Best Website Builder for Musicians in 2020

Last Updated on December 29, 2020 by IDS Team

Music is one of those careers that now requires an online presence for its artists to be successful.

Not only have a ton of artists been discovered on the internet, but being present and active there is crucial to establishing a marketing network, a social media presence, and a loyal following.

Building a website could be useful for any career that involves these things, but there are specific options for musicians that should be considered by anyone that wants a page tailor-made to their career’s needs.

Read on to discover the 5 best website builders for musicians in 2020, including a series of reviews and a buying guide to help you compare the main features you should be shopping for when comparing major website builders.

Top 5 Website Builders for Musicians

Wix

A few of the best website builders out there are specific for musicians, but many, including our pick for the best of the best, are programs with so many options that musicians can use them just as well as anyone.

Wix is one of those.

Known by many as the best all-around website builder on the internet, Wix is easy to use, has a free version, and should let you do anything you can imagine to get your website running with the templates and applications you want.

The ease of use comes from its drag-and-drop design, which is intuitive for anyone, even those who have never built a website before.

Wix has a tone of style designs too, including the ability to add galleries, assemble a mailing list, and choose from a ton of musician-specific templates to make your website unique.

Wix has cheap plans, starting with a free version that escalates to $20 per month if you plan on selling albums or songs from your site.

You can manage gigs, track sales, create a network of contacts, and more with Wix’s business features, which include many musician-specific options for the template that you choose.

For the wealth of features and ease of use, Wix tops our list of website builders for anyone, musicians included.

Pros

  • Easy to use with an intuitive design
  • Tons of template and style options
  • Free account options as well as paid business profiles
  • Musician-specific features for sales, mailing lists, and styles

Cons

  • The inability to switch templates once the site has become active means that musicians need to spend more time building the site before it goes live

Squarespace

Squarespace is another of the best website builders out there and as far as the visual design of their templates, it might be the best.

It doesn’t top this list despite its high-quality style because of fewer options for musician-specific needs and the premium price.

Those who are creative, though, can make better use of Squarespace’s design options than other website builders out there.

This includes tons of well-known artists and musicians – they love the depth of customization options and the beautiful templates that make Squarespace websites stand out.

From minimalist record sales companies to complex storefronts, Squarespace templates are ideal for budding and establishing careers in music.

Squarespace has drop-down menus and selectable options, rather than a drag-and-drop interface, making it a little more difficult to use than some other sites.

Thankfully, Squarespace has 24/7 support and offers a 2-week free trial so people can try it out before committing.

Having said that, Squarespace plans are not as cheap as some others. Their cheapest is $12 per month and that goes up to $26 or even $40 per month for a plan that includes eCommerce options.

Pros

  • Squarespace’s template designs are second to none
  • 24/7 customer service
  • Options for a 14-day free trial

Cons

  • Above-average prices
  • Less intuitive design than Wix

Bandzoogle

Bandzoogle, if you can get past the cheesy title, is a great website builder specific for those that want to showcase their band, sell records, and network with the online music community.

You should know what you’re getting into with Bandzoogle – a smaller, less well-established site than some of the more refined alternatives, but one with music-specific options and a few features that should make any budding band excited.

The first is that eCommerce accounts on Bandzoogle are all free of commission, which means you can sell your band’s albums and merch without worrying about paying out to the service.

Their music-specific analytics are useful for bands that want to track their sales and fanbase activity.

In addition, Bandzoogle features over 100 music-specific templates optimized for both desktop and mobile devices.

Since the site is fully integrated with social media platforms like SoundCloud and YouTube, you can allow fans to stream songs from your site and access your merch from the same place.

At $8.29 per month, Bandzoogle is one of the cheaper plans out there, especially for eCommerce-enabled pages.

They don’t have a free option, but they offer 30-day free trials so you can try out both cheap and expensive plans to see if you like them before you financially commit to them.

Pros

  • Music-specific features such as templates
  • Social media integration gives customers easy access to your music and material
  • Cheap plans and generous trials periods

Cons

  • The interface isn’t as refined as those on some of the bigger sites

BandVista

This is another musician-specific website builder for those that want an easy and cheap way to get their band albums or their merch out there for fans to see.

It’s a great budget pick for those that are looking to set up a site quickly and easily and don’t mind sacrificing some premium features to get it done.

BandVista is an easy application to use and set up so it’s ideal for those that want to set up a website quickly.

