Band / Artist website questions

dudeonbass34 · #1 05-07-2006, 06:53 PM

Hi Everyone,

I'm new here, so please forgive me if this is not the place to post. I'm getting ready to have a website made for me, but I really don't know much about it, and I'm wondering what I should be looking for as far as options for a musicians website (gigging schedule etc ), Prices, etc...

It'd be interesting to have some input, especially those with experience...

Thanks,

DM

thekyle · #2 05-07-2006, 07:34 PM

www.hostbaby.com

Wouldn't recommend them if it wasn't good.

Murf · #3 05-07-2006, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dudeonbass34

Hi Everyone,

I'm new here, so please forgive me if this is not the place to post. I'm getting ready to have a website made for me, but I really don't know much about it, and I'm wondering what I should be looking for as far as options for a musicians website (gigging schedule etc ), Prices, etc...

It'd be interesting to have some input, especially those with experience...

Thanks,

DM

Why not try setting up a myspace account first? it's FREE and you can upload 4/5 songs onto your profile as well...also you can get "friends" which will give you a bigger audience for your material..plus you'd be surprised at who is actually listening to your stuff from record labels to A & R guys.

(just dont do the myspace "Emo" thing though

)

As regards setting up your own website with gig details etc etc....BE VERY CAREFUL..here in Ireland the dreaded TAXMAN monitors band websites and if your not careful youll get a knock at the door someday from the taxman looking for money owed in taxes based on gigs youve done which are listed on your website.

ireidt · #4 05-08-2006, 08:38 AM

I would start out with a myspace page, you can put pictures up, songs, have a fanbase all there.

I would also try out geocities as a server. Costs 5 dollers a month for a .com and has a lot of room.

If you need help making a website, or to make one for you, I'll do it for free ( want to build a portfolio ) so just e-mail me at ireidt@yahoo.com

Dkerwood · #5 05-08-2006, 10:03 AM

www.bandzoogle.com

Lots of great stuff, templates galore, as well as a ton of scripts that are already done for you. All for 15 dollars a month. Check out our site on there - www.leavethursday.com.

dudeonbass34 · #6 05-08-2006, 12:53 PM

Thanks guys,

Any other solutions like www.bandzoogle.com and www.hostbaby.com that you know off ? These seem to correspond to my needs better than myspace...

Thunder Lizard · #7 05-08-2006, 01:41 PM

http://www.1and1.com

Rock solid. Tools for page building with hosting packages.

Ed Fuqua · #8 05-08-2006, 02:21 PM

Are you looking for content("gigging schedule etc ")?
You want to have a home/welcome page that may or may not stream one of your tunes, that will have the name/logo and a banner ad (new CD, new performance shcedule or "come see us every Friday night at Slims' Y Ki Ki" or some such if you have a steady gig).

You want to have a BIO page that has a kind of bio/mission statement for the band and lists the individual members and a SHORT bio for each. If some folks have their own websites, you can provide a click through on their name. I wouldn't do that if they have other badns that they are in, though. You can add those on a LINKS/FRIENDS page

If you have a CD you are selling you have the choice of putting up a STUFF page (if you have STUFF - tshirts, other recordings, mugs whatever) or just having a CD page that you can stream music from ( or have downloadable ecxcerpts). If you don't have a CD for sale, you still want to have a page that people can hear you playing (search info about "mechanical rights" if you aren't doing originals).

DON'T put any info about what you charge up on your site, you want to negotiate that with each entity that books you and you want to have flexibility. AND you want to at least engage in an exchange. If you charge $X and you post that on your website, somebody will make the decision that they won't spend that much money. If you DON'T post it on your website, they will contact you (because of what they heard on the website) and you will have the chance to convince them why it is in their best interests to spend $X. You DO want to put up an e-mail contact form that they can fill out so that YOU can get in touch with them and make a determination as to what fee would be acceptable for you both.

