Do you have a website for your music? No? You’re not alone. According to recent surveys, fewer than 50% of musicians have a website dedicated to their music. That means there’s a lot of opportunity out there for artists who are looking to create a digital presence for their music brand. In this guide, we’ll show you how to create a website that brings attention to your music and engages fans. We’ll also give you some tips on using social media to build your audience and connect with new fans. So what are you waiting for? Start creating your musician website today!

But where do you start? WordPress is a great platform for creating a website, and with this guide, you’ll be able to create a digital presence for your music brand in no time!

Overview

First things first, you need to choose a WordPress theme that reflects your style as an artist. There are tons of great themes out there, so take your time and find one that really speaks to you. Typically, I recommend artists start with the Avada theme. This is the best selling theme of all time for WordPress for a good reason. It’s extremely flexible, highly supported, and has tons of users. This means it’s a safe template for any WordPress novice.

Once you’ve found the perfect theme, it’s time to start filling out your website with content. There is a flow for which pages you need first. We’ll break them down into phases

  • Phase 1: Landing page with email collection form.
  • Phase 2: Add an EPK (Electronic Press Kit)
  • Phase 3: Create audience frontend with as many pages as you want. Typically you have a home page, about, media, merchandise, tour, and contact page.

One of the reasons why a powerful CMS is worth the investment is because it will more easily shift through these phases than a less dynamic system. WordPress is that CMS.

Now let’s get into the nitty gritty of each phase.

Phase 1: Landing Page

The goal of your first phase is to get people to join your email list. Why? Because an email list is the most powerful marketing tool an artist has. It’s a direct line of communication from you to your fans, and it’s a way to build a relationship with them. That being said, you need to make sure that you’re offering something of value in exchange for their email address. This could be a free download, exclusive content, or access to pre-sales. Whatever it is, make sure it’s something your fans will want!

To set up an email capture form on WordPress, there are a ton of plugins available. In Avada, the two that I recommend are Contact 7 Forms and Avada Forms. They both do the same essential task, they’re designed to have different looks: Avada Forms is easier to customize with the theme, Contact 7 Forms are easier to customize with CSS.

If you want to go even cheaper, you can use a Google Form or free version of Typeform.

Once Phase 1 is up and running, the next goal is to setup phase 2.

Phase 2: Electronic Press Kit

Phase 2: The goal of phase 2 is to begin to market to members of the music industry with your EPK. The Electronic Press Kit (EPK for short) is a specialized web page made to make your content easily reviewable by the press. This page should be hidden or accessible only via a password. This page should be a gold mine for anyone in the press or who’d be interested in signing you. There should be music videos, live performance videos, your most current release, previous notable works, a short biography, a long biography, high quality photos, and ideally, a discount code for your merchandise store (it’s ok to lose money by giving a music journalist a T-Shirt).

Once phase 2 is complete, you’re now able to market and build the site at whatever speed you so choose. Many musicians don’t actually leave this phase because Phase 3 adds complexity and cost to your artist business. Creating a digital multi-audience multimedia experience isn’t free but can totally be doable.

Phase 3: The “Real” Website

Phase 3: This is the phase when the “real website” is built. The primary reason why this is Phase 3 and not phase 1 is usually the volume of content. A real website requires multiple pages of quality content and high resolution images and videos. These things take time. Once you have these pieces, it is possible to begin the conversation about a full website.

These websites are highly customized around the goals of the artist but the objective is to satisfy the needs of all the relevant audiences: fans, music industry professionals, and journalists. Think through how to delight each of these audiences.

No matter which stage of your journey, the Shimshock Agency is here to assist. We can evaluate your site, conduct an audit on your existing site, and then we’ll create a plan for what should happen next.

Thanks for reading!