The David Andrew Wiebe Show

It’s been too long! How’ve you been?

It’s about time for an update, isn’t it?

Well, you’ll be glad to know, that in this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, David finally catches us up with the events of the last month as well as what has been happening with the podcast.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:17 – It’s time for a state of affairs update

00:36 – The end?

03:09 – The insanity that has been the last few weeks

12:49 – Having grace for yourself

14:54 – Finishing things

16:48 – Switching things up

18:09 – Things change

19:27 – What changes are coming with Music Entrepreneur HQ?

21:15 – Learning from your mistakes

24:18 – Identity and perception

25:24 – Moving forward

Sponsors:

Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: The first of its kind – David’s new premium book covering productivity for artists, featuring content from Music Entrepreneur HQ, his personal blog, his many books, and even Start Your Year the Right Way, which is included in its entirety. Be fully unleashed in accomplishing your musical dreams and desires!

Episode Summary:

David begins this episode by acknowledging that he has been absent from podcasting since August and briefly shares his intention to wind down his involvement with the podcast as well as Music Entrepreneur HQ.

His world was turned upside down

Everything in David’s world was quite hunky-dory until about four weeks ago.

On September 14, he began the long journey back to Calgary to play a gig with Adrenalize. Things were fine until the day of the gig on September 16, when David noticed eye floaters that weren’t there before (not to worry, though, the eye floaters have been improving).

He suspects this may have been due to altitude sensitivity – Calgary is about 1,000 meters higher than Vancouver, although it could have also had something to do with bumping his head at the Airbnb he was staying at.

Shortly after returning from Calgary, David was given a two-week notice by his landlord. He knew that he would eventually need to leave either way, but this news, he says, could have been delivered a little more tactfully. That weekend, he also suffered a migraine (he’s unsure whether it’s related).

David’s plans to organize an event for January were also moving along quite smoothly until the preceding began unfolding. One of his team leaders temporarily went AWOL, the featured artists he wanted to book didn’t want any part of it, and a $5,000 cheque nearly got lost in the mail.

David assures us, however, that things are starting to get back on track.

Seeing the bigger picture

Another reason there hasn’t been a lot of movement with the podcast is that David is starting to see the bigger picture of what projects are worth putting his time into, as well as the importance of managing his personal well-being.

This, first and foremost, has meant prioritizing projects. David has found a lot of value in focusing on no more than one or two major to-do items per day. And he asks the question:

If I can spend an hour working on my next book, or I can spend an hour working on the next podcast episode, why wouldn’t I prioritize the Big Domino, which in this case, would be the book?

He references the Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook, his eighth book, which is well underway, though not ready to be delivered in full (you can still pre-order a physical copy of the book).

Either way, Gary Keller’s The One Thing has been changing the way he looks at projects, and David has been noticing how easy it is to get drawn into the busyness of activity without finishing the things that are bound to make the greatest difference.

Speaking of finishing things, that has also become one of David’s greater focuses.

David recently took some time to identify the subscriptions he no longer needed and culled unnecessary expenses. This, he said, freed up a lot of psychic energy.

If you want to take a deeper dive into this, also see one of David’s latest articles on productivity:

How to Declutter Your Mind and Cultivate Super Focus

As a result, he’s been reflecting on how loose ends tend to rob us of joy in the moment. Instead of starting new things, David is now vowing to refer to his “to be done” list so he can be present for everything he’s promised that has yet to be completed.

Additionally, David has been experimenting with his weekly schedule, opting to rest on Fridays because his Monday through Thursday has been positively jacked up.

He says there is tremendous value in experimenting with different schedules to find the sweet spot. Further, he suggests that it’s critical to adapt as things change in your life.

If you aren’t already planning your weeks, however, you must start there. There is nothing to experiment with if you’re flying by the seat of your pants!

Moving forward

David says there has been incredible value in reflecting on both his failures and successes. Writing off Music Entrepreneur HQ as a “failed content business” has felt very freeing to him. He only wishes he could have realized this sooner.

This likely isn’t the end of podcasting for David, who has already hinted at the launch of a new show. In fact, he has already recorded dozens of audios on the fly.

David is also still passionate about music, music education, and musician coaching, something he intends to continue, primarily at Content Marketing Musician.

(And rumor has it this isn’t really the end of Music Entrepreneur HQ, either. David has been quietly developing a plan to raise it from the ashes. Thank God.)

Nevertheless, we do recommend checking Content Marketing Musician for the latest courses and programs designed to help you create the life you love through music.

Leave a rating and review for the show on Apple Music. It’s how we get the podcast out there!

There’s exclusive, premium audio content waiting for you inside Members Only Audios.

Do you tend to accumulate a lot of information without ever acting on it? Content junkies do this all the time, sometimes without even realizing it. While studying without applying might be okay in grade school, in adult life, it simply doesn’t work. So, how do you get out of the rut of learning, thinking, and not acting?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, David shares how you can overcome analysis paralysis.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:17 – Something you’ve been struggling with

00:28 – What is analysis paralysis?

01:18 – Why does analysis paralysis happen?

02:25 – Solutions to analysis paralysis

02:37 – Publishing under a pseudonym

04:02 – Setting deadlines for your tasks and projects

06:06 – Accountability

08:28 – Preparing for a difficult future

Sponsors:

Elite Players: All Access Pass: Our online academy for musicians featuring a forum, personalized coaching, Members Only Audios, three music biz courses, archived training, and more. Yes, it’s literally an “all-access pass,” and it’s the greatest value we offer.

Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: The first of its kind – David’s new premium book covering productivity for artists, featuring content from Music Entrepreneur HQ, his personal blog, his many books, and even Start Your Year the Right Way, which is included in its entirety. Be fully unleashed in accomplishing your dreams and desires!

Transcription:

I recently asked some of you, “What are you struggling with when it comes to getting things done?”

And it sounds like what some of you are struggling with is analysis paralysis. So, let's talk about analysis paralysis.

