Simply put, if you want to be taken seriously, you MUST have a website.  (And that doesn’t mean a domain name that links to your myspace or facebook page.)

Your band’s website will be the hub of everything that has to do with your band.

Think how easy it will be at one of your shows to tell everybody to visit yourbandswebsite.com, instead of all the other pages and social networks you are a part of.   This one spot can link to your Facebook, myspace and twitter – in fact it is crucial that your site does this.   In addition, the most detailed information about your band needs to be on your website: your band photos, bios, press releases, and your band’s photos and videos.

Club and venue owners will take you and your band much more seriously if you have a website.    A website demonstrates investment in your band – not just in a monetary sense, but in a marketing and promotion sense.  A venue is going to want to book an act that’s got something “going on.  Musicians today must consistently be building a fan base, and your website will be the portal of that fan base.

Adding a music player of your music, videos of your performances (good ones, not shaky cam and distorted, blown out audio) and good performance photos all build upon your credibility as a band.

There’s tons of musicians out there, and there’s often several opportunities for the music lover to listen to music on any given weekend.   The competition can be brutal.  What is your band going to do to beat out the competition?

If you’re serious about the success of your band, your band needs a website.

Q: What kind of website does your company build?

A: The sites we build are based on WordPress.  This is so band members can update content on a regular basis.  It’s as easy as changing text in Word.  (That way, if your drummer quits or something, you don’t have to find the web designer to change his name out, right?)   These types of sites feature a blog, static pages and the ability to display content from your social media accounts and your show calendar.   More information is on this page: http://shutterthat.com/faq/websites/

Q: Our band is just starting out and we don’t have much money.  Should we just use our myspace page until we can save up?

A: No.  Even if you are a group of “starving musicians,” find the $12 it takes to register a domain name for 1 year, do some internet research on the sites that will let you build something for free and do it!  (Basic hosting accounts, if applicable, are around $5 per month.)  At the bare minimum, you need to have your email address, contact information, promo photo, bio and any songs or videos somewhere where venues can look at your stuff and decide if they are going to book you.   Here’s an example of a site we put together for a band named “Thread.” Once this site was up, venues started taking them a lot more seriously.   The drawback to this site is that it’s not as easy to update.  But, the band’s portal is online and available.  Notice that it links to myspace and facebook.

UPDATED: Thread is in the process of upgrading their site to a wordpress site.  See another new client, Francis Dey, at francisdey.com for an example of a simple site we can build.

TV

Tim Vahsholtz of TVAH ENTERPRISES / shutterTHAT.com shoots music performance photos, and creates media and marketing for bands and musicians.   Band websites are part of that media and marketing.   More information can be found here: http://shutterthat.com/faq/websites/.