Introduction
Throughout this stack, I’m going to cover everything I’ve used within the last decade to build my artist career, record label, websites, alongside anything else I can think of that will help.
You’re probably wondering why you should listen to what I have to say, and that’s completely fair, so let’s go over some achievements:
- Music Producer with 40,000,000 Streams, 100,000+ downloads.
- Created a SoundCloud network (back when it was huge) with over 5,000,000+ followers, millions of streams, from 0 followers, with 0 knowledge. I was working a full-time minimum paid job for the first 2–3 years.
- Record labels, releasing 1000’s of tracks with highly established artists, 100,000,000+ streams.
- Hits! District (this site…) which started as a passion project. Slowly grew, and now receives thousands of visits every day from music enthusiasts and DJs across the world.
I’m definitely not trying to blow my own trumpet, because there’s many areas where I struggle or completely suck at.
- I had to quit DJing a few years ago due to mental burnout. I never felt comfortable and found it extremely difficult to portray someone I wasn’t. It took me a long time to come to terms with this.
- I’ve built numerous sites (what I thought to be amazing ideas) that failed within months.
- I really struggle with social media. I can grow it, but I don’t care for it. It’s always been my downfall.
So, at the wonderful age of 34, I now know exactly what I’m good at, and what I suck at — what my brain enjoys, and where it’ll start to fall apart eventually.
Before I start, I will say this…
I was OBSESSED with ‘hustle’ in my early 20s. I loved being called the hardest worker in the room. But my routine wasn’t aligned with peace or joy, and eventually it hit like a big, bad train going 300 mph. Do not recommend.
Go at your own pace, figure out how to systemise things, and make what you’re truly passionate about your priority.
Now that’s out of the way, I’m going to cover each area individually.
Everything I discuss, I genuinely have experience with, and have used, or use currently. I will never recommend something I have no knowledge of, or don’t use myself.
Where to Host Your Website
Even if you don’t think you need a site, you do. It’s how you run growth funnels, host downloadable content, sell your stuff, and let booking agents actually see your work properly. It’s the professional thing to do.
My Favourite Hosting Provider – Rocket.net
My favourite site host! I’ve tried them all… I even started out on WIX 10 years ago. Damn, you should’ve seen my sites back then…
Why I use Rocket.net… it’s ridiculously fast by taking advantage of Cloudflare Enterprise under the hood. This means super-fast load times and extra security features like Imunify360.
I’m a sucker for speedy sites. Probably take it completely overboard but it brings me joy 😂
They also have a live-chat, which is always active. Any issues, they help instantly. This has come in clutch for me more times than I’d like to admit.
I do realise Rocket might be a bit overkill for independent artists.
Advice though: don’t use Wix or Squarespace. They’re overpriced and offer very little compared to what’s possible now. If you like drag-and-drop, use Elementor with a proper WordPress host.
Hosting Recommendations by Stage
Small Artist – Carrd.co
Extremely simple to use and super cheap.
Medium Artist – Elementor Cloud
Includes builder, Cloudflare CDN, protection, and backups.
Growing Artist / Business – Rocket.net
It’s what I use relentlessly, and I love everything about it.
Large Scale / Technical – UpCloud + RunCloud
Create your own server and manage it through RunCloud for full control.
Essential WordPress Plugins (That I use on every site).
Site Speed and Optimization
FlyingPress + Perfmatters
Adds a huge boost to site speed — the best caching combo I’ve discovered.
Forms and Payments
Fluent Forms
Handles everything from simple contact forms to payment gateways. Super lightweight!
SureCart
So I can sell stuff, and create subscriptions. We all love subscriptions… Not 🥲
Backups and Security
VaultPress
Real-time, off-site backups without using your own server resources.
MalCare & BlogVault
Powerful security and hourly backups. I use both alongside VaultPress so every site has triple redundancy. Go me!
Patchstack
Extra security layer that’s affordable and reliable.
SEO and Affiliates
RankMath
RankMath is a tank! Very powerful when used to it’s full potential.
AffiliateWP
Allows me to run affiliate programs if I choose to. Word of warning… Don’t invest heavily into running affiliates if you don’t have the right audience. I’ve known many site owners spend weeks perfecting their affiliate program, and rarely get an affiliate that bring them consistent sales. It’s a strange one.
Themes I Use for Speed and Stability
GeneratePress. Yup. Just the one. I run it on every site. It’s my favourite because it’s built with speed in mind. It’s also never let me down. Some will break stuff during updates or become out-of-date. Big thumbs up.
Tools I Use for Email Marketing and Newsletters
Why I Use Beehiiv for Hits! District
- I can earn from ads within emails, and boosting other creators. HUGE!
- Lets me pay other creators to grow my list.
- Built-in referral hub so I can reward subscribers for sharing.
It’s the best platform right now for creators who can maintain consistent newsletters.
Simple Alternatives – Brevo and MailerLite
Brevo – Cheap, reliable, and established.