What is Analysis Paralysis?

Nowadays, because there's so much information available on Google, books, and courses, on YouTube, and anywhere else you might potentially go.

It becomes so easy to consume, and amass, and accumulate the information without actually doing anything with it.

Now there are a few different variations on analysis paralysis, but that's usually the main one.

“We've got a bunch of options. We don't know which to pick and we don't know what to do with them. And when we do finally choose them, we're not really sure how to execute them.”

So, it becomes this cycle of analyzing and trying to figure out what to do, but because you're trying to get it right, you get stuck in paralysis.

Why Does Analysis Paralysis Happen?

Basically, for the reason I just mentioned, you're trying to get it right. In other words, you're trying to be perfect. You're trying to get it perfect, one way or another.

So, getting stuck in perfectionism. This is a common trap for creatives. Analysis paralysis is really just some other form of the same thing.

Perfectionism is a common trap for creatives.Share on X

So, we need to look at how we can overcome that practically, so the future actually sees us producing and creating things rather than sitting on ideas or having thoughts of creating something that never ends up being created.

We want to make sure that your output gets out into the world and seen and heard. Even if it's just a little bit. Hopefully, it gets seen by a lot of people. That is always the most desirable thing, but unfortunately, I don't think history is on the side of people… like not right now, maybe in the past… but I don't think history is on the side of the people who aren't prolific, who aren't constantly creating, constantly publishing, and shipping and putting new things out there.

History is not on the side of those who aren't prolific producers.Share on X

But you might be scared to do that. And that's where analysis paralysis comes in. So, let's talk about solutions. And I think all of these are worthwhile solutions. It's just that you may not immediately feel like trying some of them, which is why I wanted to present more than just one.

Publishing Under a Pseudonym

The first solution is publishing under a pseudonym.

This is something Derek Sivers talked about quite a bit in the early days, which was if you're scared of trying to get something perfect and putting it out there and have it be perfect, then why not just invent a pseudonym like “Crunchy Frogs 84” or whatever you want to call it.

And then set up a new channel and just publish fun goofy stuff to it without worrying about trying to get it right or worrying about trying to get it perfect.

We all have things in our lives that really seem to come easy. So, you want to look over there, not the stuff that's hard. If you're struggling to move forward in your music career, then look at the stuff that's easy for you.

Maybe you have a daily workout routine. Amazing. So that is something that's going well, and maybe you're not even thinking about it anymore because you've been at it for a while, and you've been getting results and you're feeling better and you're looking better so you're not even thinking about working out at this point.

Perfect. That's what we want to do. We want to do the same thing except with our creativity and our music.

Go out, create a new channel, call it something completely ridiculous, and just put out 100 songs. That's all there is to it. Really.

I know some of you are still scared. So, let's move on to another solution.

Establishing Deadlines

Another solution that has worked very well for me and has worked well for a lot of people is deadlines.

I'm sure that in your job or freelancing career or whatever it is that you do on the side… Most of you are probably not doing just music. But if you are, congrats, I’m glad to hear it. I want to hear more about what you're up to there.

But if you have a side job or if you have a job, you have certain deadlines and yes, you may dread them. And yes, you may not really want to do them. But when you have them, you get tend to get it done. Don't you?  It's the same thing. We want to create self-enforced deadlines in our lives for the things that we're up to. That can make such a huge difference.

When you have deadlines, you tend to get it done.Share on X

It's how my life works. People ask me, “How do you get it all done?” One of the reasons is that I live my life by deadlines. I always have deadlines for just about everything that I'm doing, and it might be tight. It might be grueling. It might even be a little bit of a grind at times, but if I'm making sure to take care of myself, and I'm all right, and my well-being is taken care of I can always meet those deadlines.

But like it or not, I have deadlines for my clients every single week, if not almost every single day. If I don't keep to those deadlines, sure, I might be able to get away with it once or twice, or maybe extend the deadline, or if I'm in communication, I can figure something out. But otherwise, there would be dire consequences for not having and keeping those deadlines.

And it works the same way in your own creativity. Yet again, this is something that you might try, and it may not work the first time. This is the thing about getting things done in general, is there are all these practices that we can put into place, but without our foundations solidly in check, like our mindset and our psychology and our attitude and what we're thinking and feeling about life in general, sometimes these things can be hard.

Finding Accountability

And so finally, and this is almost, I would like to say it's foolproof and it almost is. The almost completely foolproof solution to analysis paralysis is accountability. So, having other people keep you to your word.

The almost completely foolproof solution to analysis paralysis is accountability.Share on X

There is a problem with accountability though. Because I grew up in the church. And I went to church for 30 years straight. And there were accountability things that people would take on from Bible studies or Sunday School. One person would fall off and then the other person would fall off. I observed that a lot, so what I'm recommending in place of that is mastermind groups.

I've got one that I'm creating, it's not ready to go yet, but when that is available, I'll be sure to let you know. But I have so many other projects on the go right now. That one is probably going to stay on the back burner for now.

The other one that tends to work very well in accountability is coaching and community. When you have that two-pronged approach, a coach, that's guiding you, supports you, and has you looking at completing one thing per week…

And that's really the structure we use at Elite Players: “What are you committed to accomplishing this week?” There are a million things you could do, and there's a ton of content in Elite Players, and we're looking at ways of streamlining and combining and compiling and all that kind of stuff.

What are you committed to accomplishing this week?Share on X

But the bottom line is there are just so many things you could be doing in your music career, hundreds, or thousands, and at any given time we need to prioritize and look at what is the most important next step that we need to take, right?

So that's what we're talking about. When you have a coach, and then when you have a community, a forum of people that are supporting you and are looking at each other going, “Hey, did you get it done? What happened? Did you have a breakthrough? Did you have a breakdown? How did things go?”

When you have that, you tend to stay on track, and I honestly think that's the most effective solution.

