How to Design a Great Jazz Musician Website

A Guest Post by Allison S.

Come on babe, why don't we paint the town...and all that Jazz! And while we’re at it, let’s paint up a nice jazz musician website as well. It’s not as difficult as you think.

We have many jazz musician website templates to choose from. Once you select your template you’ll start adding music, photos, and event details. It’s very easy to do, but let’s take a look at some jazz musician website design basics to get you started.

Home

Your website homepage is like opening the curtain on a great show. First impressions matter, so you’ll want to make the most of it.

The number one element for your homepage is a great header image. The image you choose should be a clear reflection of you and your music. Jazz saxophonist, Dr. SaxLove, gives us a perfect example with his cool silhouette image.

The rest of the homepage should be a summary of what they’ll get on the rest of the pages. You’ll want to add a short bio, a couple songs, and some upcoming show dates.

Another essential element is a call-to-action (CTA). This is the action you’d like someone to take when they are on your site. This can be you asking them to make a purchase or watch a video.

To make this easy we have the option to add a CTA over your header image. Jazz vocalist, Lilly, uses the CTA feature to get visitors to check out her new album.

This gives them the option to purchase it right away without having to navigate through all her pages.

About

Fans want to know your story. What inspires you, who influenced you, how did you know jazz was for you? Your about page should offer enough information for visitors to learn more about you and your music journey. Take a look at the bio page for, Jamie Shew.

She fills the page with highlights of her career but also some history of her childhood and education. In addition to a long bio, you’ll want to add a few images down the page to break up the text as well.

Music

The music page is where you’ll add both singles and albums. If you’ve been involved in collaborations you can add those to the page as well. Let’s check out the music store page of Patrice Williamson.

The page is nicely organized with a variety of buying options. Our built-in music featureallows you to set any track or album to free, free in exchange for email address, fixed price, or fans set their own price. You can also bundle digital downloads with your physical CD to give fans even more value.

Shows

A live jazz show is a treat, so make sure fans know where to find you. A great shows page will display a list of events plus performance images like that of jazz guitarist, Eric Essix.

Each gig will include the event name, location, date and description. For paid events you can sell tickets from each gig listing. This is helpful because many ticketing agencies charge high fees. If you sell tickets from your Bandzoogle website, it’s commission free! Your fans will get tickets they can print and you’ll get a guest list you can give to the door person at the venue.

Create your own jazz musician website that’s mobile-ready and easy to update anytime! Try Bandzoogle free today!

Store

Besides digital downloads and event tickets, there are many other ways to make money from your music website. Alex Terrier has a few good ideas on his shop page.

Selling physical merch is a great way to boost sales. You can sell things like t-shirts, hats, and stickers. If you teach you can also sell lesson videos and instruction booklets.

Another idea is to sell charts and sheet music. With so many people trying to make it in music, it’s important to think of new ways to make money. Selling an assortment of items on your site adds up as additional income earned from your music career.

Photo/Video

With a photos page you can show off your performance photos, promo photos, and photos of you with your fans. This gives fans a chance to see your personality in different environments.

Video is another great way to spice up a page. Videos not only show you in a new light, but also do well in Google searches. Not only can you have video on any page but you can add it to your header as well. Check out this awesome photos page from Angelique Francis.

She’s got an assortment of beautiful photos as well as a fun video header. The video brings the website to life and also inspires visitors to want to come see you perform live.

Press Kit

A website isn’t only good for entertaining fans. It’s also great for making connections with industry and media contacts. These professionals are inundated with talent so they typically have limited time to check out new artists.

To make it easy for them to connect you’ll want to create an EPK (electronic press kit) page. Brazilian jazz artist, Alissa Sanders, has a nice layout on her press kit page.

Starting with a large press quote grabs your attention. From there she adds samples of all the features from other pages. A page visitor can read a short bio, hear a couple songs, and watch a video to see if they are interested in learning more.

Contact

Fans and industry alike will need a way to contact you if they have an inquiry. Make sure the last page on your jazz website is a contact page.

The three features you’ll want to add to this page are a contact form, social media links, and a mailing list sign up form. Jazz bassist, Jason Phelps, shows us a great example of this.

Visitors will have a way to contact you, then transition from your website to your social media accounts. This will keep them thinking about you and your music a little longer.

These pages are the blueprint for a great jazz website, but you can tailor any page to fit your style. For more design inspiration, check out our Website Examples page and the Beautiful Website Templates category of our blog.

If you need a little more help we recommend checking out the 10 principles of great music web design. This will give you a bit more insight into what it takes to create a successful jazz website. Get started now and in no time you’ll be tootin’ your own horn at how awesome your website is!

This guest post by Allison S. originally appeared on Bandzoogle.com https://bandzoogle.com/blog/how-to-design-a-great-jazz-musician-website

This post is brought to you by Bandzoogle: websites built for musicians, by musicians.
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A Guest Post by Allison S.