Cool idea? Or no? Bandsites for musicians

While I still have time here I started on a project which is basically a template for a band website. But not just an HTML/design template. One with all the PHP/MySQL code for people buying your music (through PayPal), uploading songs, writing blogs, writing/sending newsletters, upcoming shows, flash music player, etc.

So basically, it's a complete website already made, and no knowledge of web design or coding is required.

You could just upload all files to your website and goto www.mywebsite.com/install.php and set it up.

The design is very basic and generic. I'm also going to be adding in options to customize the design of the site so you're not stuck with just this one design.

Anyway, what do you think of the idea? I just started on it but I should be done with it soon. You can see the very basic design so far, here:
http://www.dannydotguitar.com/myband

[Track Rat]

Doesn't myspace already cover that?

Originally Posted by Track Rat

Doesn't myspace already cover that?

MySpace gives you 4 songs.
MySpace has shitty audio quality.
MySpace doesn't let you customize everything (well I guess you can use one of those page customizer things).
MySpace is slow, buggy, shitty.

But yeah, I guess so...

Also, this is for people who have their own domain.com and hosting. Kind of like how this forum works. You download the files, upload to your website and install.

[Mindset]

I feel ya, but see, it's been done and tested for years upon years with not much success. I was thinking of doing something like that, but the main reason was to drive more traffic while having us plastered on the front page lol.

Soundclick is shrinking, and is full of nothing.. there's more sites out there like that like indiecharts, also smaller than shit... Most of these types of sites fail miserably after few months/years of operation.

Other than that, I believe, or do believe that you can pull it off pretty easily.

I'll say give it a try, you won't loose much of anything by doing so.

It should have a store/player built in, not like myspace where u have 2 seperate flashes.

It's a not-so-bad idea, that has many risks, and with out the right marketing, it'll probably die within' months. BUTTTTTTTTT

People say that every day of our lives, at least over here. That "you" can't do this or can't do that. Go for it. I'll like to see it up and running. I can probably get dozens if not hundreds to join.

[Mindset]

um... I may have misinterperated what was originally said.

Yeah I think people are missing what this is.

It's not going to be a website like MySpace. This is for people who want their own personal website but don't know any programming.

You simply buy your .com name and hosting, then upload these files. Then you have a store, playlists, blog, newsletter, etc.

This won't be a site that people sign up on and post their music.

[Mindset]

Originally Posted by danny.guitar

Yeah I think people are missing what this is.

It's not going to be a website like MySpace. This is for people who want their own personal website but don't know any programming.

You simply buy your .com name and hosting, then upload these files. Then you have a store, playlists, blog, newsletter, etc.

This won't be a site that people sign up on and post their music.

after re-reading the deal, that's what I figured. Basically another website template. That's cool. Many people who can't program a website will find it useful.

Originally Posted by Mindset

after re-reading the deal, that's what I figured. Basically another website template. That's cool. Many people who can't program a website will find it useful.

Well, most web templates are just the design...HTML/CSS/Images, etc. Doesn't come with all the code to make everything functional.

Anyway, thanks for the responses, sorry if I wasn't clear in my other posts.

[eeb]

this actually doesn't sound like a bad idea at all...


even i might be inclined to use it.. i'm a graphic artist and i know html and css but have 0 experience with php and what not which is essential for online stores and whatnot

[eeb]

i'll add a bit more..



I find it really disturbing that people think throwing together a myspace account is all you need to do..

I'm sorry but if you don't have your own domain and a decent website alot of people (the business types that actually count anyway) likely won't take you very seriously. if you're just writing tunes and aren't interested in being taken seriously then it's fine.. but if you're trying to build a name for yourself.. maybe even trying to take a shot at making it then you have to know that
a proper website is essential and this seems like a great idea if you ask me

Agreed, thanks for the comments eeb

[tanlith]

Originally Posted by danny.guitar

Agreed, thanks for the comments eeb

Food for thought... most of the sites that tried this and failed, failed because they were in it for themselves and NOT the musicians. Ultimately if the artists loyal to your site sense that you're willing to compromise them for a quick boost to you or your business they'll split. Also I would make membership come with a manditory monthly news letter (kind of like a tap on the shoulder for those who procastinate...)

Lemme think on this some more... I'll spitball a few more ideas your way if I think of any...

- Tanlith -

Hm...

This isn't a service. No one will sign up for anything. They download the files, put it on their own .com and they have a fully functional website with eCommerce features (buying MP3s).

Not sure how much simpler I can put it than that.

Thanks for the comments though. Sorry for the confusion.

[tanlith]

*re reads original post and **BAPS** himself in the head*

OK My bad... I totally misread that... yeah. It's a cool idea. But it will still need to be marketed (even if it is free) which will take time and effort... and if it catches on and gets downloaded a bazillion times you'll have to pay for bandwidth... however THAT would warrent turning the site into a portal worthy of advertising space.... hrmmm.... yeah... do it!

I give it three thumbs up!

Originally Posted by tanlith

*re reads original post and **BAPS** himself in the head*

OK My bad... I totally misread that... yeah. It's a cool idea. But it will still need to be marketed (even if it is free) which will take time and effort... and if it catches on and gets downloaded a bazillion times you'll have to pay for bandwidth... however THAT would warrent turning the site into a portal worthy of advertising space.... hrmmm.... yeah... do it!

I give it three thumbs up!

Thanks, tanlith. Yeah I probably won't market it much other than make a website for it and let Google do the rest. And maybe the word will spread among bands/musicians, or maybe not, who knows.