The Recession is Here

Look, I can see the way the economy is going right now and we're not going to be in a great place here. But I've known that for a while. I don't know if that's something that you were present to.

So, I think the plan is we're going to break off, well not break it off, but I think we want to make just the members forum available to the people who want to join the forum and have that a

What if there was an easier way for your fans, friends, and family to invest in your music? What if you could diversify your revenue streams to make your music career more sustainable and profitable?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, David passes the mic with MariNation founder & CEO and friend, Justin Longo. Tune in to discover how MariNation is evolving to meet changing demands.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:17 – Returning guest, Justin Longo of MariNation

00:33 – MariNation’s new direction

02:01 – On diversifying revenue opportunities

04:17 – The Music Entrepreneur Triangle

06:34 – Music Entrepreneur HQ’s lens

08:01 – Why do people invest in music and who does it benefit?

09:34 – The constantly changing music industry climate

11:35 – What MariNation is aiming for

13:41 – What has Justin learned from pivoting his venture?

17:13 – Sunk cost fallacy and finding your path

19:39 – Paradoxes in success

21:19 – What tools and resources did Justin rely on while pivoting?

23:41 – Know thyself

35:40 – Elite Players: All Access Pass

37:26 – Closing thoughts

Sponsors:

Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: The first of its kind – David’s new premium book covering productivity for artists, featuring content from Music Entrepreneur HQ, his personal blog, his many books, and even Start Your Year the Right Way, which is included in its entirety. Be fully unleashed in accomplishing your dreams and desires!

Transcription:

David: Today I'm chatting with a return guest, the founder of MariNation, Justin Longo. You can hear our previous conversation in episode 243 of the podcast. It's great to connect with you again. Justin. How are you?

Justin: I'm excellent, David. Thanks for having me.

David: Good to see you again. I know that MariNation has been evolving, and to use a bit of a buzzword, you've made a bit of a pivot recently, but your concept is still centered on music investing so that part hasn't changed. So, what has changed with your app and what do you see coming next?

Justin: Yeah, so basically the first direction we were managing artists' money on their behalf, investing in index funds and the general stock market.

So, obviously, we didn't pursue that. It was kind of more of an intuitive decision, but we've pivoted into this next direction where we allow fans and investors to invest in music, invest in artists as people, and benefit from their future earnings and future careers. So that's kind of the different direction that we took with it now.

David: So, people can invest in pretty much anyone, right? Like Justin Bieber or Rihanna or whoever their favorite popular artist is.

Justin: Eventually, that's the direction, right? We want to have the big A players. Obviously, they'd come on for different reasons. Other than like an indie artist or somebody just beginning, right?

They would probably want to fund, projects, and studio time, and probably the A-list celebrities and big stars would want to do it more on a fan-to-fan, a fan-to-artist, like engagement, like connection.

David: I would definitely think that with mainstream artists if they see that it's a viable opportunity, they would sign up for it.

It's not like a super well-known fact, but you can start looking for all the revenue streams for producers, and people assume, “Okay, they're making music, right?” And that's true, but then oftentimes they'll have their own trademark plugin for a DAW, or they'll also have sample packs, or they also have beats. So, they're pretty well diversified.

And it's really the same thing for musicians in the sense that people assume they just go out and perform and they make loads of money, right? Or they just release something on Spotify and it helps them make some royalties, which is true.

But then you'd be surprised to find that Beyoncé plays the same bar mitzvahs and weddings and birthday parties that you play. And there are so many other opportunities, like music lessons.

You could go to ArtistWorks and find that Paul Gilbert from Mr. Big and various other supergroups still teaches guitar. And I'm sure he gets paid a pretty penny, although it's hush-hush for the effort that he puts in.

So, I could definitely see this. First, the attraction for the investor to be able to invest in their favorite artist, even if they are independent, but also mainstream. And I can also see potentially that if mainstream artists begin to see it as a viable opportunity, they will totally want to leverage it.

Justin: That's a great point. And to your point where artists, they all have their own different niche, right? So, Beyoncé has her own style as opposed to Tom Petty, right? And they kind of based their secondary products upon their style and their given genre, right?

So, Tom Petty may come out with a line of guitars whereas Beyoncé would come out with her new sneakers. We just did a content post on that.

So, there's kind of like these different areas where the artist can thrive in the secondary products of their career if you will. Because the music is the primary one. So, it's a very interesting point to see the reasons why artists and investors would both want to be a part of something like this, but we're just going to continue to develop it for everybody and see where we land and where the traction picks up.

David: Yeah, I wrote a post recently on The Music Entrepreneur Triangle, and this is like really the traditional model of how to become a music entrepreneur.

And for most artists, it really starts with one thing and one thing only, like, you have to become known for something, right? So, Dr. Dre and Beyoncé, and all these other artists became known for rapping or singing. And maybe dancing is ancillary to the performance side of things.

So, they became known as performers first. And then as their celebrity grew, and I'm using that term somewhat loosely because you can create a celebrity effect among your audience, even if it's small. And there's a lot of benefits to being perceived that way. The reason to focus on one thing and to do one thing is to become known for it to build your celebrity and people are irrational about celebrity. And so once you have that, then you're totally ready to diversify.

There are still mishaps obviously. I think it was Neil Young that came out with the Pono, the high-fidelity MP3 player, or whatever. No one was interested in that, but it also had an unfortunate name. So maybe that played a role in that.

Nevertheless, once you've attained celebrity, the diversification opportunities expand.

Justin: I really enjoyed the terminology of music entrepreneur because entrepreneurs and musicians are one in the same, right? As a creator and a music artist, you're basically throwing a whole bunch of stuff at the wall, right?

I think Russ is a prime example of this. He produced and made hundreds and hundreds of songs and just put his volume in and got his work out there. And not all of it went multi-platinum, right? But it's the volume and the work in the trials and tribulations and just getting all of these things out there. Seeing what works and what sticks and then doubling down on that sort of thing from a music perspective and then a business perspective, it's more or less the same thing, right?

