Website Hosting for Musicians

If you're a working musician, you're likely to find that you have a very specific set of web hosting needs that you don't share with many other people. For one thing, you're going to need the ability to offer music streaming - something that can take up a lot of bandwidth - and there are plenty of applications and applets that are essential for you that most people will never have to consider. Thankfully, some of the most progressive and creative web hosts have thought these things through and offer packages that are specially tailored to meet your needs.

Website Features Specific To Musicians

Pretty much all websites require the ability to publish text and images, but yours is going to have some extra requirements. The personal website of a band or musician is going to need things like:

  • Blogs that you and your bandmates can use to keep fans appraised of your personal lives
  • An online store tailored to offer both digital downloads (of tracks, mp3s and virtual tickets) and physical purchases (of paper gig tickets, hard copy music and merchandise)
  • The ability to offer online streaming of audio so that people can find out how you sound
  • Some kind of calendar software that lets you keep your fans updated on your appearances

...all in addition to the basic requirements of all site owners, like plenty of bandwidth and the ability to use SEO features and social media integration.

Considering Good Social Media Integration

On that note, it's worth bearing in mind that many web hosts now offer a variety of ways that you can use your website alongside your social media accounts. Ideally you want people to be able to share your music and your gig information effortlessly, as well as seeing which services like Twitter or Tumblr you're using that they can follow.

Making Sure It All Looks Good

Musicians tend not to sideline as programmers, but they're still creatives - and that means that their sites need to look as good as possible if they are to represent the ethos of your music and the image your fans have come to expect of you. If you can afford it, it's well worth shelling out a little money on professional website design. Most good web hosts will have services that help you to do this, or at least a desktop publishing or content management program that will make it simpler for you to go it alone.

Keep An Eye On The Price

Unless you happen to have been very lucky already, you're probably not rolling in the money just yet - and that means you'll need to concentrate on the more affordable web hosts you can find. Just remember that 'affordable' doesn't have to mean 'bad', and shop around till you find a deal that works both for your vision and for your budget. You need to be realistic - you won't get everything at basement prices - but it's totally achievable.