Do you need an artist website? Your music is out for sale, and people are already streaming it, yet you feel something is missing? Probably an “artist” website. Alright, so I may have guessed wrong, but we should address this topic anyway. Artist websites are a great way to promote your music; where people can sign up for your newsletter, and you can announce your latest releases. You can list your tour dates, sell your albums, and premiere your latest music video. You can link to your YouTube channel and other social media sites where people can find your music. Perhaps link to your Bandcamp or Patreon page. Your website links to everything you do as an artist. Now that you may want one, how do you get one?
Getting a website is relatively easy; I have six Bach To Basics, Listening Edge Records, Illustrious Sound, Trevor Baron Music, Up-Tempo Publishing and TrevorBaron.com. There are only a few things you need, a domain name and web host. The first question is, how much do you know about website design? As far as I can tell, there are three options: one where you design your website, one where the hosting company provides software to help create your website, and the third where your website is built on a platform specially designed for hosting musicians.
If you want to do most of the work and know quite a bit about website design and programming, the first option is for you. You will need a domain name and find a web hosting company. When you receive the instructions from the hosting company, you’ll want to install a platform like WordPress. However, if we discuss going this route, you will need more information than I can provide. You will have to research your web host and what services it offers and get acquainted with various platforms you can use to build your website. Many web host companies like webnames.ca host WordPress packages and website-building software that can help you create your website.
The second option would be a company focused on website-building software. While I’ve never used them, we are discussing companies like Wix.com. Companies like these are designed to help you develop your custom website quickly by allowing you to drag and drop website elements into place.
The third option is much like the second option; however, the companies we are discussing here specialize in hosting musicians’ and artists’ websites. These companies have hosting tools designed with musicians and artists in mind. While I’ve never used them, companies like Bandzoogle seem excellent for musicians to build quick websites.
As with most of my posts, this was not meant to be a how-to tutorial but to provide something to consider. If you want to build your artist website, you must do much more research. The purpose of this post was to inform you of a few options. I do not endorse any of these companies since I haven’t used them, except for Webnames, which I’ve probably used for 20 years (I like them). If this interests you, have fun building your website. Thanks for reading; I’m just a music teacher having fun; catch ya on the next one.