See what works and what sticks and double down on that.Share on X

We don't necessarily know what's going to work ahead of time. You know, we do have some preconceived notions about the market and the fan base and that sort of thing, but at the initial outset of it, we don't necessarily know who or what. Or how much to charge for it or that sort of thing. We just kind of do it as we go along and learn in the progress of it all.

David: Yeah, something I'm not even sure if I've ever explained or shared on the podcast is the fact that this podcast lives on a site called Music Entrepreneur HQ. The whole reason I started that, though, is because I saw a lot of opportunity in applying business principles I was learning in network marketing and Robert Kiyosaki and various resources I was plugged into at the time and applying them to my music career.

And that's always been the lens of like, how do we help musicians? How do we help independent musicians create the life they love through Music?

I'm happy for the overlap in audience [musicians and music entrepreneurs]. I don't have something like the Music Entrepreneur Club, which is obviously targeting people like us, people who are music entrepreneurs and doing stuff out there in the music business.

But I'm happy for the overlap and I'm not telling anyone to go away, you know? keep listening if this stuff fascinates and intrigues you. But that is something I wanted to share is that it's always been through the lens of the independent artist. And how can we be artistically entrepreneurial?

Justin: That's a great point. I believe Tim Ferriss said one time that a good business book is a good life book. A lot of the business lessons and values and teachings are also comparable to life in general and creative endeavors, being a music artist, being an author, you know, freelancer, whatever it is. A lot of these things are applicable to all areas of life.

David: So, although you touched on it briefly, why do you think people will invest in music and whom does it benefit?

Justin: It benefits both the investor and the artist. The artist at the initial process of it all will receive upfront money to fund projects, as I said earlier, and that sort of thing. And then the investor will receive the benefit of the future earnings on that money in the artist's career.

The first part of your question though is why would somebody want to invest in music? Who would invest in music, right? And it's a great question and for a lot of reasons some fans love the artists.

...

So, you probably heard about it. But you may have asked yourself what it’s about and why you should care.

At Music Entrepreneur HQ, we have the “getting it together,” “getting it done,” and “getting it out there” tracks, and this new work covers almost everything you could possibly want to know about “getting it done,” which can contribute greatly to knocking down the dominos of “getting it together” and “getting it out there.”

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, David shares candidly about the Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook.

Download the PDF Transcription

Podcast Highlights:

00:00 – Consider it a miracle…

01:11 – A 20-year-old that was struggling to organize his mail

02:04 – In the last 14 years…

02:43 – What’s the big deal about getting things done?

03:06 – Questions to ask yourself

04:00 – The magic of “the night before vacation” checklists

05:21 – Who is David to talk about productivity?

06:55 – What can you expect from the Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook

07:52 – Testimonials

10:10 – Closing thoughts

Sponsors:

Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: The first of its kind – David’s new premium book covering productivity for artists, featuring content from Music Entrepreneur HQ, his personal blog, his many books, and even Start Your Year the Right Way, which is included in its entirety. Be fully unleashed in accomplishing your dreams and desires!

Transcription:

Record labels don't want you to hear what I have to say. Even other musician coaches don't want you to know who I am. That's because I can wake you up, help you take your power back, and help you crush your goals without taking advantage of the traditional music industry system. I am the most suppressed and discredited musician coach out there, even though I have nothing but happy clients and results to show for my work.

Consider it a miracle that you are seeing this now or you're listening to this now because rest assured there are forces preventing you from being able to access this information, I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this video up, so don't click away. Now is the time to watch.

The Story of the 20-Year-Old That Struggled with Organizing His Mail

Let me share something with you. I knew a 20-year-old kid who was struggling to open his mail, pay his bills, file everything in a folder, and shut his drawer. He was absolutely convinced that there was no way that he could ever be as organized as the other people that he looked up to. And this reality made him unbelievably emotional.

Now, if you had told him that he could open his mail, create action steps, pay his bills, file everything away into the appropriate folders, and shut his drawer in 10 to 15 minutes, he would not have believed you even for a second.

Well, here's a little secret. That 20-year-old, it was me. In the last 14 years, I've consistently been the guy who people ask, “How the hell do you get it all done?” But you would've never expected that from me 10, 20 years ago.

The Power of Going at Your Own Pace

One of the things that changed my life was reading Steve Pavlina's article, Do It Now. When anyone asks me what the first step is in being more productive and accomplishing their goals in life is it's reading Do It Now by Steve Pavlina. That was in 2007, and I have been on a consistent personal development routine ever since.

And you might ask yourself, well, what's the big deal about getting things done? And why in the world would I want to be more productive?

Author Peter Drucker said:

Until we can manage time, we can manage nothing else.

So, managing your time is crucial to you creating the life you love through music, art, and creativity.

Important Questions to Ask Yourself

So, let me ask you a few questions:

Do you have a long list of things to do at the end of the day, and does that stress you out?

Does it seem like you never get around to the projects that matter, like making music?

Do you feel like there are people around you who always seem to get more done than you do? And does that make you feel worse about yourself?

Trust me when I say you're not alone and it's not your fault. But let me guess. You've tried a bunch of stuff from the past and it probably didn't work out for you, am I right?

You've got to surrender your experiences and leave them in the past where they belong. We can't move forward in our lives when we're held down by a crushing weight of past traumas, failures, challenges, obstacles, and difficulties. And guaranteed, what I'm here to share with you is different.

Using the “Night Before Vacation” Checklist Method to Boost Your Productivity

Now, let me share a quick tip with you because you could have a breakthrough right here, right now in your personal productivity if this isn't something you're already doing consistently.

One of the biggest breakthroughs in my productive life was learning how to create and use to-do lists.

Back in the day, I listened to The Science of Self-Confidence by motivational speaker, Brian Tracy, and he talked about how the night before people go on vacation, they make a big checklist of things they need to do before they leave, whether that's washing the dishes, doing the laundry, or packing their bags.

