Band website, how to do it on the cheap?

[flybyfender]

Hey guys,

I would like to know if any of you had any past experience about creating & having a band website?

I am not a programmer and I do not want to learn how to code HTML just to create that one website.

Here are the things that we want:
- Our own .com domain
- Servers included, with unlimited transfer
- Unlimited content/songs
- Music player on the website
- Fans can contact us directly on the website

It would be nice if it had Facebook & Twitter integration too.

How much should I be looking to spend for a custom website from a professional webmaster (including the requested features above)? Many people told us between 1,500$ and 3,000$ is the average pricing nowadays, is that true!!!? Do you guys have any suggestions? Is Myspace still good?

Thanks,
F.B.F

[Lucas Ives]

Quickest and cheapest way is to use blogging software like Wordpress. Peter Erskine just switched his site over to it, check out [url]petererskine.com[/url] to get an idea of what's possible. Also check out the link to my metronome app at the bottom of this message, it's another blog-based site.

As for unlimited transfer, that will depend on the host you go with. I use Dreamhost and have been happy with them.

MySpace is junk.

[bstocky]

Myspace and Facebook are free/junk. I can't take anyone seriously if that's all they have BUT ya gotta start somewhere. It's ok to look amateur if that's what you are.

[matthughen]

1500-3000 is fair for professional web design services. Like Lucas said, Wordpress is great for a DIY option. All the things you asked for out of the website are available with Wordpress. I have a soundcloud embed for media player and it works and looks great. FB and twitter connections too.
You can peak at the site here:
http://brickandmortarstudios.com/

As far as your hosting concerns, cant give you much guidance there except to say I am not sure that you need to pay for unlimited anything. If you do pay for unlimited you may be paying for a service that you dont need right away.

Myspace is dead. Facebook is good enough . . . I/we use FB to drive preople to the website whenever possible.

[Morgenthaler]

As far as a music player goes, you can always use a stand alone music service like SoundCloud and embed the music that way.
Like I did here: http://www.jeppemorgenthaler.com/hor-lige-den-stemme (the Isaac Freeman file)

I built my Worldwide Gentlemen blog on virb (http://virb.com/), which costs $10 a month and has a lot of great templates
so that no or very little coding is needed: http://worldwidegentlemen.com/

They have tons of features including unlimited photos/video/audio within that $10 monthly fee.

[Dave Capuzelo]

I agree with those who said "Wordpress"...

[deseipel]

pay for your own domain
get a bandcamp account (fwd the url to bandcamp if necessary)
- free player
- sell your music
get a facebook page, integrate with bandcamp

done.

[Joe Nocella]

Quickest and cheapest way is to use blogging software like Wordpress. Peter Erskine just switched his site over to it, check out [url]petererskine.com[/url] to get an idea of what's possible. Also check out the link to my metronome app at the bottom of this message, it's another blog-based site.

As for unlimited transfer, that will depend on the host you go with. I use Dreamhost and have been happy with them.

MySpace is junk.

I've heard good things about Dreamhost too.

[flybyfender]

Thanks for the replies guys! Awesome info right here.

I made some research and ended up on Bandmo (http://bandmo.com) a website generator designed especially for music artists & bands. It’s pretty cheap considering that it includes hosting + domain + everything else. I think it might just be more simple to deal with them instead of ordering every element I need from different companies.

The reviews I found are looking pretty good, I am going to try it now and let you know what happens...

Thanks!

PS. If you guys have more suggestions, please reply to this thread!!!!

[chris perra]

http://www.wix.com/stereo1/scully-and-the-crossbones

I used Wix.com.. easy to use.. and if you want to have your own web name. You can link it to the site for 5 bucks a month or so..

I have another site host and built another site using Web Studio 5.0.. Because paying twice was dumb..

www.scullyandthecrossbones.com

Both work well.. If I didn't already have a host for my other sites.. I would have just used the Wix one.. and assigned a domain name to it..