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Studies
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By: Laura Bernheim
Editor: Lillian Castro
Reviewer: Cristian Lopez
| OVERALL RATING |
4.9
/ 5.0
★★★★★
|
|---|---|
| Features | 5.0 / 5.0 |
| Ease of Use | 4.9 / 5.0 |
| Pricing | 4.3 / 5.0 |
| Reliability & Support | 5.0 / 5.0 |
| See Deals |
Created by musicians for musicians, Bandzoogle is a website builder service that lets bands and solo acts rock out online without getting mired in coding and plugins. Everything a group needs — an events calendar, mailing list, blog, and merch store — is wrapped up into one simple, easy-to-use platform. Almost 20 years ago, Bandzoogle Founder Chris Vinson created a website for his alt-rock band, Rubberman, which eventually landed a record deal. Chris worked at the label between tours, building websites for multi-platinum artists — to save time, he created a control panel that allowed managers and artists make their own changes. That idea spawned Bandzoogle, which Chris launched in 2003 to help independent bands and musicians build websites and promote their music. Users can test out Bandzoogle with a 30-day free trial, and the company offers prorated refunds after the first month of a subscription. Prices range from roughly $8 to $17 per month on annual plans, or $10 to $20 if you choose to go month-by-month. The company's cloud hosting platform means no storage limits — plans are instead restricted in the number of pages, songs, photos, and mailing list members added to the site. Pro Plan subscribers, however, have infinite resources to spend. Regardless of which plan users choose, musicians can enjoy a free domain name for the life of the account, along with free stores without commission fees. Bands can sell music, merchandise, and event tickets, depending on which plan is chosen. We are seriously impressed with Bandzoogle's functionality and specialized approach to site building.
"We haven't evaluated Bandzoogle for this type of hosting service — yet. Either the company didn't offer this option at the time this review was written or this section of the review hasn't made it to the top of our editorial queue just yet. Either way, check back later, as we're always working to keep our reviews up to date and as comprehensive as possible!"
"We haven't evaluated Bandzoogle for this type of hosting service — yet. Either the company didn't offer this option at the time this review was written or this section of the review hasn't made it to the top of our editorial queue just yet. Either way, check back later, as we're always working to keep our reviews up to date and as comprehensive as possible!"
"We haven't evaluated Bandzoogle for this type of hosting service — yet. Either the company didn't offer this option at the time this review was written or this section of the review hasn't made it to the top of our editorial queue just yet. Either way, check back later, as we're always working to keep our reviews up to date and as comprehensive as possible!"
Simple items, such as text and images, can be edited right on the screen with Bandzoogle's unobtrusive editor. Changing more complicated sections, however, brings up a somewhat jarring full-screen interface that blocks your view of the website. We understand needing more room for more settings, but elements like the mailing list signup form and call-to-action header only have three changeable fields. We're a little surprised the mailing list management platform doesn't come with pre-designed email templates. Instead, you're greeted with a starkly blank white screen to build upon. While we appreciate the flexibility, we'd rather see lightweight email themes that match the site template; builders are supposed to alleviate as much of the design process as possible for non-developers. All in all, however, Bandzoogle users will be well-served by the robust features that are exceedingly easy to configure.
With plans starting in the neighborhood of $10 per month, Bandzoogle is not the cheapest website builder option on the market — but for musicians who are serious about promoting and selling their music, the price tag is more than justified. The company puts a full orchestra of instruments at users' disposal, and each one is carefully crafted for the specific requirements of the music industry.
Unlike most website builders, Bandzoogle excels at customer support. All Bandzoogle employees are musicians, so they'll be sure to help you out with harmonious feedback and assistance. They're available seven days a week via live chat and email tickets. From the Bandzoogle interface, users can also access community forums. In addition to crowd-sourcing help and advice, users can suggest a new feature and learn about tips and ticks. Naturally, Bandzoogle also includes an "open mic" forum for musicians to ask for website critiques, announce new albums or tours, buy and sell gear, share road stories, recruit new members, and discuss business management and studio production issues. If that's not enough, a link to a robust knowledgebase is just pixels away, as are links to more support.
Laura Bernheim
Hosting Expert:
Bandzoogle might not have the widespread name recognition of the major website builders, but musicians can really thrive with the platform's robust feature set. Although the platform is more expensive than some of the mass-market options in the industry, Bandzoogle is still quite a bargain. Bands and musicians will appreciate the free and flexible online store, plus email marketing, blogging, and event management tools — all of which are geared toward making web development as easy as possible. Bandzoogle's energetic offering keeps the beat with passionate employees that offer a surprisingly high level of support compared with other platforms. With unbelievably easy-to-use features that cover the full scale of tools needed to successfully promote and sell music, artists' websites will be sure to receive a standing ovation. Ba-dum tish!
|
Overall Rating
4.8 / 5.0
★★★★★
|