MailerLite – Clean UI, modern dashboard, easy automations.
Why I Avoid Overpriced Email Platforms
ActiveCampaign, Kit, and similar tools don’t offer much more for most use-cases. As long as my emails deliver and lists stay clean, that’s all that matters. I also don’t really enjoy burning cash for fun 🙂
Branding Tools and Design Workflow
Why I Don’t Overthink Branding at the Start
Quick one here, because I’m definitely not an expert on branding. My SoundCloud network had millions of followers before I gave channels proper profile pictures. This sites logo I just put text on a black canvas. I don’t even consider branding until I actually have an audience that engages with something I do. I’m pretty sure 90% of start-ups care more about ‘branding’ than actually creating a decent product/service.
Tools I Use – Pixelmator Pro and Canva
I design my logos and artwork in Pixelmator Pro on Mac.
Canva is great for social posts and cover art. Simple, fast, and accessible. I haven’t used it for a long time, but many creators love it.
Music Production Tools and Sample Packs
Now we’re onto the juicy stuff. I would try to improve upon your production as much as possible regardless of how much money you wish to throw at promotion, branding, or anything else. The better your music is, the cheaper it’ll be to push, and it’ll get organic reach because people will actually share it.
If your music isn’t at a certain level, you may as well throw your viral coupons into the fire, as we’re in an extremely competitive industry. I’ll go over the best sample pack companies and plugins I’ve used over the years. Important – Perfect one tool at a time. Being efficient at a few plugins will help you far more than owning hundreds, when you barely know what each one does…
My Favourite Sample Pack Companies
- HY2ROGEN – My fave 😌
- IQSounds
- LoopMasters
- Splice – Literally everyone and their grandma has Splice.
Essential Plugins and Effects
Music Distribution Explained
Why I Use Ditto Music
Simple, reliable, and transparent dashboard. Exactly what I need.
The Truth About “100% Royalties”
Something YOU NEED TO KNOW. It’s like a hidden thing, and it destroys my soul when 99% of producers are completely unaware…
When a distributor says “You keep 100% of your royalties” that’s not the whole story… You keep 100% of what THEY RECEIVE. The catch is that most distributors rely on third-party delivery networks, encoding partners, and middlemen who each take their own small cut before your distributor receives anything.
So yes, you’re getting all of your royalties, it’s not not necessarily all of what your music earned at source. That’s why two artists with the same stream count can end up with slightly different payouts depending on the platform they use. Never take “100% royalties” at face value. Ask what delivery networks your distributor uses. It’s worth it. If they ignore you, you have your answer regardless.
How to Choose a Transparent Distributor
Look for companies that publish their delivery partners, payment timelines, and audit options.
How to Grow as a Musician in 2025
You Don’t Have to Produce to Be Successful
- Create mixes. Simple. Fun. Pro tip – Ask for an email to access your tracklists. This is how I built my newsletter subscribers to begin with. Everyone loves a good tracklist!
- Post your mixes on YouTube. Use a proper camera. People want to SEE YOU, not cover art. If you want them to follow your journey, they need to connect with you.
- Don’t use random titles such as ‘DJ NAME – Mix’ … Nobody really searches that. Use the genre your mixing, or anything that fits that users typically search. If your quality is good, YouTube is exceptional at pushing you further.
- Can’t produce or mix? Make mashups. It’s the first step towards getting used to the process, and mashups generate a lot of downloads + streams.
- Use Hypeddit. This allows you to offer your downloads in return for emails, social follows etc.
- For websites, post consistently and provide content that actually helps people. It’ll take 3-6 months to rank for anything, so be patient. Ensure your using a decent SEO plugin as I mentioned above so your sitemaps and titles are done properly to maximise reach and listings.
- In the initial phase, your goal is not to monetise, but to grow your audience. Don’t try sell your sample pack to no audience. Use that sample pack to grow your audience.
- Don’t buy fake streams/followers. This will completely destroy your reputation (it’s always obvious) and it’ll also screw up any chance of being recommended by YouTube, SoundCloud, Spotify, Instagram’s algorithms.
- If your goal isn’t just streaming numbers, and you use ‘Meta Ads’ – Advertise to your country even if it’s a lot more expensive. When people are booking you for shows, they want to see engagement on your socials from people who are within your country. They don’t care about follower account. They mostly care about how engaged your audience is, and if it matches properly.
- Help others to help yourself. People will remember you if you’ve impacted their lives in any meaningful way, other than just spamming their inbox with “Hey, here’s my new track, bye.”
Other Tools I’d Like To Add…
NordLocker – Secure Backups
Encrypts and stores my label files, contracts, and music.
Fastmail – Private Inbox
Ad-free, fast, and privacy-focused. Lovely stuff!
DaVinci Resolve – Free Video Editing
Free, can edit videos quickly.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve made it this far, thank you. Everything here comes from experience: successes, failures, burnouts, recoveries, and countless experiments. If you think it’ll help anyone else, feel free to share 💜