Do Bands and Solo Artists Still Need Websites?

Raksha‘s website, created with MooTunes.

These days there are so many different services that bands can use to promote themselves. Instagram, Facebook and Twitter allow you to provide updates directly to your fans. Websites like Spotify, Soundcloud, Bandcamp and Triple J Unearthed allow your music to be heard and discovered. What purpose does your own dedicated music website have in the modern world?

You’re In Control

One of the big advantages of having your own website is control. While those other sites allow you to create and share your content, you don’t generally have control of how your users are going to see it. Typically, it’s an ordered list, going backwards in time. Post a couple of “thank you Perth”s or “thank you Adelaide”s during your album tour on Instagram, and you’ve buried your album purchase link and the sick music video for your lead single.

With your own website, you have control over how your website looks and what your users can see. This lets you make sure the stuff you want to showcase is big and bold, and ensure that your fans can find the content that you want them to.

Create the In-Depth Content Your Fans Are Interested In

Social media sites are really good for getting quick, short information out at a particular point in time. They’re not really good at more in-depth articles.

But your fans are interested in that kind of thing. The inspiration behind a song, your writing process, your touring rig, some odd studio techniques. These are the kind of things that your fans are interested in. Embed images, videos, audio clips, whereever you want and enrich your content.

Why wait (and hope) for a decent music journalist to interview you to get that in-depth promotional content in front of your fans. Get it out there yourself. Plus, you can send these articles to journalists in lieu of a press release.

It Allows Your New Fans to Explore

When a fan discovers you, they want to go back into your archives and see everything you’ve done. A good website will put all your content in one place, allowing them to dig into your archives and get to know your band and its history.

Make More Money

Services like Spotify and Apple Music have their place. They put your music in front of your listeners. Unfortunately, they don’t make you much money. Spotify’s average payout is reported to be less than a US cent per stream of your music, and most digital music retailers take a 30% fee. By encouraging your fans to buy music on your webiste, you can get more money in your pocket.

It Looks Professional

All the big guys have websites. Taylor Swift has a website. Metallica has a website. Radiohead has a website. BTS has a website. Name a big artist – odds are they have a website. Who can I guaratee doesn’t have a website? That trash band who shows up to a gig drunk, having forgotten their drum sticks, and can’t even remember the lyrics to all the songs they wrote. A website shows you take your work seriously.

It’s Easy to Direct People There

If you use Bandcamp for selling your music, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for social media, Songkick for a gig guide, and YouTube for music videos, where should you direct your fans to?

With your own website, it becomes easy. You’ve got all that stuff in one place. Put the address on album art and posters – heck, it wouldn’t even look that bad on a t-shirt. And with a professional domain name like YOURBAND.COM, it will help your band to stand out.

So I Should Get A Website – But How?

There’s many different services you can make your website with. Services like Squarespace and Wix are highly customizable. Or you could rent some web hosting and install a CMS like WordPress for complete control.

These solutions typically cost hundreds of dollars a year, though, and are often difficult to set up. If you’re looking for something cheaper and easier, you might want to check out MooTunes. It’s a new service that lets you create a full website for free.

It is a new business, so the feature set is growing. We’re constantly listening to our users in order to improve, and we’re still working on loads of features like mailing lists and merchandise sales, as well as more options for customization. But you may find it’s the perfect solution for you. Find out more.