Bandzoogle (the website design ads on the sidebars)

[Dave Muscato]

Bandzoogle is not paying me to say this, just FYI:

If anyone is wondering, Bandzoogle is, hands-down, the best website hosting & design template company I've come across. I've been using them for two years, and have previously used Rocknrolldesign, several freelance/independent developers, Godaddy, Google's site builder, Hostbaby, and a few others. Bandzoogle just completely blows away the rest, in my opinion. Although my band broke up in September after about 5 years together, I have kept our website up so far since then, just so I can show it to people, and I recommend them to all the bands I work with, too.

If you are looking to redesign or move your website, or to build your band's first decent site (you're not still using MySpace as your site, are you?) I couldn't recommend them more highly. They are incredibly easy to use, have great support, the content management system is superb, include free mailing-software (with multiple mailing lists, double confirmation, captchas, automated unsubscribe, etc), include unlimited bandwidth, great blogging software, sharing tools, mp3 sales, etc, all for $20/month. I am just so happy with them that when I saw they have started advertising here on Talkbass, I knew I had to give them the "Mama Dave Seal of Approval." They also have a sister company, Breederoo.com, which offers web design & hosting for animal breeders, rescues, and animal shelters, through which I have a website, too. They are just fantastic.

Here are the two sites I've built with them. Both took under an hour to design from start to finish and could be maintained by even a drummer :

http://www.treasurejunkieband.com (my old band)
http://www.CMHSmakeover.com (Breederoo site)

Thumbs-up to Bandzoogle, guys. Check 'em out.

Disclaimer:
Mama Dave does not believe in paid gear endorsements or reviews and is not affiliated formally or informally with any gear manufacturer. He accepts no compensation, discounts, remuneration, free products or services, or special treatment from gear manufacturers, distributors, dealers, or service providers on principle, and pays full retail "street" price for all products or services he reviews. Prices noted in reviews reflect the actual cost to Mama Dave Muscato, minus shipping, taxes, insurance, et cetera, except if and as noted.

[Phalex]

I gotta concur Dave!

www.intheredonline.com

[Mudfuzz]

As do I, my main band has used Bandzoogle for years, great guys them.

Oh yeah here

chilledorange.com

[Dave Muscato]

Originally Posted by Phalex

I gotta concur Dave!

www.intheredonline.com

"Quit staring already... It's just the lamp in my living room!"

Is that you guys?! I've seen that before and it made me crack up!

[tycobb73]

While it is a great site I liked buying Microsoft Expressions and hosting my own site. Student versions off ebay do the trick. You have a lot more freedom but a lot more work. I can see why a lot of people like bandzoogle.

[Dave Muscato]

Originally Posted by tycobb73

While it is a great site I liked buying Microsoft Expressions and hosting my own site.

If you have the time and patience, yeah, it's more flexible, but for most indie bands, I think Bandzoogle is a better solution. The best part is that it's hard to make your site look god-awful. There are a LOT of things you can do to make a website look bad, if you have too many options and don't know what you're knowing. There's more to web design than web programming!

Originally Posted by tycobb73

Student versions off ebay do the trick.

Um, isn't that illegal? Those licenses are available to students only, to encourage them to get comfortable with the software and (the developers hope) continue using it for commercial applications (and paying for the commercial-use versions) after they graduate.

When people abuse software licenses like this, the software companies are forced to raise their prices for honest commercial-use customers in order to break even.

If you're going to use software for commercial use, buy the commercial versions from an authorized retailer. It's the only ethical (and legal) way to get software.

/rant

[Dkerwood]

Another big thumbs up for bandzoogle here. We've had our site through them since 2006. Professional looks all around. Heck, a lot of venues we play steal the graphic off the top of our site for promotional posters! Good stuff.

www.leavethursday.com if you're curious...

[Phalex]

Originally Posted by Dave Muscato

"Quit staring already... It's just the lamp in my living room!"

Is that you guys?! I've seen that before and it made me crack up!