And he mentioned how even if it seems as though people didn't really have the time to do those things, somehow miraculously they would get them done if they had a list in front of them and they tackled the items one by one.

So, my to-do lists always help keep me on track. It's nothing crazy. I use a yellow legal pad to create my to-do lists. But I do use the yellow legal pad in a very specific way, something I reveal in the book we're talking about today. So, there are some nuances to making this to-do list thing work that you might not currently be aware of.

What has David Andrew Wiebe Accomplished?

But you might still be wondering, like, who am I? Who is this guy to talk about productivity? Unless he's accomplished a bunch of stuff, can you really call yourself a productivity expert, especially if your work doesn't bear it out?

Well, we're not here to talk about me today, but I am going to offer a little bit of an overview of some of the things that I've been able to accomplish:

I've published 44 songs as a solo artist. That doesn't include projects that I've guessed on as a guitarist, and as far as stuff that's not published goes, I have hundreds of songs in my archives.

I'm an award-winning composer.

I have self-published seven books, and three have become Amazon or Kobo best-sellers, or both.

I’ve published thousands of blog posts, hundreds of videos, and hundreds of podcast episodes.

I've interviewed hundreds of entrepreneurs, executives, professors, and musicians.

Sure, like anyone else, I've had the occasional flop. I am human and I still cringe at some of my older material. But by and large, I'm proud of what I've been able to accomplish in the short time I've been on this green Earth.

And I haven't even touched on the artwork I've produced or the speaking engagements that I've done, or the 10-plus years I've spent as a guitar teacher, or the 300 shows I've played across Western Canada.

Now I could go on, but you can be the judge of whether I am someone that you want to listen to. There are plenty of people who seem to feel I am a limitless fountain of creativity, but we're going to get to that just a little later.

What to Expect from the Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook

What can you expect from this book?

It's over 70,000 words and over 270 pages. Word count isn't everything. My goal really is to help you achieve breakthroughs quickly, and as fast as you possibly can, but it's still nice to know what to expect, isn't it?

There is some brand-new content in this book, but it also features an article compilation as well as excerpts from my many books.

And I'm not supposed to tell you this, but it does include excerpts from yet-unpublished books like Flashes of Elation, and The Renegade Musician, both of which are mostly done. Just looking for the right time to share them with you.

And because I believe in over-delivering, the Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook also comes with the entirety of my fourth book, Start Your Year the Right Way.

Testimonials

But if you're still asking yourself, “Okay, who is this guy to tell me what I should do?”

Here are a few testimonials, things people have had to say about this book (click here to see the testimonials):

Jonathan Ferguson

Patrick Zelinski

Taylor McPhail

Closing Thoughts

So, wherever you happen to be watching this right now, you should be able to find a link somewhere that tells you more about the book or takes you to the order page.

Thanks for watching. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe. Do all the things. I'll see you again soon.

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Are you a coach? Or maybe you’re an info-product creator. Even if you’re an artist, there is a pathway to growing your fan base and getting exposure to your music.

And in this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, David interviews Evan Price of Artist Collective, who reveals his four-step process for scaling a creative business. Juicy!

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Podcast Highlights:

00:17 – Evan Price of Artist Collective

00:56 – 4 elements to scale a creative business

02:04 – #1: Building an irresistible offer around your existing expertise

04:53 – Sharing the logic of the product vs. the emotion of the product

08:17 – #2: Creating content that attracts your ideal audience (using emotion)

12:35 – Is content enough?

19:13 – #3: Developing a selling mindset

22:03 – Changing your relationship with money and removing your limiting beliefs

28:53 – #4: Scaling what works with marketing

36:31 – Do fewer things better

40:38 – What was the last YouTube video Evan watched?

42:21 – How is Evan’s daily routine structured?

44:34 – What is the greatest challenge Evan has overcome?

46:10 – What’s the greatest victory Evan has experienced?

47:30 – What books does Evan recommend?

48:46 – Evan’s closing thoughts

Sponsors:

The Music Entrepreneur Companion Guide: Get the official definitive companion guide to The Music Entrepreneur Code covering, in clarity and detail, secrets to making it in the new music business.

Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: The first of its kind – David’s new premium book covering productivity for artists, featuring content from Music Entrepreneur HQ, his personal blog, his many books, and even Start Your Year the Right Way, which is included in its entirety. Be fully unleashed in accomplishing your dreams and desires!

Transcription:

Coming soon.

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There’s exclusive, premium audio content waiting for you inside Members Only Audios.

Does it seem like everyone else is getting the gigs? Are you insecure about that drummer who’s far better than you? Do you often compare yourself unfavorably to others on the road to building the life you love through music?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, David shares how you can be like the select few who always seem to get the call, get the gig, and get the guy or girl too. Discover how to build a magnetic reputation as a musician.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:23 – The Music Entrepreneur Companion Guide

00:43 – How David built his reputation in Calgary

01:57 – How to position yourself in the music business

02:36 – In the long run you can diversify, but in the short term, focus

03:10 – Closing thoughts

Sponsors:

The Music Entrepreneur Companion Guide: Get the official definitive companion guide to The Music Entrepreneur Code covering, in clarity and detail, secrets to making it in the new music business.

Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: The first of its kind – David’s new premium book covering productivity for artists, featuring content from Music Entrepreneur HQ, his personal blog, his many books, and even Start Your Year the Right Way, which is included in its entirety. Be fully unleashed in accomplishing your dreams and desires!

Transcription:

What's up, Elite Players? It's David Andrew Wiebe here, and today we get to talk about how to build a magnetic reputation as a musician. This is an exciting topic.

But first, don't forget, you can still get your free copy or so I'm told of my awesome book, The Music Entrepreneur Companion Guide at davidandrewwiebe.com/FreeBook.

Getting Established as a Session Guitarist in Calgary

I used to be based out of Calgary, Alberta. I no longer live there, but when I was living there, a lot of my activity as a musician, live performance, producing, making music, and jamming, all took place primarily around Calgary and Airdrie.

