Five Mistakes Band & Label Sites Make
Posted by Fiona on Oct 6th at 05:08 PM. Filed under: Bands & musicians Tutorials Web Design
This article from 43 Folders is a few years old now, but it’s still very relevant today. Visit the link below to read the article:
Five Mistakes Band & Label Sites Make
And here are my 2cents…
Mp3 metadata
The point about mp3 metadata is really important. If you're offering free downloads from you website (which most artists do) then unless you've included the relevant ID3 tags, your details won't display in iTunes, Windows Media Player or any other kind of mp3 player. You should at the very least include you or your band's name, the track title and album title.
Most media players like iTunes and Windows Media Player will allow you to easily edit the tag information as you're importing your music. Another handy (and free) option is the AudioShell tag editor, which works with most Windows operating systems (sorry Mac people!). It's easy to use - once you've installed it, just right-click on any mp3 and select "properties". You'll see a new tab called "AudioShell Tag Editor" which will allow you to enter all the important information about your song. You can even include album artwork which will display in iTunes/Windows Media Player when your track is playing.
One way communication
This is becomming more and more important on the web today, especially for bands and musicians. Fans love to be able to communicate with their favourite artists, and this is one of the reasons that sites like MySpace and Facebook have become so popular.
It's also easy to provide this kind of two way communication on your own website. Writing a regular blog where your fans can post comments, adding a reviews page or guestbook and allowing visitors to comment on your photos are fantastic ways to build long term relationships with your fans. And because it's all done online, it's safe, too.
Too much Flash
Too much Flash is one of my biggest pet hates! Don't get me wrong - Flash is an amazing tool if it's used properly. It's ideal for advertising banners, audio/video playback and website headers. But if it's over used then it just gets in the way! Personally, I think Flash websites can be difficult to navigate and they often don’t behave the way a pure HTML/CSS site does.
But just because your website isn't all Flash, it doesn't mean it can't look wonderful! The Internet is evolving so quickly these days. There are so many new and exciting features available that we web designers weren't able to use a few years ago. The possibilities are endless.
Two more things...
Make sure your website is easy to navigate. There should be links to all the important sections on every page and your music must be easy to find. Ideally you should have an mp3 player or links to streaming mp3s right on your home page - make it one of the first things people see. If people have to go searching for your music, they probably won't bother.
Keep your site up to date. Post regular blog entries or new articles at least once a month, keep your photo gallery fresh and mix up your mp3 playlist on a regular basis. This helps make sure that people come back again and again.
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Posted by Niall Doherty on Oct 9th at 01:51 PM
Some great points, especially on Flash. I’ve never done any work with mp3’s online but if I do I’ll be sure to remember your metadata advice.