Not sure where the photo came from, but it is pretty good! The drummer is the web master, and seeing as how we're the consummate cover band, I think all of the content of our set lists as well as our website have been lifted from some where else.

[cvinson]

hey folks, this is Chris the founder of Bandzoogle. I'm a little late to the conversation, but I appreciate all the positive feedback! And yes, in case you're wondering I am a bass player...

[Sav'nBass]

I just signed up for Bandzoogle.. and I have to say the site is just great. I only have experience with site builders like Coffee Cup , Yahho's site builder and CP.. and Banzoogle just blows them all away. I basically put this site up in @ 3 hours total..

AbbaPraise.org

and that was cold.. that included looking through the templates and editing a few of the files used, deciding which ones to use etc.. I just threw it together. Once I sit down and actually get a plan going...

Great site BZ is.. Sure you can get a host that offers 300G of storage and googobs of BW for $6 a month if you sign up for 2 years.. but if you don't know what you are doing it is a pain in the neck.. with BZ all you really have to do is just try it.. get the trial and try it.. and if you don't like it no harm no foul.. but I guarantee that if you are looking for a place to host your band and you cruise the site to see what they have to offer.. there is a good chance that you will be using them.

[57pbass]

I have been a Bandzoogle member for three years...it's a great resource. One of the bands I work with also uses Bandzoogle.
Very easy to use, many great templates / features to select from.
Excellent customer service and very affordable.
Highly recommended....

[MarkTrace]

Originally Posted by tycobb73

While it is a great site I liked buying Microsoft Expressions and hosting my own site. Student versions off ebay do the trick. You have a lot more freedom but a lot more work. I can see why a lot of people like bandzoogle.

If you're not a professional web designer I would stay away from Expressions and the others. These packages are very powerful and very convoluted. You will go absolutely INSANE trying to figure out even some of the simplest things. It looks easy at first but wait until you spend 3, 4, 5, 6, hours getting something half way decent, then one wrong click and the whole thing is messed up.

Bandzoogle is MUCH easier and they have the tools and widgets to create a presence without loosing your mind. It's easy and any band member can modify, change the calendar, etc, without having a degree in web design. Unless you're a professional band Bandzoogle is the "cat's meow".

[bassbully]

One of my bands plans for the coming year is to finally getting our own site.We had someone working on one where we payed them and got ripped off..never got a site. This looks great and we will go here for sure.

[Baron Von Vik]

Might be just what we're looking for! We have a facebook page, but most workplaces have blocked "social networking" sites (and let's face it, most people do their web-browsing at work). We were just discussing getting a site built, and getting a little frustrated. Will definitely powwow about this tomorrow.

[timber22]

I have to agree. I didn't know a damn thing about building a website. Went through Bandzoogle was was able to build a pretty decent site pretty quickly.

[videomagician]

Is everyone still diggin' Bandzoogle or is there somewhere else where everyone is migrating?

David

[iridiumrocks]

Originally Posted by videomagician

Is everyone still diggin' Bandzoogle or is there somewhere else where everyone is migrating?

David

We have been using Bandzoogle for 7 years now and still love it. Great interface, solid support, and very affordable. If you prepay for a year, it's only $10 a month.

[videomagician]

Thanks!

Spent the last couple hours putting together a trial site for my band. I like the ease of use so far.

David

[bassbully]

Originally Posted by cvinson

hey folks, this is Chris the founder of Bandzoogle. I'm a little late to the conversation, but I appreciate all the positive feedback! And yes, in case you're wondering I am a bass player...

Welcome Chris!

My band found out about bandzoogle here on TB and we made the move form our horrible myspace we had. So far we are still building and updating our site but its going well.

check it out

Lo-Watt Radio - Home

[davidd3970]

I was wandering if anyone from the UK was using Bandzoogle and what is your experience of using it. It looks great. I've tried the trial version and I love the useability and how you can customise your page. But how good is the support if there is a problem