You may want to put up a band blog page, if somebody in the band like sto write and is willing to maintain and update it. If not, it's just going to be a waste. Likewise a "fan forum", if you have a lot of folks who want to talk about you, great. If not, it's just going to look stupid. The same thing with a GIG CALENDAR, that only makes sense if you are working a LOT of different places. If you are working the same joint every Wednesday and Friday, you can just say that (See us every Wednseday and Friday at Slim's Y Ki Ki!) and even provide a click through on the joint's name (if they have their own website).

You do want to put up a links page- band members (especially if they have other projects), friends, bands of friends, clubs you work at, forums that you participate in etc. You want to see if you can talk anybody YOU are linking to into giving you a reciprocal link on their site.
Also
GALLERY PAGE - if you play a lot of different interesting places or stand next to a lot of different interesting people or other kinds of different and interesting photos of your band. Nobody wants to look through 20 pages of the same band on the same stage of the same joint. If you don't have Different and Interesting fotos, use the fotos of you on the stand at Slim's Y Ki Ki as backgrounds for the various pages.

EQUIPMENT PAGE - if you're touring a lot you'll be able to use this as a kind of logistics sheet for the places that book you (we have this much stuff, how big's your stage?). Otherwise, nobody cares.

REVIEWS - if you have a lot of press, if the press changes with some frequency. If all you have is a 3 year old review in the Neighborhood Shopper, use something nice from the review as a banner on the homepage and wait till you start getting more press.

TUNE LIST - if you are trying to get work as a wedding band, cover band etc. Otherwise (say it with me), nobody cares.

MakiSupaStar · #9 05-09-2006, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Murf

Why not try setting up a myspace account first? it's FREE and you can upload 4/5 songs onto your profile as well...also you can get "friends" which will give you a bigger audience for your material..plus you'd be surprised at who is actually listening to your stuff from record labels to A & R guys.

(just dont do the myspace "Emo" thing though

)

As regards setting up your own website with gig details etc etc....BE VERY CAREFUL..here in Ireland the dreaded TAXMAN monitors band websites and if your not careful youll get a knock at the door someday from the taxman looking for money owed in taxes based on gigs youve done which are listed on your website.

+1 on that. I've built tons of websites professionally. It was my previous job. I built ours too, but a website fails in comparison to MySpace. Way more hits. I watch our traffic. Plus when there's nice tie-ins when you want to send out invites for gigs. For mailing lists. I use evite and myspace. Myspace hits 2500 people. My evite list hits 500. So right there it tells you the math. Also there are other music community sites that you should sign up for. You can check out our site. We're recording this month. So there's no gigs up for the "shows" section. But it can give you an idea. We're just about due for a redesign too. I just built this version really quickly to get something up. Check it out if you want for some ideas.

http://www.fuzzymoto.com
http://www.myspace.com/fuzzymoto

QORC · #10 05-10-2006, 07:37 AM

agree on the myspace thing. There are TONS of free resources which will give you the codes/generators to set up a fancy page easily. Tons of exposure that way. It's worked for us - we get more than 2x the hits on our myspace site as our website - and had our music played more than 2000 times in less than 3 months. Also, it's helped us build a local fan base by aggressively adding local "Friends" (mostly young women...but where THEY go, men follow!)

QORC · #11 05-10-2006, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

+1 on that. I've built tons of websites professionally. It was my previous job. I built ours too, but a website fails in comparison to MySpace. Way more hits. I watch our traffic. Plus when there's nice tie-ins when you want to send out invites for gigs. For mailing lists. I use evite and myspace. Myspace hits 2500 people. My evite list hits 500. So right there it tells you the math. Also there are other music community sites that you should sign up for. You can check out our site. We're recording this month. So there's no gigs up for the "shows" section. But it can give you an idea. We're just about due for a redesign too. I just built this version really quickly to get something up. Check it out if you want for some ideas.

http://www.fuzzymoto.com
http://www.myspace.com/fuzzymoto

Dude: Put in an "add" request on your site!