I'm hoping to have it done pretty soon.

[KenekeBarnes]

If this is going to be freeware or close to it, I'd also ask you to present it to the programming community as well as the band community. Open sourcing this could really be cool.

[cusebassman]

Yea, a lot of the confusion here, I think, is coming from the fact that a decent chunk of the population doesn't know how a website works. When you want to install a bbs on your domain, depending on the system you have, you go into the control panel of the domain and "install" a bulletin board system by having the code that operates it copied into your local area, and set to a particular address within your name.

This service would be another block of code you can install, so you would have www.yourband.com, and you could then also have www.yourband.com/store, and the /store page has songs that can de purchased through a shopping cart system, etc., or perhaps you also have a /music, where as the admin you can upload and set permissions on each song (be it free sample, free download, pay-only, built-in player only, etc).

I think it is a good idea for those who want to assemble their own site but aren't in the know on how to set up a shopping cart, or a page that allows for song downloads with certain restrictions set, etc.

The only drawback is that you will be have to be your own advertiser, all the way, since you aren't associated with one of the musical networking sites - it is all local to your own site. People who know it will have much easier access to your material, but those who don't will not find you. You can then still sign up on places like myspace, and just link to your fully functional site

I would totally use it, even if for easier setup of free downloads of mp3's, etc.

[cello_pudding]

man...why does being a musician make us so poor, but making it as a musician cost so much. the whole system is made to screw us from making money, and the little we do someone wants a cut of.

i feel like i'm driving a car and a dozen bums are wiping off my wind shield and holding out a hand.

granted these bums are wearing suits and hold their noses high. they're still equally annoying though.

Thanks cusebassman.

Originally Posted by cello_pudding

man...why does being a musician make us so poor, but making it as a musician cost so much. the whole system is made to screw us from making money, and the little we do someone wants a cut of.

i feel like i'm driving a car and a dozen bums are wiping off my wind shield and holding out a hand.

granted these bums are wearing suits and hold their noses high. they're still equally annoying though.

Not sure I understand what you're trying to say exactly?

[cello_pudding]

yeah...i noticed i hadn't made the connection...

we have to buy into the dozens of little things just to be considered a serious artist. in this case a domain name.

you've got record labels owning the songs, you gotta pay for copyrights, pay for your website...etc. and when you have your itunes or whatever thing set up...they want a huge chunk of YOUR art. it's like...you sell something at some building, and the building owner wants 40% of your makings, and then the other 60% pretty much goes completely into every thing else. In the case for major label, you get less than a dollar for that 13 dollar cd, and you still have to pay headroom before you see profit.

i mean...we've payed for cd's, recording equipment/studio time, mastering, posters, webdomains, t-shirts, stickers...and because everyone else is doing it, we have to keep up.

what the heck? at some point this crap didn't even exist. and now because it exists, its the staple-must-have.

when will it stop?

i know...you wouldn't have a cd if not for an engineer or whatever...but, you wouldn't have anyone to record if it weren't for the artists. We all depend on other people. So one artist bows to it because we gotta eat, and so the rest follow, it becomes norm and we all stop caring. the whole system is going more more more and the artist is the one that's taking the shaft.

[RAMI]

It already exists. www.bandzoogle.com

So easy, even a drummer can put togehter a cool, complete website.

The site on my sig is my bandzoogle site.

Originally Posted by cello_pudding

yeah...i noticed i hadn't made the connection...

we have to buy into the dozens of little things just to be considered a serious artist. in this case a domain name.

you've got record labels owning the songs, you gotta pay for copyrights, pay for your website...etc. and when you have your itunes or whatever thing set up...they want a huge chunk of YOUR art. it's like...you sell something at some building, and the building owner wants 40% of your makings, and then the other 60% pretty much goes completely into every thing else. In the case for major label, you get less than a dollar for that 13 dollar cd, and you still have to pay headroom before you see profit.

i mean...we've payed for cd's, recording equipment/studio time, mastering, posters, webdomains, t-shirts, stickers...and because everyone else is doing it, we have to keep up.

what the heck? at some point this crap didn't even exist. and now because it exists, its the staple-must-have.

when will it stop?

i know...you wouldn't have a cd if not for an engineer or whatever...but, you wouldn't have anyone to record if it weren't for the artists. We all depend on other people. So one artist bows to it because we gotta eat, and so the rest follow, it becomes norm and we all stop caring. the whole system is going more more more and the artist is the one that's taking the shaft.

Then stay away from the music business? I agree with everything you're saying. I'm not sure how I forgot to say, but this will be completely free for everyone. It's a lot of work but I remember before I learned coding and stuff about websites, how nice it'd be to have one available for free.

Also, the cost of a domain name and hosting is so cheap nowadays, if you are serious about making it in the music biz it is no-brainer of an investment.

RAMI - I remember you showing me that site before. I guess the advantage of mine is it will be free, and will have all of the features listed on there.

Originally Posted by KenekeBarnes

If this is going to be freeware or close to it, I'd also ask you to present it to the programming community as well as the band community. Open sourcing this could really be cool.

Definitely.

Edit: Wow just noticed you're also from Huntsville, AL?

Edit #2: At first this will support both PayPal and Google Checkout (not very common in a lot of eCommerce scripts). I will also be adding in more methods as updates.

[Somnium7]

Instead of reinventing the wheel maybe you'll find this interesting.
http://plone4artists.com/