It got to the point that in Airdrie I couldn't walk the streets without someone yelling out, “Hey Dave!”

And the number one thing that I became known for was my lead guitar playing skills. Now, let's keep in mind, I can do a lot of other stuff. I can play rhythm guitar, I can play bass, I can play ukulele, I can play a little bit of mandolin. I can play a little bit of keyboards. I can produce music; I can compose music. I can mix and master and engineer and edit music.

But if I had spent a lot of time promoting all those other skills, the product would've become diluted, and soon people would've been confused about what it is that I offer as a musician. So, I decided the best thing that I could do, instead of telling people about all the other things that I could provide them in terms of graphics and websites and writing and blogging, that I would primarily focus on, “Hey, I'm a guitarist and I can play lead on your songs, whether it's live, or in the studio.” Which is what I ended up doing. So, before I knew it, I was an in-demand session guitarist in Calgary and the area.

Setting Up Your Magnetic Reputation

If you're great at writing songs and that's something that you want to become known for and you could see yourself doing long-term, then it would be best to position yourself primarily as a songwriter.

You're a creative person. You probably do a lot of other things well, but the main thing that you want people to know about you is that you write songs and that makes it easy for other people to refer you.

If you're a mastering engineer, same thing. I know mastering engineers that do very well, and that's the main thing. They promote themselves as that. They can do a lot of other things well, of course, but they primarily share the fact that they are mastering engineers so that they can get more mastering gigs.

Now, I get it. We're creative people and we like to do a lot of different things and we might have a lot of different skills but think long term. In the long run, you can diversify once you become known for one thing. And start sharing all the other things that you can offer, and you can do for people.

But until then, it's best to stay focused on becoming known in your network and beyond for just one thing. And that will help you get established faster in the specific area in which you want to excel and provide services. Dig a mile deep and an inch wide, not a mile wide and an inch deep.

Closing Segment

So, if you enjoyed this insight from The Music Entrepreneur Companion Guide, don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe, and as we like to say around here, do all the things.

I'll see you next time.

Leave a rating and review for the show on Apple Music. It’s how we get the podcast out there!

There’s exclusive, premium audio content waiting for you inside Members Only Audios.

How are you going to find the motivation you need to get up to do what you need to do to grow your music career every morning? What resources will you be taking advantage of to ensure that you are expanding, so your music career can expand with you?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, David shares the power of investing in yourself and your growth to have breakthroughs in your music career endeavors.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:23 – Another insight from The Music Entrepreneur Companion Guide

00:42 – Investing in yourself to grow your music career

01:22 – Will you let yourself be stopped by the same things repeatedly?

01:59 – How much did you invest in yourself last year?

02:45 – When will you begin investing in yourself?

03:32 – What will you be creating out of this?

Sponsors:

The Music Entrepreneur Companion Guide: Get the official definitive companion guide to The Music Entrepreneur Code covering, in clarity and detail, secrets to making it in the new music business.

Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: The first of its kind – David’s new premium book covering productivity, featuring content from Music Entrepreneur HQ, his personal blog, his many books, and even Start Your Year the Right Way, which is included in its entirety. Be fully unleashed in accomplishing your dreams and desires!

Transcription:

I have easily invested over a hundred thousand dollars into my personal growth.

What's up Elite Players? It's David Andrew Wiebe.

I wanted to share another insight from The Music Entrepreneur Companion Guide with you. If you don't already have it, what are you doing? I think you can still get it for free, but not for long because when it's gone, it's gone. You’ve got to act fast. Find a link in the description for the Music Entrepreneur Companion Guide.

Investing in Yourself to Grow Your Music Career

All right, so today we get to talk about something really cool, which is investing in yourself to grow your music career.

Do you know that right now, and I mean, right now I am going through a two-year intensive leadership program? Two flipping years!

12 to 15 hours of my life are sucked up by calls and meetings in clinics and training and development opportunities [every week]. Now, why the hell would anyone do that to themselves? Right?

Are the Same Things Stopping You Repeatedly?

Every year I invest in Kindles, courses, coaching, into mentorship. And honestly, I sometimes have a hard time understanding why people don't do that because they just want to let life happen. And let problems happen and let the same things stop them over and repeatedly in trying to grow the music career that they love.

I don't know. I think some people are just cool with sitting with their problems for months or years on end. If I'm sitting with the same problem for longer than three to six months, I'm ready for something else. I need a new course. I need a new program. I need a new mentor. I need something to guide me and lead me out of the desert and into the promised land.

How did you Invest in Yourself in the Last Year?

So go check your expenses. Look at what you spent on last year. How much money did you invest in yourself? Did you buy books and Kindles? Did you invest in programs? Did you get coaching and mentorship? And did you get the breakthroughs you were looking for?

I come out with new books every year, not necessarily because I must. More so because you probably need a new book. You've already read some of my material perhaps, and you only got so far, am I right? That's because you need a fresh perspective.

You need a new way of looking at things. I'm constantly evolving, so I want to share that with you. I want to bring that into your world. I want to bring this enthusiasm and excitement and breakthrough and change into your world so that you can accomplish the results that you're looking for in your music career.

The Time is Now

So, when will you start investing in yourself? Are you going to wait till tomorrow or are you going to start today? Tomorrow never comes really. Everyone says they're going to start Monday, right? I'm going to quit smoking on Monday. I'm going to start working out on Monday.

When will you start investing in yourself?Share on X

It doesn't work that way. You must start today and work through the pain.

I recently started working out again in February. I mean, before that, I was exercising and walking every day, but I wasn't working out, and I couldn't believe how painful that first workout was. It didn't really make me want to get up and do that again. But you know what? I kept at it, and I worked my way up from one day a week to two days a week, to three days a week, to four days a week.

I'm away from home right now, so I'm on break from working out, but I was up to four days a week consistently, and now if I'm not working out four days a week, I get pretty antsy.

