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 independent musician. Streaming is just one among many. Artists would do well to empower themselves with knowledge of better income sources.
Living The Renegade Musician – Understanding Your True Value and Identity
A Renegade Musician disrupts and betrays the traditional path. Not just the path laid out by record labels and the media, but the paths of those who don’t think for themselves.
KISS bassist Gene Simmons is famous for saying that if you think for yourself, you might not make more friends, but you will make more money.
Many independent artists are playing a blind game of “follow the leader,” without making a thorough examination of their leaders, whether they’re competent, and whether they’ve made a comprehensive, logical, and strategically sound plan for attaining success on their terms.
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Until next time, stay empowered.