It’s also cheaper than many of the more well-known alternatives, though it comes with options that are easier to navigate than the main sites.

The low price, ease of use, and quick application setup are its main positives, however.

BandVista is as known for its simplicity as for its easy setup, but for some artists, especially those that tend towards more creative design, their template options may not be enough.

BandVista’s style is a little outdated, with template options that tend towards simpler designs and not a lot of unique features.

However, it’s cheap and easy to set up for those that want a simple platform to make a quick site.

Pros

  • Ease of use
  • Simple templates make it easy to choose one
  • Band-centric styles and templates

Cons

  • Outdated interface and appearance

Weebly

For musicians deep into SEO features and looking for a wide selection of applications on their music site, Weebly is the best platform available.

While it’s not musician-specific, it can be optimized for bands and used to network with its ideal categorization features that emphasize strategies that help you be found in a Google search.

This means that Weebly’s use of SEO represents more people finding your music and booking your events just by virtue of their keyword, sorting, and optimization strategies.

They provide a ton of flexible, stylish apps to use to spruce up your site and increase your traffic.

Best of all, Weebly offers a free plan designed to get you attracted to their specialty features before considering a paid plan. You could always just keep things free, however.

They offer options for free domains, shipping discounts, and other eCommerce features, with some plans as low as $6 per month.

Their performance, professional, and free plans all offer more applications than most other website builders.

For musicians, the eCommerce options are particularly valuable for those that want to use their websites to advertise a record label or sell merch.

This is all without the aggressive compensation fees of some of the other website builders.

Pros

  • State of the art SEO features
  • eCommerce applications for free domains, shipping discounts, and more
  • A variety of affordable plans

Cons

  • Not the most intuitive interface on the market

Best Website Builders for Musicians: Buying Guide

Not all website builders are made equally – their templates, usability, monetization options, cost, and design make a huge difference.

These differences are accentuated when you’re a musician that wants to build a site with a specific purpose, such as selling your band’s records or establishing a network to increase your fan-base and fill your booking schedule.

Read on to compare the main features of these site builders to compare the ones on this list or any that you may be considering.

Templates

The first thing that may attract you to a site builder is their template options.

For those that are creative and want to be able to customize their applications and have a ton of premium options to give their site a unique identity, you may want to use Wix or Squarespace and customize it for a music site rather than rely on the relatively few options of niche sites like BandVista.

Some of these platforms have over 100 music-specific website templates to give you the tools you need to make the site in your head a reality.

Usability

Some of the sites with hundreds of templates are tougher to use. Some have textbox constructions rather than drag-and-drop applications and others can be overwhelming with the choices you have.

This may be a reason to opt for the simpler sites, which often come with a cheaper price tag.

Some users may prioritize usability in order to set up their site quickly, rather than deal with a million options and templates. Particularly for those that have never made a website before or don’t know what they want, simplicity could be a huge selling point.

Monetization

As a musician or a band member, you may be creating this site to monetize your band label, records, or merchandise.

Not every website builder can be monetized, however, and not all of those that can are monetizable for free.

If this is your main goal, you need a site builder with networking options to increase your fanbase and options for storefronts and monetized applications.

Most don’t have eCommerce options as a default so in that case, you need to compare the premium prices of each site builder when choosing between them.

Cost

The cost has a huge impact on profitability when you consider that these sites are paid for with per month subscriptions and have a wide range of prices.

Some cost $25+ per month and others have account options that are completely free.

Free accounts are often more limited, but many (such as Wix) have some diverse free accounts.

Many offer free trials of different lengths as well, which is something to watch for when you aren’t sure which site builder you want to use and prefer to try them out first.

Interface

Some site builders have a simple interface that lets you drag and drop design options, while others have more conventional website builder applications.

Depending on your experience, you may want to find options that are simpler to use so you can build your band’s site quickly.

The age of the site builder also matters here, as some may have outdated templates that aren’t as eye-catching.

The type of music you play matters here as well since the interface can communicate a lot about intentions and style.

The Takeaway

Site builders for musicians range from niche sites that have specific features for the industry and general sites tailor-made for creative thinkers to make the site they want.

Our top choice is Wix for the breadth of features it has, as well as its customization options, usability, and free account options.

However, by using this review series and buying guide, you can choose between any other site builders you find as well by comparing their main features.

By figuring out your specific needs in terms of usability and monetization, you can customize any site builder for your needs as a musician looking to expand your fan-base or sell your music.

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