So, what are you going to be creating out of this? That is the question. Thanks for watching. Make sure to like, comment, subscribe, do all the things, and I'll see you next time, Elite Players.

Leave a rating and review for the show on Apple Music. It’s how we get the podcast out there!

There’s exclusive, premium audio content waiting for you inside Members Only Audios.

There are some critical steps to take before you even begin. Because whatever foundation you build on is the foundation that will stay with you. And if it’s a shaky foundation, you may never be able to build the music career of your dreams and create the life you love through your music.

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, David shares about the crucial importance of building your music career on solid ground.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:16 – Building a solid foundation

00:53 – Your music career blueprint

01:30 – The secret to making your dreams a reality

02:47 – Do something and adjust course

03:47 – Start with the end in mind

04:23 – Closing thoughts

Sponsors:

The Music Entrepreneur Companion Guide: Get the official definitive companion guide to The Music Entrepreneur Code covering, in clarity and detail, secrets to making it in the new music business.

Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: The first of its kind – David’s new premium book covering productivity, featuring content from Music Entrepreneur HQ, his personal blog, his many books, and even Start Your Year the Right Way, which is included in its entirety. Be fully unleashed in accomplishing your dreams and desires!

Transcription:

Hey, it's David Andrew Wiebe, and today I wanted to talk about building a solid foundation. Whether it's a house, a commercial building, or an industrial building of some kind, if you don't build a solid foundation, you can experience a variety of problems with the building down the line. But when you start with a solid foundation, the rest of the building can be erected with relative ease.

And so, it's the same thing in our music careers. If we have a solid foundation on which to build, we're going to experience and enjoy more success. What's key is that we have a solid idea of what it is that we're building towards.

If we have a solid foundation on which to build, we're going to experience and enjoy more success in our music careers.Share on X

Your Music Career Blueprint

So, you need to create a music career blueprint. The blueprint doesn't necessarily have to be ultra-specific, but it should give you a pretty good idea of what it is you're aiming towards. Whether that's becoming a professional songwriter in country music, or becoming a touring musician, or a session player in rock bands. Specificity helps create clarity, and when you have clarity on what it is you're moving towards, you can line up your daily actions with where it is you're going.

One of my favorite quotes by William Hutchinson Murray goes like this:

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen events, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic. Begin it now."

Now, I could offer an entire breakdown on that quote because there's so much in there that can be missed if you don't go a little bit deeper into the meaning of the words in the exact order in which they were placed, but the key point is that we've got to commit. Commit to a specific course and a specific set of actions that are going to lead to where it is that we want to go in our music careers.

Commit to a specific course and a specific set of actions that are going to lead to where you want to go in your music career.Share on X

Getting on Track & Adjusting Course

Now it is better to begin and to do something than to not do anything at all. Marketing guru Dan S. Kennedy's, one of his "Wealth Magnet" principles is "Do Something." It's better to start doing something and then to adjust than to wait for the perfect strategy or the perfect plan, or the perfect idea. But the key point is, we've got to adjust course just like an airplane is supposedly off course 99% of the time.

I don't know whether that's true, but it has to constantly course correct to get to where it wants to go. And it's the same thing in our music careers. We're going to do things, at times, that aren't necessarily in complete alignment with our brand, with our personalities, with our character, with where it is we want to go.

And what there is to do is to keep adjusting and iterating based on the information that we gain along the way, the data, the understanding of ourselves and our band, our music, and our audience.

Start with The End in Mind

Another powerful exercise is to start with the end in mind. So much of the time, in the world, we try to do and then have. When in fact we could go right to the end. We could skip right to the end and have at least envisioned and imagined in our mind's eye, having what it is, what we want to have, and then do. And that's an unfolding process rather than a "strive towards what it is I want” process. So, the key point here is to start with a blueprint and revise it as necessary.

Start with a blueprint and revise it as necessary.Share on X

Closing Segment

So, if you enjoyed this insight, there are many more in my book, The Music Entrepreneur Companion Guide, and for a limited time, you can get a free copy for yourself at Music Entrepreneur HQ .com / Free Book.

This has been episode 295 of The New Music Industry Podcast. I'm David Andrew Wiebe, and I look forward to seeing you on the stages of the world.

Leave a rating and review for the show on Apple Music. It’s how we get the podcast out there!

There’s exclusive, premium audio content waiting for you inside Members Only Audios.

It seems insane that the words you use would make any difference in your music career, doesn’t it? And yet, words are how we communicate. Everything that’s available, is basically available in language. So, if we’re asking for something, how we ask makes a difference. If we’re communicating our value as performers, how we communicate our value makes a difference.

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, David shares how words impact perception and how perception shapes your music career.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:16 – You are what you say you are

00:39 – Limiting past-based language

01:46 – Completing past pains and hurts

02:45 – How do you describe yourself?

03:51 – Closing thoughts

Sponsors:

The Music Entrepreneur Companion Guide: Get the official definitive companion guide to The Music Entrepreneur Code covering, in clarity and detail, secrets to making it in the new music business.

Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: The first of its kind – David’s new premium book covering productivity, featuring content from Music Entrepreneur HQ, his personal blog, his many books, and even Start Your Year the Right Way, which is included in its entirety. Be fully unleashed in accomplishing your dreams and desires!

Transcription:

Hey, it's David Andrew Wiebe, and today I wanted to talk about something. I think this is a breakthrough that's available in language. The concept is you are what you say you are.

Now, this could easily be misconstrued as some kind of woo-woo nonsense, but it's not. It really is the power of words, and there is something to the power of words.

With remarkable frequency, we tend to talk about things through the lens of the past, so we start sentences with things like, "based on my experience," "what happened last time was," "it's never gone that way before," "I'm always this way," "they're always that way," "this is always how it turns out."

And so, we automatically limit what we think is going to happen based on some other experience we've already had. We impose the past onto the future.

