertisement.


How to Write a Good Advertisement Review


Victor O. Schwab’s How to Write a Good Advertisement: A Short Course in Copywriting is considered a copywriting essential. Even the illustrious Gary Halbert considers it a must, among a dozen or so books he encouraged his students to read.

No wonder. The book covers a lot of ground. In fact, most things that could be considered important to writing a good ad can be found in this volume. It’s from the 1960s, so it doesn’t cover modern marketing methods, but those books are a dime a dozen, and many of them aren’t that good anyway.

David gave it an overall rating of 3.9/5. He considered it a good book, just not a great one. He readily admits that this might be because the book isn’t organized in a way that connected with him and how his mind works. He still had a major realization concerning “cumulative effect,” which he details in this review.

Next on deck: John Caples’ Tested Advertising Methods

Previous review: Scientific Advertising

➔ Get your copy of How to Write a Good Advertisement https://davidandrewwiebe.com/?p=29013

You know how your outer world reflects your inner world?

Well… In my world, there’s a growing pile of recycling and garbage sitting in my living room.

And for a while, I’ve been complaining about how British Columbia just doesn’t have the right structures. Things were so much easier in Alberta. Bottle depots with sorters. Communal recycling bins.

(I still think that’s the case. BC could be hiring people to sort cans and bottles, recycling, etc. It would create jobs, increase efficiency, and keep our homes less cluttered.)

But today, I finally saw what this junk heap was trying to reflect to me:

Opportunity.

The huge, massive, growing pile of opportunity I’ve been sitting on.

Things just waiting to be updated, revised, organized, repurposed, and leveraged in new ways. A significant volume of “unfinished” that would benefit from completion. Promises made but unkept.

Not that I don’t want to work on new things too. I’ve got a few in the queue, and frankly I love new things too much to leave them alone.

But without putting a huge amount of attention on creating anything new, I have many legacy creations that aren’t even close to being leveraged to their fullest potential.

It’s not as though I was completely oblivious to this growing body of opportunity. It’s just that I see it more clearly now.

For large swaths of the year, I got lost in the question:

“What am I supposed to be doing right now?”

And I was waiting for the dots to connect. For a long time, they didn’t.

That didn’t stop the thrashing. Oh no, I came up with a lot of crazy ideas. I revived some projects. I started some new ones. I tried things. A lot of stuff just didn’t stick or only played a small part in my daily life.

But now the dots have connected. What I envision doesn’t make any logical sense, but emotionally, I haven’t been this excited in a while.

As I look to make my vision a reality, I will, of course, be eating the elephant one bite at a time (not a real elephant; that’s cruel). But I will also be working with others. Because what I have in mind has outgrown my capacity. Expanding to include others is the way.

(And yes, I will probably be leveraging AI to some extent. I intend to tread lightly here, because I always want the most crucial touchpoints to be human, customer service-oriented.)

What signs are you noticing in your outer world? What are they trying to tell you – obvious, profound, or otherwise? Is there anything you’ve been putting off that could be a massive opportunity? https://davidandrewwiebe.com/?p=29021




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. https://davidandrewwiebe.com/?p=29009

Click the “play” button above now to watch David’s video review of Claude Hopkins’ Scientific Advertising.


Scientific Advertising Review


Direct-response marketing icon Gary Halbert recommended several books to anyone looking to sharpen their skills as a copywriter, and Claude Hopkins’ Scientific Advertising appears at the top of that list.

How does the book hold up? Well, according to David, the content is quite good. It’s a bit challenging to read because of the particular way people spoke/wrote in the 1920s, and it’s a no-fluff manual with relatively few examples, case studies, and stories. Its title might also be a little misleading. A case could be made that the method it suggests is scientific, but science is nowhere to be found in its contents.

Still, its contents are solid, and as Halbert himself suggested, foundational to gaining competency in ad writing. David gave it a 4.5/5. Not a perfect score, but still an excellent rating for an excellent book that marketers should study but artists can skip.

Previous review: How To Make Maximum Money In Minimum Time

➔ Get your copy of Scientific Advertising (affiliate link) https://davidandrewwiebe.com/?p=29002




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. https://davidandrewwiebe.com/?p=28979