We impose the past onto the future.Share on X

This could come up in a situation where, "well, we already played at that venue and last time we only 15 people came out." Maybe if you did the same things in the same way, you'd end up with the same results. But if you've only played there once and you don't have much experience with it yet, how do you know there's only going to be 15 people coming out next time? You don’t. You're trying to base it on something that already happened, but what happened is in the past, it has nothing to do with the present, and it certainly doesn't have anything to do with the future.

What happened is in the past, and it has nothing to do with the present.Share on X

How Past-Based Thinking Is Limiting Your Opportunities

The point here is that you could arbitrarily limit your own opportunities based on the way things went. Usually, that's an indicator of... not necessarily trauma, but a little bit of hurt, a little bit of pain about something that didn't go right.

Whenever we encounter things like that, there is an opportunity to create completion with them. And oftentimes we're not complete with anything, right? But if there was pain or hurt, we can acknowledge that pain or hurt. We can have conversations with the people who we feel may have offended us.

Of course, we still want to take ownership of it. We don't want to show up in front of them and be like, "Hey, you know, you really made me mad." No, that doesn't work. It's more like "When you said this, it made me feel this way," and that's taking ownership of your own feelings. But there is an opportunity to complete pains and hurts and move on and to create something new out of that.

So that's how we can easily limit ourselves and our opportunities by basing everything on things that have already happened.

You will limit your opportunities by basing everything on things that have already happened.Share on X

You’re NOT an Aspiring or Amateur Musician

But another thing that we commonly see, and I don't know where I stole this from, but I do remember seeing it out there. Many people call themselves amateurs or aspiring artists, aspiring photographers, or aspiring musicians. Stop calling yourself that. Begin calling yourself a professional today. You want to live into a possibility, not be talking about what you are today.

So today you could say, "I'm a professional musician and I get paid for my work." You are what you say you are. Perception is pretty much everything. That doesn’t mean that we should lie. That doesn’t mean that we should take advantage of people. But some creative liberties should be taken in sharing your stories because they're going to be far more interesting that way.

So let go of the idea that you're aspiring or you're an amateur today. Beginning today, you are a professional, and certainly do not put amateur or aspiring in your profile or your social media profile any longer. Create a future that you would want to live into, that would be inspiring to you.

Create a future that you would want to live into, that would be inspiring to you.Share on X

Closing Segment

If you enjoyed this insight, there are many more like it in my book, the Music Entrepreneur Companion Guide. For a limited time, you can get a free copy at davidandrewwiebe.com/FreeBook.

This has been episode 294 of The New Music Industry Podcast. I'm David Andrew Wiebe, and I look forward to seeing you on the stages of the world.

Leave a rating and review for the show on Apple Music. It’s how we get the podcast out there!

There’s exclusive, premium audio content waiting for you inside Members Only Audios.

A simple thing can make a big difference. Most artists aren’t thinking about saving five minutes here or 10 minutes there but think about it. Over a year, if you could cut down your daily social media time from 10 to five minutes per day, you’d save yourself 1,825 minutes or a little over 30 hours per year.

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, David shares the importance of building structures around your music career to ensure you’re empowered in getting more done, whether writing songs, booking gigs, interacting with your fans on social media, or otherwise.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:16 – Structures? What are structures?!

00:37 – Firsts in your life and your music career

00:52 – How structures work and why they matter

02:29 – Closing thoughts

Sponsors:

The Music Entrepreneur Companion Guide: Get the official definitive companion guide to The Music Entrepreneur Code covering, in clarity and detail, secrets to making it in the new music business.

Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook: The first of its kind – David’s new premium book covering productivity, featuring content from Music Entrepreneur HQ, his personal blog, his many books, and even Start Your Year the Right Way, which is included in its entirety. Be fully unleashed in accomplishing your dreams and desires!

Transcription:

You're listening to The New Music Industry with David Andrew Wiebe.

Hey, it's David Andrew Wiebe, and today I wanted to talk about structures.

Now as an artist, you're probably going "Structures? What's the point of that? Like, why would I need that in my music career? That doesn't sound like 'song.' That doesn't sound like 'guitar.' Those are none of the words I know. 'Bass,' 'lyrics,' never heard of 'structures.' Are you talking about building and building?"

Well, no, not necessarily. But let's start here. You know, you're going to have a lot of firsts in life, right? Just like you're going to have a lot of firsts in your music career. A first in life might be like first kiss or first time eating a mango, or first time skydiving. A first in your music career might be your first gig, or first interview. You know what I mean?

And so, structures might be one of those things that you've heard for the first time. There are other words we could use to describe a structure. It could be a [00:01:00] system, a framework, a checklist, or something like that.

What it is, is it's something that allows you to be more productive. It allows you to get things done smoother, faster, and with better precision.

I, for example, have templates for all my books so I can just drop my content in, do all the editing and put it out into the world. I'm not saying that all the writing's done. What I'm saying is, I've got the formatting done in terms of fonts and layouts and things like that.

So there are a lot of things you could create templates for, whether it's like a lyric sheet template or a project template in your DAW. The idea is to stop yourself from reinventing the wheel. You don't want to start from scratch. You want to build on things that you already have. That you're going to have to come back to all the time.

There are certain motions, there are certain things you're going to be doing in your music career all the time. You're going to be sending emails, you're going to be making calls, you're going to be setting up and tearing down your gear. You're going to have sound checks; you're going to have performances.

So, what structures could you build around these, including your promotional activity, of course, to streamline, to optimize, to make sure certain things get done so that you can have a much better performance or a much better marketing campaign every single time?

What are the things that you need to do every single time? You can always create structures around those things.

So, this insight comes from my book, The Music Entrepreneur Companion Guide. If you'd like to get yourself a free copy, you can go to davidandrewwiebe.com/FreeBook.

This has been episode 293 of The New Music Industry Podcast. I'm David Andrew Wiebe, and I look forward to seeing you on the stages of the world.